Trainer Steve Asmussen has reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor to reimburse his hotwalkers and grooms $130,000, the fourth time that the trainer has been cited by federal and state agencies for employment violations.

Under the settlement, Asmussen also will pay $75,000 in fines and will be subject to a number of measures intended to ensure “future compliance” with H-2B regulations, the Department of Labor said. The H-2B program allows foreign workers into the United States as long as the employer meets certain requirements. 

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Frank Jones Jr., a lifelong racing fan, owner, and breeder who turned his passion into a long-running commitment to industry causes, often as a volunteer, died early Thursday morning, according to friends. Jones was 86 and had been suffering from a lung disease for several years. 

ETOBICOKE, Ontario -- Glenn Sikura, Irwin Driedger, Pink Lloyd, and Formal Gold were the 2023 inductees into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame on the Thoroughbred side during a Wednesday night ceremony at the Mississauga Convention Center in suburban Toronto.

Sikura, 63, was inducted in the Thoroughbred builder category. The owner and operator of Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm Canada, Sikura was a past president of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society. He has served as the chief steward of the Jockey Club of Canada since 2018.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Javier Castellano will ride Belmont Stakes winner Arcangelo and Luis Saez will ride Kentucky Derby winner Mage in the $1.25 million Travers Stakes on Aug. 26, it was announced Tuesday.

Castellano had won his first Kentucky Derby aboard Mage and, five weeks later, his first Belmont on Arcangelo. He was hoping to wait as long as possible to decide which one to ride in the Travers. However, in the end, Castellano said he didn’t make the final decision. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Less than three weeks out from his engagement in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes here on Aug. 26, Arcangelo put in his most serious move for the race Sunday morning, breezing five furlongs in 1:00.31 followed by a monster gallop out that Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Welsch timed in 1:53.36.

“Pretty,” is how trainer Jena Antonucci described it. “Nice, big gallop out. He did everything we asked him to do.”

It was Arcangelo’s fourth work since he won the Belmont Stakes on June 10.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Due to concerns expressed by jockeys about the conditions of the Saratoga turf courses, the New York Racing Association moved the last three scheduled turf races of Sunday’s card to the dirt, creating chaos and frustration for bettors.

Due to the surface switches, the last three legs of both the pick-6 and late pick-5 were declared all-wins, which drastically changed the complexion the payoffs would be in those wagers. The last leg of the middle pick-4 was also declared an all-win.

DEL MAR, Calif. - From the beginning to almost the end of Saturday’s 11-race program at Del Mar, trainer Bob Baffert’s all-powerful stable displayed winners who could have major roles in national races this fall.

Mission Beach, a colt by Curlin, began the day with a maiden-race win at six furlongs for 2-year-olds, disputing the pace throughout before going clear by 1 1/4 lengths. Ridden by Ramon Vazquez, Mission Beach ($3.20) had his debut on Saturday and ran six furlongs in 1:10.63. Mission Beach earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 72.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - White Abarrio’s dominant victory in Saturday’s Grade 1 Whitney Stakes earned him an expense-paid trip to the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November, and trainer Rick Dutrow said Sunday that the 4-year-old colt will be among the first to arrive at Santa Anita to prepare for the event.

“I want to get there as quickly as I can, as soon as they reopen Santa Anita, I want him to go there,” Dutrow said Sunday. “I think it’s best for him to get the job done.”

Quarter Horse racing has a new all-time money winner.

The 4-year-old gelding KJ Desparado went to the top of the list, at $2,796,363, with an easy win in his 2023 debut in a $39,600 allowance race at 400 yards at Ruidoso Downs on Saturday.

KJ Desparado ($2.40) won by 1 1/2 lengths over Stone Cold Leader, collecting $23,760. With those earnings, KJ Desparado passed the previous record of $2,779,603 held by Ochoa, one of the leading runners of the early 2010s.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - There is very little time to rest on one's laurels, or to rest at all, in the horse racing business. Just ask trainer Chad Brown, who was back in the barn Sunday morning, less than 12 hours after winning the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational on Saturday with the lightly raced Program Trading, to work more than 70 horses before finally escaping to his office for a very brief respite.