The Oklahoma Thoroughbred Association, which has represented the state’s breeders since 1958, will turn that duty over to the Thoroughbred Racing Association of Oklahoma, a branch of the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, beginning Monday.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The American Graded Stakes Committee has approved a measure to require that the raceday use of the diuretic furosemide be banned in 2-year-old races in 2012 for the races to remain eligible for the grades it assigns, the committee said on Wednesday, upping the ante in a struggle over raceday drugs that is pitting some of the sport’s most powerful factions against each other.

There is an increasing likelihood that takeout rates on some exotic bets will be lower at California tracks this fall, but executives with the racetracks and the Thoroughbred Owners of California have yet to finalize the details.

In late July, Santa Anita and Hollywood Park officials proposed lowering the takeout on exactas and quinellas from 22.68 percent to 21.68 and lowering the takeout on daily doubles from 22.68 percent to 15.43, the equivalent to current takeout rates for win, place and show bets.

England’s Tattersalls sale company has filed suit against California-based Thoroughbred owner Jeffrey DeHaven, alleging he has not yet paid for the 3-year-old filly Singapore Lilly.

A Mujadil filly, Singapore Lilly cost about $344,000 at the Tattersalls December sale last year and has since raced twice in California in DeHaven’s name. Trained by James Cassidy, she finished seventh in Santa Anita’s March 13 China Doll Stakes and eighth in Hollywood Park’s June 11 Honeymoon Handicap.

The slide in wagering on horse races held at U.S. racetracks decelerated significantly during the month of July, falling only 2.9 percent compared with wagering in July of last year, according to figures released by Equibase on Thursday.

Churchill Downs Inc. continued to pay down its long-term debt during a second quarter in which the company posted record revenues, underlining the company’s strength at a time when the racing industry is facing serious economic pressures.

Churchill Downs Inc. had net income of $40.7 million in the second quarter of 2011, a 45-percent increase over second-quarter earnings last year, largely on the strength of higher revenue from the company’s casino and account-wagering operations, according to financial statements released late Wednesday.

During the quarter, Churchill had revenue of $249.7 million, according to the statements, up 16 percent over revenue of $215.4 million in the second quarter of 2010. Revenue from the company’s racing, gambling, and online operations were all up quarter-over-quarter.

Penn National Gaming Inc., one of the largest racetrack and casino companies in the U.S., had net income of $76 million in the second quarter of 2011, a sharp increase over second-quarter net income last year of $9.2 million.

Officials of the Jockey Club and the consulting firm McKinsey and Company will present the results of an economic study that McKinsey recently completed at the Jockey Club’s annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing on Aug. 14 in Saratoga Springs, the Jockey Club said on Friday.

A California-based horse owner on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission asking a Kentucky court to strike down a rule that restricts claimed horses to running at the track at which the horse was claimed until the track’s meet is over.