ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Russell Baze, who was born in Vancouver and went on to become the winningest North American rider in history, is among this year’s nominees to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Baze, 53, was among three candidates in the jockey/trainer category put forward by the Hall of Fame’s nominating committee for consideration by the 20-member election committee.

Election committee voters also will choose from three candidates in the male horse, female horse, builder, and veterans categories. Any individual receiving at least eight votes will be inducted.

The first article in a series planned by the New York Times examining injuries in horse racing has put the racing world under a harsh spotlight and may have serious consequences for the sport, including the possibility of a renewed push for federal regulation, according to racing officials.

The Thoroughbred Owners of California will have seven new members on its 15-person board following an election held in late winter, the organization announced on Friday.

Incumbent board members Madeline Auerbach, Bob Baffert, Dennis Cardoza, Mark Dedomenico, Ed Moger, Jack Owens, Mike Pegram, and Pablo Suarez will be joined by newly elected members Mike Harrington, George Krikorian, Ron McAnally, John Sadler, George Todaro, Kathy Walsh and Mike Wellman.

Rohit Thukral, who has led Churchill Downs Inc’s online business since 2009, resigned on March 19, effective immediately, according to a filing by Churchill Downs with the SEC.

Thukral was the executive vice president of technology initiatives for Churchill Downs and the president of its twinspires.com account-wagering operation. Twinspires.com is the largest account-wagering operation in the country, when measured by handle.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A Hall of Fame jockey, two well-respected veterinarians, and a high ranking official of two industry organizations have been retained by the New York Racing Association to investigate the rash of breakdowns that occurred during Aqueduct’s inner-track meet.

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, a group formed by a handful of racing organizations to promote retirement services for racehorses, has posted a survey on its website, www.thoroughbredaftercare.org, and is asking retirement and retraining facilities to complete the form, the group said.

The Ohio Lottery Commission on Monday passed several rules governing slot machines at Ohio racetracks after Gov. John Kasich signed an executive order allowing the rules to go into effect on an expedited basis.

FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Kentucky executive branch ethics commission approved an advisory opinion Monday morning stating that the wife of John T. Ward Jr. can continue to train horses in Kentucky but should not race horses in the state so as to avoid a conflict of interest with her husband, the Kentucky Derby-winning trainer who last month was named executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

Mark Verge, a Los Angeles entrepreneur and horse owner, has been appointed to a senior position at the Stronach Group, the private company that owns Santa Anita Park and Gulfstream, Verge confirmed Thursday.

Two weeks after a report suggested that the government in Ontario, Canada, reconsider its agreements providing payments to the racing industry from the province's racetrack casinos, approximately 500 horse racing supporters rallied at the provincial capitol building. While the racing supporters chanted, calling for the legislature to protect racing, an armada of trucks pulled empty horse trailers around the racetrack-shaped roadway surrounding the building, a symbolic show of the impact that a clawback could have on the industry.