TwinSpires granted injunction to continue horse racing operations in Michigan
US District Court ruling prevents Michigan's regulator from sanctioning TwinSpires for conducting advance deposit wagering activity, stating requirements are “unconstitutional”
The US District Court for the Western District of Michigan has granted TwinSpires a preliminary injunction to allow the operator to continue its horse racing operations in the state.
Handed out by chief US District judge Hala Jarbou, the injunction will prevent the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) from halting the operator from conducting advance deposit wagering (ADW) activity.
Michigan’s Horse Racing Law of 1995 stipulates that any simulcast and ADW activity must be associated with a live race meet and a licensed track.
ADW is currently prohibited in the state due to there being no licensed tracks for operators to conduct live horse racing and take bets from customers.
However, Judge Jarbou ruled that Michigan law couldn’t prevent TwinSpires from taking bets on races taking place outside the state, as the Interstate Horse Racing Act (IHA) of 1978 took precedence.
Therefore, any attempts to block TwinSpires from conducting ADW activity outside of Michigan were deemed “unconstitutional.”
Jarbou wrote: “When a wager is placed in Michigan, but the wager is placed on an out-of-state race, and the wager is accepted out-of-state, TwinSpires does not need [the Michigan Gaming Control Board’s] consent.
“The executive director and attorney general’s attempt to force TwinSpires to obtain an additional licensing is unconstitutional as it violates the preemptive elements of the [federal Interstate Horse Racing Act].”
Per the IHA, in order for TwinSpires to accept ADW wagers, it needs the consent of the track and horsemen where the race is run, the agency in the state where the host racetrack is located, and the off-track racing commission in the state where the wager is accepted.
TwinSpires’ lawyers argued that in this case, the ADW wagers are accepted in Oregon and the companies are licensed by the Oregon Racing Commission, meaning they’re out of the jurisdiction of the MGCB.
The MGCB issued the Churchill Downs subsidiary with a suspension order back in January 2025 for non-compliance with the state’s horse racing laws.
The regulator ruled that operators could only take bets on races conducted on Michigan-licensed tracks.
In addition to TwinSpires, ADW operators Xpressbet, NYRAbets, and TVG Network were also ordered by the MGCB to stop taking bets from customers.
TwinSpires was the only operator that continued to take bets despite the regulator’s orders.
Judge Jarbou added: “If a state decides to allow pari-mutuel wagering, it cannot invade the Interstate Horse Racing Act’s exclusive regulatory scheme for accepting interstate off-track wagers.
“Once a state decides that pari-mutuel wagering is permissible within its borders, the federal field covers interstate off-track pari-mutuel wagers in that state.”
The judge also noted that TwinSpires would be put at a competitive disadvantage in the Michigan market by the MGCB’s actions.
He continued: “An order forcing TwinSpires to cease operations in Michigan would cause TwinSpires to continue to lose its competitive place in the Michigan pari-mutuel wagering sector.
“This harm is exacerbated now that the MGCB has reinstated Northville Downs’s licenses, allowing TwinSpires’s competitors to accept wagers while maintaining its summary suspension of TwinSpires’s license.
“If shut down, TwinSpires would be the only online wagering platform that could not accept bets from Michiganders.”