COLUMBUS, Ohio - Lt. Gov. Jon Husted announced Thursday that horse racing may resume without spectators across Ohio a week from Friday, on May 22, but that no decision has been made yet on when the adjacent racinos as well as Ohio’s casinos will be permitted to reopen.
The state’s 11 casinos and racinos have been closed since March 14 following the governor’s order to ban large gatherings of people. Yet horse racing continued with wagers being placed by phone or computers until March 20.
The horse tracks are located on the same grounds as Ohio’s seven racinos. The four casinos are stand-alone operations in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo.
As for the casinos and racinos, their gambling revenue is down $229 million for the year after getting off to a record start in January and February.
Here are the rules to return to racing without spectators, as announced by the Ohio State Racing Commission.