OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though a break in late March has been added, the New York Racing Association has scheduled 251 days of racing in 2015, according to a schedule it released Friday.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Despite a strong closing-day card last Sunday, total wagering at Woodbine was down slightly for the second consecutive year.

All-sources wagering was $393,871,491 for the 133-day meet, down 2.9 percent from last year’s total of $405,559,284. Average daily handle was $2,961,440, down 4.3 percent from $3,095,872 in 2013. Woodbine operated two more days of racing this season than in 2013, although the remainder of the July 16 card was canceled after six races.

TUCSON, Ariz. – Racetracks and betting companies should explore mining the customer base of fantasy sports leagues for new fans and create their own fantasy games to capitalize on the market’s explosive growth, racing officials and fantasy-league experts said Thursday on the final day of the University of Arizona Symposium on Racing and Gaming.

A severe storm that hit the San Francisco Bay Area with heavy rains and gusty winds, causing flooding, power outages, and transportation problems, forced Golden Gate Fields to cancel its seven-race program Thursday.

The track plans to resume racing Friday with a 12:45 p.m. Pacific first post. The track's annual grooms' Christmas Party also was postponed to Friday.
 

A Detroit man accused of bribing college athletes and a jockey who rode briefly in the United States pleaded guilty to three counts, including conspiracy to fix races, in a case that has touched on the careers of several riders.

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association has announced the rules for the 2015 NHC Tour. Overall prize money for the Tour has been increased 25 percent to $250,000 total.

Saddle Brook Jockey Club, an Amarillo, Texas, facility that has conducted simulcasting since December 2012, will close down Friday night, said co-owner Lynn Alexander.

Alexander and his brother, Drew, had planned to build a racetrack in the county and had been authorized to simulcast from the 6,300-square-foot center for up to two years before the track opened.

The brothers hold a Class 2 racing license for the area but ultimately did not build a track because they believe the racing climate has deteriorated in Texas.

Jockey Alex Solis’s next winner will be the 5,000th of his career in North America. He has two chances on Friday’s program at Los Alamitos – Autumn Flower in the fourth race and Keezheekoni in the eighth.

Solis has not ridden in Southern California since Nov. 30. He spent last weekend riding in Venezuela before traveling to Panama this week to visit family.

Solis’s most recent win in North America was on Synnin at Del Mar on Nov. 28. He is ready for the milestone.

“It makes you look back on all the things you have accomplished in your career,” he said last week.

After initially saying he would not contest the result, Terry Finley said Wednesday he has filed a protest with the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association over the presidential election he lost by 14 votes to incumbent Rick Violette.

Finley, who said he filed the protest Monday, said he is seeking “to have a whole new election.”

Woodbine track announcer Dan Loiselle, who has called more than 55,000 races, will retire May 31, the track announced Tuesday.

A native of Scarborough, Ontario, Loiselle started at Woodbine, then known as the Ontario Jockey Club, in 1967 as an assistant Standardbred racing secretary and backup announcer. He called Standardbred races for 17 years, including big events like the North America Cup, Maple Leaf Trot, and Breeders Crown.