On Feb. 21, Aqueduct’s racetrack was shrouded in a dense fog. That didn’t stop a 3-year-old maiden, Ground Control, from floating over the muddy track in a most peculiar way and apparently setting a six-furlong world record when the time for the fifth race was put on the board at 1:06.07.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t believe those times are correct,” said an incredulous John Imbriale, the track announcer, just after the horses crossed the finish line.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has filed multiple complaints – including alleged animal abuse, the misuse of drugs on horses, and fraud – against trainer Steve Asmussen and his top assistant, Scott Blasi, with various agencies in Kentucky and New York, and seeks sanctions against them, including the possible suspension of their licenses as well as potential criminal charges.

The complaints also include Asmussen allegedly employing undocumented workers, requiring those workers to use false names on Internal Revenue Service forms, and underpaying them.

The road to this year’s Kentucky Derby might seem as jarring as a drive down Wilshire Boulevard near Western in Los Angeles, or on the Belt Parkway near Aqueduct – the kind of ride that makes your body shudder.

WHO’S HOT

Team Valor International, the partnership entity headed by Barry Irwin, promoted Megan Jones to vice president on Tuesday. Jones, 29, previously served as the operation's director of client relations.

“It is time for Megan to step up and learn to take over the stable," Irwin stated in a release. "She knows the company, she knows the clients, she knows the horses, she knows the stable staff, and she is a tireless worker with a love for the game and for Team Valor.”

The Breeders’ Cup World Championships has been nominated in the Sports Event of the Year category for the 2014 Sports Business Awards presented by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal and Sports Business Daily.

Florida regulators have ruled that a nonprofit company controlled by Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach cannot use a gambling permit for a casino in Miami, according to a document provided by the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering.

The problematic foot of Shared Belief is “almost to that perfect point,” and he could finally begin working soon, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said Tuesday on a national teleconference.

“I think you’ll see some works in the next couple of weeks,” Hollendorfer said.

Shared Belief was the champion 2-year-old male of last year, when he won all three of his starts, including the CashCall Futurity. But a foot injury has kept him from serious training for the past couple of months and forced him out of the Triple Crown.

Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, the widow of the late Thoroughbred owner-breeder Paul Mellon, died on March 17 at Oak Springs Farm in Virginia, according to the Associated Press. Rachel Mellon was 103.

While Rachel Mellon enjoyed rural living, she was more closely associated with gardening and landscape design than horses. Her husband, who died in 1999 at age 91, ran one of the most prestigious racing operations in the world under the name Rokeby Stables.

The couple donated millions of their fortune to equine causes, including research into equine diseases and aftercare programs.

Three finalists have been selected for the 2013 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, to be awarded April 9.

The Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award annually offers a $10,000 prize to the winner, with $1,000 going to the other two finalists. The award was launched in 2006 by the late Dr. Ryan to recognize full-length literary work in the Thoroughbred realm. His son, Shane, has continued directing the award since the elder Ryan’s death in 2007.

The winner will be announced during an invitation-only reception at the Ryan family’s Castleton Lyons farm near Lexington, Ky.