FRANKFORT — The state Supreme Court has declined to hear a case that would decide whether the state can regulate betting on videos of previously run horse races, including the game Instant Racing.

In an order released Thursday, the state Supreme Court denied a motion to transfer the case from the state Court of Appeals to the state Supreme Court.

That means the appeal of a lower court ruling on Instant Racing will go to the state Court of Appeals. In December, Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate ruled the state can regulate Instant Racing.

The Family Foundation, which had filed suit challenging the state's ability to regulate Instant Racing, has asked the Court of Appeals to hear the appeal.

But the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, the racetracks and the Kentucky Department of Revenue filed a motion to have the state's highest court hear the case, arguing that the case should be heard by the Supreme Court because it was of "great and public importance."

In Instant Racing, players try to pick the top three finishers in an anonymous horse race based on limited background information. The state's racetracks have long argued that they need more gambling to offset other losses. The Family Foundation, a Lexington nonprofit, is opposed to the expansion of gambling.