In a move that will see it control half of the lucrative US horse betting market, the Kentucky based Churchill Downs has agreed to purchase online betting site, Youbet.com for $127 million. Market analysts believe that Youbet already controls 30% of the industry, while the second Churchill Downs owned online gambling site, TwinSpires.com owns another 20%.

Churchill Downs owns the race track where the prestigious annual horse race, the Kentucky Derby is held each year. The company owns, in total, nine race tracks in states such as Illinois and Kentucky. The popularity of horse race betting is growing at a remarkable pace in the United States. Ironically, Kentucky is the state where the governor is currently wagering a war against online gambling in a bid to grab the domain names of 141 sites. The legality of the merger between Churchill Downs and Youbet.com has thus infuriated many online gambling supporters due to the hypocrisy of the whole affair.