LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The 2012 conviction of jockey Robby Albarado on a charge of fourth-degree assault has been overturned on appeal in Jefferson Circuit Court in Louisville.

According to circuit court documents released Thursday by Albarado’s attorney Scott Barton, the jury conviction in an alleged domestic-violence incident that occurred April 30, 2012, involving a former girlfriend named Carolina Martinez was overturned by Judge Brian Edwards. Edwards cited testimony that was “overly predjudicial” against Albarado, and said that he was compelled to vacate the conviction.

Javier Castellano was unseated when his mount Atlantic Dream stumbled and fell after finishing last in the ninth race at Aqueduct on Wednesday, and was taken to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y., for tests, after first being transported to track first aid and complaining of chest pain.

Atlantic Dreams appeared uninjured after the mishap.

Castellano, a 33-year-old native of Venezuela, won eight races at Aqueduct last weekend, including a 6-for-7 afternoon on Saturday.

Tony Vega, who won two leading rider titles at Mid-Atlantic tracks as an apprentice 30 years ago, died Monday following a brief illness at age 52.

During his best season in 1983, Vega won 288 races, including a track-record 134 at Monmouth Park, where was the top jockey. He also finished atop the standings that season for the winter-spring meet at Philadelphia Park with 58 winners.

In Eclipse Award voting for the year’s top apprentice, Vega finished second to Declan Murphy.

Although five horses were covered heading into the last leg of Wednesday’s pick six at Aqueduct, the favorite was not among them. So, when lukewarm choice The Blonde Peque ($8.60) took the finale as the second winner on the day for trainer Christophe Clement and the third for jockey Joel Rosario, the result was a two-day carryover of $72,676 into Thursday.

Many tickets stayed alive through the first four races, wins by Gloria Victoria ($3.20), Secretive ($10.20), Summer Solo ($6.80), and Garmentos Girl ($14).

Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course in Maryland will run 146 live race dates in 2014, along the same lines as the number of live race dates the two tracks ran this year.

The schedule was approved Tuesday by the Maryland Racing Commission after horsemen and officials of the tracks’ parent company, the Stronach Group, presented the plan for approval.

Harry Miller was one of the most prominent attorneys in the nation practicing equine law, but he did much more than that, helping guide racetracks, becoming a leader in the Democratic Party in Kentucky, and teaching Sunday school for decades.

Last fall, John Servis had a 2-year-old Pennsylvania-bred son of Smarty Jones whom he liked so much that he was thinking the colt might get him back on the Kentucky Derby trail. Res Judicata finished second in the Pennsylvania Nursery at Parx Racing, and Servis sent him to Florida.

“Once I got him down there, the more I started doing with him, I realized he just wasn’t going to get that distance,” Servis said. “We elected to keep him sprinting.”

Los Alamitos officials will appear before the Cypress, Calif., city council on Dec. 9, seeking final approval of its plan to expand the racetrack to accommodate Thoroughbred racing in 2014.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The California Horse Racing Board is looking into several large win bets made at Southern California Thoroughbred tracks that were withdrawn in the minutes before post time.

Racing board spokesman Mike Marten said officials had been in contact with Xpressbet about a win bet of approximately $30,000 made through the account-wagering service and removed from the pool in the minutes before Saturday’s seventh race at Betfair Hollywood Park.

“We’ve been in contact with Xpressbet and we don’t expect a recurrence,” Marten said.

A memorial service for Kjell H. Qvale, a longtime owner and breeder, a former president of Golden Gate Fields, and a former chairman of the board at Bay Meadows, will be held Thursday at 2 p.m. in San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral, 1100 California St.

A native of Norway, Qvale died Nov. 1 at age 94.

A member of California’s Racing Hall of Fame, Qvale bred three California champions: the millionaire Silveyville, Variety Queen, and Variety Baby.