In response to the “HHR Debate Has Created Some Strange Bedfellows…Is Family Foundation Teaming Up with Stronach Group & Some House Dems to Try & Defeat?” opinion authored by Gene McLean, the simple and emphatic answer from The Stronach Group is an unequivocal “NO”. In fact, the allegations contained in that opinion could hardly be farther off the mark. Not only has The Stronach Group not teamed up with the Family Foundation, there is indeed no stronger supporter of proper pari-mutuel wagering on historical horse racing than The Stronach Group, with its significant positive contributions to the horse racing industry in Kentucky and beyond.
PariMAX™ and AmTote International, The Stronach Group’s wholly owned subsidiaries, actually invented the modern iteration of pari-mutuel wagering on HHR more than 2 decades ago, and has been the driving force for the HHR industry ever since.
The Stronach Group has to date invested tens of millions of dollars into HHR, and no other HHR technology company has contributed more from the resulting revenues into the horse racing industry as a whole. Benefiting the active horse racing industry and its stakeholders was the founding principle of HHR (“By Racing, For Racing”), and one that The Stronach Group has uniquely fought to maintain over the years, even when at its competitive economic disadvantage in doing so. PariMAX pari-mutuel HHR games are currently installed on approximately 300 machines in Kentucky at the Red Mile facility (the Keeneland – Red Mile joint venture operation), which have proven successful for years, and we hope for many years to come.
PariMAX’s HHR products have handled in excess of 6 billion dollars since its invention of HHR, providing an industry starving for innovation just that, along with a substantial line of new revenue for the industry. For all of these reasons and more, The Stronach Group’s overarching goal remains to have a healthy and long term sustainable HHR industry in Kentucky, home of the largest HHR market to date, for the good of the horse racing industry in Kentucky and abroad, not the contrary. Any narratives being circulated that claim otherwise are categorically false and ill informed.
The Stronach Group Press Release
