INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — New slot machines at Indiana's two horse tracks appear to be drawing new fans to the races themselves, which could help the struggling industry, officials said.

"We haven't forgotten about racing," said Rick Moore, with Hoosier Park in Anderson. "People are being exposed to racing."

Moore, the track's director of racing, told the Indiana Horse Racing Commission Monday that people are going back and forth between the racing and gaming sides of the business. Staff members have been answering more questions about racing procedures, he said.

Jon Schuster, with Indiana Downs in Shelbyville, said people coming to the temporary casino there are also stopping at the nearby track. Indiana Downs hopes to open its permanent casino in January.

The Indiana Gaming Commission will release financial reports on both new casinos July 8.

Both pari-mutuel tracks have said they expect to draw more than 3 million visitors during the casinos' first year of operation.

Hoosier Park was the state's first legal betting facility when it opened in 1994 — more than a year before Indiana's first riverboat casinos. But the track has relied on millions of dollars in state subsidies and neither it nor Shelbyville's Indiana Downs has made a profit since 2002, when Downs opened.

Both tracks are investing big in their casinos. The law passed last year by legislators required each track to pay the state an initial licensing fee of $250 million to get up to 2,000 slots.

The slot-machine parlors are expected to appeal mostly to gamblers from central Indiana. State regulators say they do not know whether to expect long-term business declines at Indiana's 11 existing casinos, which offer table games like blackjack and roulette along with slots.

___

Information from: The Herald Bulletin, http://www.theheraldbulletin.com