FRANKFORT — A Kentucky lawmaker who is expected to sponsor a constitutional amendment to allow casinos at horse racetracks has identified the clients of his private consulting firm, two of which have benefited from his legislative work.

State Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, on Thursday said he provides marketing and public relations services to Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Millennium Farms in Lexington, Wintergreen Stallion Station in Midway and Whispering Oaks Farm in Carencro, La.

Kentucky Speedway received a $20.5 million state tax break for which Thayer was a vocal advocate during the legislature's 2009 special session. Six months after lawmakers voted for the tax break, Kentucky Speedway put Thayer on retainer, although he and Speedway officials say the job was not related.

"No. Absolutely not," Thayer said in a short interview Wednesday outside the Senate chamber.

Millennium Farms and its owner, Rosendo "Ro" Parra, collected more than $112,000 from the Kentucky Breeders' Incentive Fund from 2006 to 2010, the most recent years for which data are available. Thayer sponsored the bill creating the fund in 2005, which has distributed $51.2 million to breeders of winning horses.

A third client, Wintergreen Stallion Station and its owners, the Greely family, have supported the Kentucky Equine Education Project, a horse industry group that lobbies Frankfort for racetrack casinos and financially backs pro-casino politicians.

Two members of the Greely family sit on the board of directors at Keeneland, which would be guaranteed a Lexington casino under previous expanded gambling proposals.

Executives and employees at all three businesses have donated to Thayer's election campaigns.

Questions were raised about Thayer's consulting firm last week after he said he was likely to sponsor Gov. Steve Beshear's casino gambling bill, which could bring hundreds of millions of dollars to the horse industry. Thayer is chairman of the Senate State and Local Government Committee, to which the casino bill is expected to be assigned.

The Rev. Hershael York of Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort has said he will file an ethics complaint if Thayer sponsors the casino bill while he's paid by horse industry clients.

Last week, Thayer declined to identify his clients and obtained an informal opinion from the Legislative Ethics Commission that said he would not have to recuse himself from involvement with the casino bill.

In a statement issued Thursday, releasing the names of his clients, Thayer defended his right to earn a living outside of his part-time duties as a senator. None of his clients would benefit from a referendum on casino gambling, he said.

"I am offended that my integrity was called into question but am happy to put any questions to rest in the interest of moving this issue forward," Thayer said. "I believe a vast majority of Kentuckians see it the way I do — that a public referendum is the right way to lay this issue to rest."

Contacted later, Thayer declined to say how much his clients pay him. Thayer earned $132,835 in 2010 from his consulting firm and $76,000 during the first eight months of 2011, according to a disclosure he filed last year in his divorce. He reported making about $35,000 a year as a state senator.

"I have already disclosed more than is required by law and provided more transparency than any member of the General Assembly," Thayer said by email. He does not discuss legislative work with his consulting clients, he said.

Thayer, who took office in 2003, faces challengers this election year. Rick Hostetler of Georgetown opposes him in the May 22 Republican primary. Whoever wins that contest will face David Holcomb, a Georgetown Democrat, in the Nov. 6 election.

Kentucky Speedway

The General Assembly met in special session in June 2009 and passed, among other things, a tax break for Kentucky Speedway to help the Gallatin County track lure a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. As finalized in 2010, the 10-year sales tax break is worth $20.5 million, allowing the track to recoup much of the cost of renovating its facilities.

Thayer, whose Senate district borders but does not include Gallatin County, was one of the most outspoken advocates for the tax break. Apart from voting for it, he publicly defended its economic necessity despite state budget cuts elsewhere and sought to persuade wavering senators to back it, according to news reports and his own statements at the time.

"Bringing a Sprint Cup race would have a tremendous effect on our economy and our community," Thayer said in 2009. "It will be as big as the Kentucky Derby."

In January 2010, Kentucky Speedway put Thayer on retainer as a consultant to help with marketing and public relations for the Sprint Cup race, among other duties. Thayer says Kentucky Speedway is now the largest client of his firm, which he runs out of his home.

The legislative ethics law does not prohibit a lawmaker from taking a job with a company that he recently used his state office to assist. Thayer and Kentucky Speedway's general manager, Mark Simendinger, this week said there was no discussion about a job for Thayer during the special legislative session. It wasn't until the end of 2009 that Kentucky Speedway made Thayer an offer, they said.

"As I understand it, some of his equine industry clients who had taken up his time had dropped him for whatever reason, so he had the time to work with us," Simendinger said. "I was very excited to have the opportunity to put him on retainer."

On Wednesday, Simen dinger said he has lobbied the state government for many years, including his previous stint as president of Turfway Park, the horse racetrack in Florence where he and Thayer met and worked together in the 1990s. He did not hire Thayer to gain political influence in Frankfort, Simen dinger said.

"With all due respect to Senator Thayer, who is a friend and whom I like, I don't need his help as a legislator. We don't really talk about it," Simendinger said.

Beshear, not Thayer, was the primary force behind Kentucky Speedway's tax break, Simendinger added.

Bruton Smith, the track's owner, gave $50,000 to Beshear's 2011 inaugural committee in December. The track's previous owner, Jerry Carroll, gave $10,000 to Beshear's 2007 inaugural committee.

Horse farms

Thayer said he started working for Wintergreen Stallion Station in 2010. John Greely IV, co-owner of the stud farm and nephew of former Keeneland president Bill Greely, said he and Thayer talk about "politics generally," but not about any specific measure in the legislature.

In December 2007, John Greely announced that Wintergreen Stallion Station would donate 10 percent of its stallion seasons that month to KEEP to help fund its pro-casino campaign in Frankfort.

"KEEP is taking a leadership role in educating voters leading up to the November 2008 election to the benefits of casino-style gambling to the state of Kentucky," Greely said at the time. "KEEP is depending on those of us in the industry to help support this large task."

Greely said Thursday that he hasn't been active in KEEP since making that donation.

Parra, owner of Millennium Farms, issued a statement that said he hired Thayer "because of his knowledge of the industry and his marketing/public relations expertise, and for no other reason. There are no projects that Mr. Thayer does for my farm that have an impact on the legislative process, nor am I the beneficiary of that process."

Parra, who lives in Austin, Texas, said later by email that he did not personally track the breeders' incentive funds he collected through the state program that Thayer helped establish. He said he does not "have deep knowledge of the casino gambling measure" because he lives elsewhere.

Thayer said he began working for Millennium Farms in 2006.