Magna Entertainment Corp., the owner of Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita and the operator of 11 other tracks, had net income of $21.1 million in the first quarter of 2004, up $8.4 million from the first quarter last year.

The gain in net income was principally owed to Magna's decision not to record income tax expenses in the quarter. Last year in the first quarter, income tax expense was $9.5 million. Magna lost $105.1 million in 2003, and said in a release that it expects to pay "nominal" taxes this year.

Churchill Downs Inc. lost $11.7 million in the first quarter of 2004, or 89 cents per share, roughly identical to the company's net loss of $11.5 million in the first quarter of 2003.

The net loss came on revenue of $37.7 million, compared with revenue of $35.7 million in 2003. Operating expenses in the first quarter of this year were $47.5 million, compared with operating expenses of $45.5 million in 2003.

The final Nielsen television rating for the race segment of NBC's Kentucky Derby broadcast on Saturday was a 9.3 with a 22 share, a 22 percent increase over the race segment during last year's broadcast. The final rating for the entire 90-minute Derby broadcast will be available Thursday, NBC said.

Tampa Bay Downs ended its 93-day meet Sunday with double-digit gains in attendance and handle, as all-sources handle averaged $3,166,051 per day, an increase of 24 percent, and attendance was up 10 percent to 3,151 per day. Lynn Scace won the trainers' title and Jesus Castanon narrowly defeated Terry Houghton for leading rider. . . . Jockey Caesar Bisono will be sidelined four to six weeks with a fractured right wrist and broken right leg sustained when his mount, Convey to Me, broke down at the quarter pole in a five-furlong turf race Saturday at Bay Meadows. . . .

The Michigan Senate on Thursday passed a bill authorizing slot machines at racetracks in the state by a vote of 20-18, but not before cutting out provisions that would have legalized offtrack betting and account wagering.

The Senate bill faces an uncertain future in Michigan, where existing casinos have lined up to oppose the measure and Gov. Jennifer Granholm has said she will veto any bill authorizing more gambling at tracks unless legislators first balance the budget.

Chuck Badone, a longtime handicapper who wrote for Daily Racing Form and worked at Turf Paradise, Monmouth Park, and Lone Star Park, died of esophagus cancer in Phoeniz on Thursday at age 67. A memorial service was scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday at St. Thomas More in Glendale, Ariz. . . . The Thoroughbred Club of America in Lexington, Ky., has elected to two-year terms Tony Cissell of Castleton Lyons, Allen Kershaw of Gainsborough Farm, and David Switzer of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders and Kentucky Thoroughbred Association.

Let's let jockeys do their jobs on human scale

The HBO documentary "Jockey," about the self-imposed punishment that far too many jockeys must put themselves through to meet mandatory riding weight requirements, may have come as a shock to casual observers of Thoroughbred racing. The subject is certainly no secret, though, to anyone who has ever spent time around the backside of a racetrack.

A federal judge ruled Thursday morning that five jockeys who filed a lawsuit against the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority could wear advertising while riding in Saturday's Kentucky Derby.

The ruling, a temporary restraining order that prevents the authority from enforcing a longstanding rule that prohibits jockeys from wearing anything contrary to the "tradition of the turf," is at least a short-term victory for many high-profile jockeys who are able to attract the attention of sponsors eager to exploit televised races like the Derby.

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A federal judge in Kentucky on Wednesday delayed by one day a much-anticipated ruling on whether jockeys can wear advertising in Saturday's Kentucky Derby.

Judge John Heyburn II of the U.S. District Court of Western Kentucky will issue the ruling at 10 a.m. on Thursday, according to court officials. Heyburn had said on Tuesday after two days of hearings that the ruling would be issued on Wednesday.