Racing To Return To Kansas In 2026

[Wandering Eyes]

More than 17 years after Thoroughbred racing shut down in Kansas, the sport will be revived in the Sunflower state in October 2026. It was all made possible when the Kansas legislature and Governor Laura Kelly passed a statute that will allow for 1,000 Historical Horse Racing machines in the state.

Three-percent of the gross revenue from the machines will be devoted to racing. It is estimated that the state's race horse development fund, which will allocate money to purses, will receive about $15 million from the machines. The state's breeding fund will pull in $3 million. The racing will be conducted at Eureka Downs, which is in Eureka, Kansas, and has not held Thoroughbred racing since 2008. That was the same year that the Woodlands Racetrack, which was in Kansas City, Kansas, shut down.

Initially, there will be 44 annual days of racing in the state.

“We are ecstatic about this development, but this has been hard,” said Peach Madl, the executive director of the Kansas Thoroughbred Association. “We have been fighting to have racing again for so many years. We know we will have to find more owners and breeders and lay the foundation so that they will raise Kansas foals again. We only have a short time to start.”

According to The Jockey Club, only four mares were bred in the state in 2023.

The machines will not be at Eureka Downs but at a gaming facility named Gilley's in Park City, Kansas. Gilley's is on the site of the old Wichita Greyhound Park and was purchased by Phil Ruffin and his family. Ruffin is well-known for his extensive business ventures in the state, including pioneering self-serve gas stations and developing hotels and gaming facilities.

“How did we get approval for the HHR machines? It has to be the persistence of the Ruffin family and that we were aiming to get HRR machines this time,” Madl said. “The HHR machines made it where Kansas, which is a total ag state, could have horse racing again. It's ridiculous that we've gone this long without horse racing. This is a state with a lot of horse people and farmers. This took persistence and a lot of money to get the HHR machines approved.”

Madl said there is the potential for more dates to be added in the future.

“Since the track is being renovated now, Eureka Downs didn't want to ask for any more dates than that for now,” she said.

While, on the surface, it might seem that a track in a state where so few horses have been bred in recent years, Eureka Downs might struggle to fill fields. Madl predicted that Eureka will not have a major problem putting together racing cards.

“We are fortunate to be smack in the middle of a circuit that most of the trainers run at,” she said. “That's Remington, Prairie Meadows and the tracks in Nebraska. We plan not to interfere with their races. There will be a pocket for us. We can be that place that fits in with what is currently going on.”

Madl said that when it comes to racing, Kansas has a lot going for it.

“We have nothing but open pasture ground here,” she said. “We have the room, we have the agriculture needs. We think there is room for racing to grow in the Midwest.”

Though there is not a rich history of racing in Kansas, the state's Thoroughbred industry does have a claim to fame. Kansas-bred Lawrin won the 1938 Kentucky Derby and was the first ever Derby winner for Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Arcaro and Hall of Fame trainer Ben Jones.

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