The Kentucky Derby shows its thorns

With only one week left to the Run for the Roses, some casinos may miss on the betting action of the Kentucky Derby.

The Kentucky Derby shows its thorns Churchill Downs has announced that it will exercise its right to deny out-of-state broadcasting to the 10 Oklahoma Indian tribe casinos. The decision was taken to punish the Oklahoma casinos for stopping the compensations to Oklahoma horsemen for bets on simulcast races.

According to the attorney for Choctaw Racing Services (the company distributing the simulcast from the Kentucky Derby in Oklahoma), Jerry Levine, there must be a mistake, because they have paid all that it's due to the local horsemen. He continues that all the necessary information has been relayed to the Kentucky horsemen and hopefully they will come to a positive conclusion.

The famous Kentucky Derby, also called "the Run for the Roses", is the most popular Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race, and the 133rd Kentucky Derby will take place on May 5th at the Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky. The Kentucky Derby, with a purse of $2 million, is the first leg of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in the USA.

Earlier this week, the online horse racing betting website YouBet (NASDAQ:UBET) came out with a press release which underlined the possibility that its customers may not be able to bet on the popular race, due to unacceptable contract conditions offered by its content supplier - TrackNet Media, a joint venture of Churchill Downs and Magna Entertainment. On the next day, however, an announcement was made that YouBet has extended its contract with Churchill Downs Inc. until 2010.

The 133rd Kentucky Derby will start on May 5th 2007 at 6:00pm.

04/28/2007