The Kentucky legislature passed a bill on Tuesday banning so-called “gray machines,” a type of gambling device, with the backing of the state’s racing industry.

The bill was a significant source of controversy throughout this year’s legislature. The devices have proliferated at convenience stores throughout Kentucky over the past year. Critics, including the racing industry, called them “unregulated gambling devices,” while supporters, including a coalition formed by convenience-store owners and other business operators, called them “skill games.”

Majority leadership of both legislative houses of the New York government released proposed budget resolutions on Tuesday that include endorsements for a plan to loan the New York Racing Association hundreds of millions of dollars so that the association can remodel Belmont Park.

The support of the Senate and General Assembly for the plan is a strong indicator that the loan will be included in this year’s budget. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul included the plan in her own proposed budget released last month. By law, the legislature must pass a budget by April 1.

Pool 5 in the 2023 Kentucky Derby Future Wager closed Sunday evening with Forte a clear-cut favorite among 40 wagering options following the customary three-day run.

Forte, a sharp winner of the March 4 Fountain of Youth for trainer Todd Pletcher, closed as the 3-1 favorite, followed by a second Pletcher trainee, Tapit Trice (8-1), winner of the Tampa Bay Derby on Saturday. The mutuel field, the 40th or “all-others” option, was next at 10-1, followed by Practical Move (12-1) and Instant Coffee (19-1). Everything else was 24-1 or higher.

Arabian Knight, undefeated in two races and rated among the leading candidates for the Triple Crown, has been taken out of training, owner Amr Zedan announced in a message on Twitter late Saturday night.

“Trainer Tim Yakteen wasn’t happy with his last work & we feel it’s in Arabian Knight’s best interest not to rush & allow him more time to develop,” the statement read, in part.

The message said that Arabian Knight will be considered for a summer and fall campaign.

Xtra Heat, an Eclipse Award champion and Hall of Fame racemare, died in December, owner Woodford Thoroughbreds confirmed via a press release this week. The Dixieland Heat mare was 24.

Xtra Heat won 26 of 35 career starts, including an astounding 25 stakes races, a modern record for a distaffer. She missed the board only twice while earning $2,389,635 in a career that spanned from 2000 to 2003. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015.

Stewards at Sunland Park in New Mexico inadvertently rewound a replay video to a previous race when they made an erroneous decision to demote a horse in a Quarter Horse race last Friday, according to testimony from the stewards during a hearing on Thursday morning, the executive director of the state racing commission said.

Ron Paolucci, the outspoken Thoroughbred owner who started hundreds of horses a year at the height of his involvement in racing in the late 2010s, has pleaded guilty to counts of defrauding the federal government and filing a false tax return, according to court records.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The brilliant and unseasoned Arabian Knight, who went 19 days without a workout during the Santa Anita wet-weather track closures, is back on the tab. An early favorite for the Kentucky Derby after runaway wins in a maiden sprint at Keeneland and Grade 3 Southwest at Oaklawn Park in January, Arabian Knight worked five furlongs Saturday in 59.20.

Arabian Knight is owned by Amr Zedan, whose racing manager is noted California clocker Gary Young. The Santa Anita work was the day’s third-fastest at five furlongs.