Rockingham cancels two cards

Rockingham Park canceled on Saturday its live racing cards for Monday and Wednesday after only four races filled for Monday, with seven horses each. No effort was made to fill a Wednesday card, according to a track spokesman.

The New England Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and Rockingham are locked in a dispute over the percentage of revenue from simulcasting that is allocated for purses. Horsemen are asking for 5.25 percent, up from the current 4 percent.

Rockingham has been operating without a purse contract since it opened June 10, and contract negotiations were stalled as of the weekend.

The track obtained a restraining order Friday prohibiting horsemen from blocking the sale of Rockingham's simulcast signal, and horsemen responded with a boycott of the entry box.

A hearing was scheduled for Monday in a New Hampshire district court to determine if the horsemen's right to withhold the simulcast signal is valid.