A P McCoy, the champion jump racing jockey in Britain for the last 19 years, announced on Saturday that he is retiring at the end of the current steeplechase season in late April.

McCoy, the winningest rider in the history of jump racing, made the surprise announcement after riding his 200th winner of the season at Newbury Racecourse, west of London. McCoy, 40, has won more than 4,000 races in his career, and is the leading jump rider in England this year.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In an effort to make up for several cards that have been lost due to weather, the New York Racing Association has added three days to the racing schedule in March, the company announced Saturday.

There will be live racing at Aqueduct from March 26 to 28 – days that were initially scheduled as dark days. The track, which reverts to a Thursday-to-Sunday schedule beginning Feb. 19, is forbidden from racing March 29 because it is Palm Sunday.

OLDSMAR, Fla. - Leading jockey Antonio Gallardo was one of four riders involved in a multiple-horse spill during the running of Friday’s sixth race at Tampa Bay Downs.

Terry Finley, the racing-partnership founder who narrowly lost an election late last year for president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, has submitted additional information in his appeal of the voting results.

Three Sixteen drew the inside post and was listed as the 2-1 morning-line favorite for Sunday’s one-mile, $20,000 Oregon Derby at Portland Meadows. Kozzys Kitkat, a stakes-winning filly, is the other leading contender in the field of seven statebred 3-year-olds.

In his most recent start, and his first attempt around two turns, Three Sixteen set the pace in the unrestricted Columbia River Stakes before fading to finish third, 7 1/2 lengths behind the winner. He’s a logical candidate to move forward while facing softer competition in the Oregon Derby.

Turfway Park has raised overnight purses for its winter-spring meet by $500 per race and by adding a race Sundays, reflecting an approximate 10 percent increase to its non-stakes purses. The increase, which began Jan. 30, came in response to higher-than-forecast handle generated by full fields, general manager Chip Bach said.

Firing Line
Line of David – Sister Girl Blues, by Hold for Gold
(Bred in Kentucky by Clearsky Farms; $240,000 purchase by Ben McElroy, agent, at 2014 Keeneland April 2-year-olds in training sale)

Scott Lake’s suspension for two December medication violations at Laurel Park has been recalculated, and he is now facing a 120-day suspension rather than 60 days, according to Michael Hopkins, executive director of the Maryland Racing Commission.

On Wednesday, Lake appealed the suspension and was granted a stay, which will allow him to continue training. Lake will have a hearing before the commission, possibly in March.

The Ohio Derby has received a $200,000 boost to a record $500,000 and moved a month earlier on the calendar at ThistleDown in suburban Cleveland.

The Ohio track, which launches its 100-day meet April 27, also intends to raise average daily overnight purses nearly 20 percent.

The 81^st Ohio Derby will be contested at 1 1/16 miles on June 20. Last summer, the race for 3-year-olds was held on July 19. The Ohio Derby had long been a Grade 2 race, but was downgraded to a Grade 3 event in 2010 and lost its graded status in 2014.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Most horses with consecutive stakes wins would be held in high regard for a race such as Saturday’s $500,000 San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita.

For Hoppertunity, his wins in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs on Nov. 28 and the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes here Jan. 10 will leave him as the third choice in the betting for the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes.