Chuck Borell and his daughter, trainer Maria Borell, have been charged with animal cruelty in the case of 43 abandoned Thoroughbreds on a farm in Mercer County in central Kentucky.

Larry Collmus has stepped down as the wintertime racetrack announcer at Gulfstream Park. No replacement has been named.

Collmus, 49, who began calling the races at Gulfstream in January 2007, cited the desire to lessen his workload, which includes calling races at the New York Racing Association tracks – Aqueduct, Belmont, and Saratoga – seven months of the year as well as being the voice of the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup. Collmus informed Gulfstream Park management of his decision Wednesday morning.

An update on the status of the 43 abandoned Thoroughbreds  in Mercer County was provided by Rusty Ford, spokesperson for the Kentucky state veterinary department, at The Jockey Club’s Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit at Keeneland. Ford was asked to address the some 200- people in attendance due to the high-profile nature of the situation.

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Melatonin punches ticket to Breeders' Cup Classic by winning Gold Cup

ELMONT, N.Y. – The New York state racing license of Brian Lynch has been conditionally reinstated, and he is free to resume training his horses stabled at Belmont Park and Saratoga.

Lynch tested positive for marijuana when administered a drug test by the New York State Gaming Commission earlier this month. After meeting with gaming-commission officials, he turned in his New York training license June 8.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Tepin arrived at Belmont Park on Friday as she continues to make her way back to the Churchill Downs division of trainer Mark Casse's stable following her historic victory over males in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 14.

Tepin cleared quarantine Friday and arrived at Belmont during the afternoon. She will begin the final leg of her journey home Sunday.

Arapahoe Park in Aurora, Colo., has been placed under quarantine after a horse on the grounds tested positive for Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA), the track announced Friday. The lockdown restricts movement of horses both in and out of the stable area, but racing can be conducted, and the track’s program went on as scheduled Friday.

Arapahoe announced that the horse with the positive Coggins test is in isolation.  

Donald Blahut, who owned such stakes winners as Caracortado, Kelly Leak, and Southern Image, died Monday after an illness, according to trainer Mike Machowsky.

Blahut was in hospice care at the time of his death. He was 86.

Born in Emporia, Kan., Blahut owned a Los Angeles-based bookbinding business.

As a racehorse owner, Blahut often had horses in partnerships. Southern Image won 6 of 8 starts and earned $1,843,750 in a career highlighted by wins in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes in 2003 and the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in 2004.

Thistledown racetrack announced Friday that takeout on pick-four and pick-five wagers will be lowered from 22.5 percent to 15 percent for the rest of its race meet starting Saturday. The Saturday program, featuring the $500,000 Ohio Derby, is the biggest day of a meet that began April 25 and ends Oct. 22.

Thistledown has two pick fours per card, spanning races 1 through 4 and races 5 through 8, and one pick five on races 4 through 8. The Ohio Derby on Saturday goes as race 8 and is the cashing leg of the late pick four and the pick five.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Brian Lynch, who had to surrender his New York license on June 8 after failing a drug test for marijuana, will continue to be allowed to train at Woodbine, according to steward Fenton Platts.