Williams to Kentucky race industry: "Drop dead."

[Riot]

I doubt he'll feel much heat. The local press hasn't been "for" slots, exactly, as they tend to cater to the religious anti-gambling view.

Many - maybe most - in Kentucky view the horse industry as the hobby legacy of self-funded millionaires who came and built great farms and run horses in the Derby. They really don't care about the "rich horse folks". They don't think these people need help by introducing "more gambling" (not true, but that's the impression). They say, "Look at all the rich people buying horses at Keeneland.", and boy, the Derby is busy, and these people have much more money than I do, so what do they need government financial help for?

Seriously, the vast majority of the general public in Kentucky could care less about horses. And that's IN the bluegrass region - they don't care at all in the rest of Kentucky.

They don't understand that the above is not representative of the depth of "the horse industry" around here, that it's the vets, farriers, small farms, feedstores, etc. that make up the industry, not just Keeneland and the former glory of Calumet. And all the non-thoroughbred horses, too (we've lost the Standardbred industry from here)

It was attempted in this fight to show the public and the legislature what "is" the horse industry, how many "small" people will be affected, but it apparently failed.

Kentucky has always been unusual in the way they dealt with the horse and farms here. Historically, the business has been left to the rich owners of the farms and the horses and the tracks, frankly. There has never been good state or government involvement in agriculture and horses here, believe it or not, and now we've suffered when we've come with our hand out. They frankly don't believe we need any financial help, slots are just a way for the rich to get richer.