Etc. . . .

Lane's End stallion Pine Bluff, whose progeny include recent stakes winner Megans Bluff, will miss the rest of the breeding season after undergoing colic surgery this week at Rood and Riddle. A 12-year-old son of Danzig, Pine Bluff was to be shipped back to Lane's End on Thursday. . . . The Indiana Horse Racing Commission on Wednesday awarded real estate developer Paul Estridge a conditional permit to build a racetrack near Indianapolis. Estridge will have to agree to the conditions of the permit, including having the track operational by December 2002, before a final permit is approved. . . . A committee in the Louisiana Senate approved a bill Tuesday that would allow Fair Grounds to operate slot machines, sending the bill to the Senate floor. The Louisiana House passed the bill in late April.