Churchill Downs partners with Scientific Games and Ainsworth on historical racing machines

Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) announced Wednesday a partnership with Scientific Games Corporation and Ainsworth Game Technology to introduce a newly developed historical racing machine (HRM).

This newly engineered Scientific Games product, which has been granted approval from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, will operate on the Ainsworth proprietary HRM system. Scientific Games will supply its most popular titles from player-favorite slot series including 88 Fortunes, Tree of Wealth, Quick Hit, Lock It Link and Ultimate Fire Link, among others. The games will be showcased on their innovative and top-performing TwinStar family of cabinet platforms, including the Wave XL, J43, TwinStar 24/24/, TwinStar Slant and three-reel mechanical stepper.

CDI’s Derby City Gaming in Louisville, Kentucky, will receive the first delivery of SG games beginning this month, and it will be unveiling the new cabinets in first quarter. CDI’s other HRM facilities at Oak Grove, Turfway Park and Churchill Downs Racetrack will also feature a full complement of these new cabinets when these entertainment venues open later this year.

“Scientific Games makes some of the best-performing games in the industry and we are delighted to add their product to our HRM properties,” said Austin Miller, Senior Vice President, Gaming Operations for CDI. “Our guests will recognize the Scientific Games themes and they will love the way the games play.”

“We have enjoyed a great partnership with the CDI team and are excited to bring in Scientific Games to this unique partnership,” commented Ryan Comstock, Chief Operating Officer for Ainsworth. “The addition of Scientific Games and platforms on our proprietary HRM system will create an even more robust gaming mix for both of these properties.”

“The team at Scientific Games is extremely excited to partner with CDI and Ainsworth in this new venture,” said Robert Parente, EVP and Chief Revenue Officer for Scientific Games. “Both companies have been pioneers in opening up this burgeoning new segment of the gaming market and we are honored they have chosen to work with us in offering the very best in player experiences.”

Historical racing machines allow players to wager on previously-run horse races and to manually handicap the races using handicapping information provided in the games, if the players so choose.  After a wager is placed, an animated replay of the race finish is shown, and the results of the player's wager is depicted as part of any entertaining game theme with cascading symbols and spinning reels.