The change has been spurred by a 2011 state deal to allow the VLTs at racetracks, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.
By later this year, Ohio will have seven racinos offering VLTs and horse racing. It also has casinos in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo.
Jerry Knappenberger, general manager of the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association, said the group’s stallion directory has grown from about 40 pages two years ago to 128 pages with breeding stallions and advertisements.
The VLTs have added money available to racing purses.
The purses at Scioto Downs in Columbus were $2,000 to $5,000 a race before the track added VLTs and now are $5,000 to $25,000, Knappenberger said.
Track owners are required to funnel anywhere from 9 percent to 11 percent of VLT revenue to the race purses.
“We’ve seen the infancy of the turnaround,” said Dave Basler, executive director of the Ohio Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, which represents owners and trainers at thoroughbred tracks.
More horses racing, whether standardbred or thoroughbred, mean more hay, straw, grain and corn sales for Ohio farmers, plus veterinary services, supplies sold at tack shops, and sales of trucks and trailers to haul horses.
Dr. Robert Gorham, a veterinarian who runs a thoroughbred farm and training center outside Kalamazoo, Mich., said people in neighboring states say they are planning on bringing horses into Ohio to foal.
Gorham owns about 110 horses of racing age and he will race about a third of them at ThistleDown outside Cleveland. He said he wouldn’t be as active in Ohio without the revenue provided by VLTs.
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