* Mr. Mink ($3) improved to 8 for 8 over the Hoosier Park surface Sunday night with his win in the $40,000 Brickyard Stakes for older Indiana-breds.
* Racing Sundown scored her second straight stakes upset when she won the $40,000 Black Mesa Sunday at Remington Park and paid $58.40. One start prior, Racing Sundown won the Oklahoma Classics Day Distaff at 22-1.
* Victorious Ami ($15.70) closed strongly in the stretch to win her maiden by 1 3/4 lengths in the $250,000 Princess Elizabeth Stakes at Woodbine.
* McDynamo returned from an 11-month layoff to win his second straight Breeders' Cup Steeplechase at the Far Hills Races.
* Buzz Song ($3) stalked the pace set by Trickle of Gold and drew off to win the $100,000 Blue Hen Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Delaware Park.
Dr. William Reed, an internationally known and respected equine practitioner who also bred several notable horses, died Saturday morning at Winthrop Hospital in Long Island, N.Y., after a battle with Alzheimer's disease. He was 83.
Reed may be best known for the surgery he performed on the ill-fated Ruffian at his veterinary clinic across the street from Belmont Park, following her injury during the match race against Foolish Pleasure on July 6, 1975.
* Buzz Song ($3) stalked the pace set by Trickle of Gold, then drew off to win the $100,000 Blue Hen Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Delaware Park. Buzz Song ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.99 and finished a length in front of Jill Robin L, who was disqualified to fourth for interfering with Trickle of Gold in midstretch.
* With Affection ($8.40) swung four wide out of the far turn and drew clear to win the $50,000 JRA Fillies and Mares Handicap at Pimlico, holding off favored Lady of the Future by 1 3/4 lengths. Final time for 1 1/16 miles on the yielding turf course was 1:50.83.
President Bush signed a tax bill on Friday that includes a provision eliminating a 30 percent withholding tax on foreign parimutuel wagers made into U.S. commingled pools. The elimination of the tax is expected to allow bettors in many foreign countries, including Canada, to wager directly into U.S. pools. . . . . The Oregon Racing Commission voted on Oct. 21 to rejoin the Association of Racing Commissioners International, an umbrella group for regulatory bodies that also issues recommendations on model racing rules.
Blackout turns technology against fans
As a rabid horse racing fan, I usually take my kick in the teeth and then come back for more. The situation examined in "A pitched battle over NYRA signal: Impasse over in-home betting rights," (Oct. 21), about New York Racing Association signals not going to mid-Atlantic tracks, is probably the worst ever, though. I usually always defend NYRA and was until now vehemently against Magna Entertainment Corp taking it over. Now, I'm not sure.
The New York State Racing and Wagering Board approved a proposal to change rules governing the pick six at a board meeting on Thursday.
The change would declare any race moved off the turf a "no contest" for the purposes of the pick six if the surface change was announced after the close of pick six betting. With the approval, the rule will be submitted to the Governor's Office of Regulatory Review, and if approved there, will be posted for 45 days for public notice.
Racetracks and horsemen in Ohio tentatively agreed to cut racing dates in the state next year by 10 percent, but the final approval of the plan has been delayed as Thoroughbred horsemen hammer out a separate agreement with tracks to guarantee purse levels for cheaper races.
The schedule, advocated by Scott Borgemenke, the chairman of the Ohio State Racing Commission, in order to boost overnight purses, would pare the racing schedules at River Downs and Thistledown by 18.6 percent and 17.6 percent, respectively. Beulah Park would have its schedule reduced by 5.6 percent.
Regulators in Virginia met with representatives of account-wagering companies on Wednesday to discuss rule changes that would enable the companies to get licensed in the state, according to Stan Bowker, the executive director of the Virginia Racing Commission.
Albert Hall, who won in the Group 2 Beresford Stakes two weeks ago at The Curragh, should be able to handle the step up to Group 1 company at Doncaster Saturday in the Racing Post Trophy. The biggest threat to Albert Hall may come from Motivator, who won a one-mile Newmarket maiden by six lengths and will have the invaluable services of jockey Kieren Fallon. . . . Budget Rent A Car, Century 21 Real Estate Corporation, and the Days Inn hotel chain have reached agreements to become "official partners" of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and Breeders' Cup Ltd.