FRANKFORT — The specifics of a closely watched legalized gambling bill are taking shape. House Majority Leader Greg Stumbo is floating the idea of giving racetracks an exclusive right to operate video slot machines and letting them compete for full-scale casino licenses.

        Those full-scale casino licenses need to be near an interstate highway and in a position to compete with other states' Ohio River boats to be viable, he said. But Mr. Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, told reporters Friday he has “just an outline of a plan.”

        “It does give the racetracks a monopoly on the video gaming devices. ... But it also calls for some full gaming licenses that (a) commission could issue,” Mr. Stumbo said.

        In his concept, tracks could apply for the casino licenses, but so could anyone else, Mr. Stumbo said.

        However, a track also could veto any application for a casino within 50 miles of itself — the existing buffer that protects tracks against competition from off-track betting parlors.

        Mr. Stumbo said he wanted racetracks to benefit from any expanded gambling but did not favor giving them a monopoly on anything other than video slots.

        He said a “full gaming license” probably would be viable only in a populous area on an interstate highway. He also said any casinos ought logically to be located where they could compete with the Ohio River boats.

        In the Tristate, Indiana riverboats such as Argosy and Belterra gross hundreds of millions for that state's tax coffers.

        In Indiana near Louisville, a Caesar's riverboat also does strong business, some say attracting bettors — and their tax revenues — away from even such well-known racetracks as Churchill Downs.

        Riverboat gaming has been legal in Indiana since the early 1990s and Indiana legislators are currently considering a measure to legalize dockside gaming — allowing patrons to wager without having to take an actual boat trip.

        An outspoken opponent of “video slots” or other gambling expansion, the Rev. Nancy Jo Kemper, of Kenton County and leader of the

        Kentucky Council of Churches, said Mr. Stumbo's idea seemed calculated to let racetracks open casinos.

        But casinos run by anyone else would be “bad news for the racetracks. ... This would just add to their competition,” the Rev. Ms. Kemper said.

        The horse industry is lobbying the General Assembly for video slots as a way to compete with Indiana and Illinois casino boats on the Ohio River.

        A study issued earlier this month by two university economists estimated that the six casino boats took in nearly $1 billion last year.

        That included $352 million that was lost in wagering by Kentucky patrons.

        The same study cautioned that the figures did not reflect what Kentucky could reasonably expect to gain if some form of casino gambling were legalized. And it said financial success of a casino boat tends to come at the expense of other local businesses.

        Also Friday, a horse industry leader said the tracks and two horsemen's groups have reached agreement on how slot machine money should be divided.

        They have in mind a formula, which they plan to present to General Assembly leaders in a week or two, David Switzer, president of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, said.

        Until then, “we're not at liberty to divulge the figures,” Mr. Switzer said. “The highlight is that we got five racetracks and two horsemen's groups that are agreeing.”

        Parties to the agreement besides Mr. Switzer's association are the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and the state's five thoroughbred tracks — Churchill Downs in Louisville, Keeneland in Lexington, Turfway in Florence, Ellis Park in Henderson and Kentucky Downs in Franklin.

        The thoroughbred tracks are proposing to run the gambling operations. Mr. Switzer said he believed a state commission would have to regulate them.

        The tracks would not take a cut of slot-machine revenue as a management fee. Instead, Mr. Switzer said, their share would be in the form of richer racing purses — the better with which to attract top-quality horses.

        Mr. Switzer also said off-track betting parlors at Corbin, Jamestown, Maysville and Pineville would not be eligible for slots under the industry agreement.

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