CHICAGO – Budgetary problems within the Illinois Racing Board could lead to a drastic reduction in racing dates next year, and the 2014 schedule the board approved by an 8-1 vote Tuesday in Chicago is contingent upon their resolution. The board says it lacks the money to properly administer a typical Illinois racing season – supplying veterinarians and stewards, running the testing laboratory – and in a worst-case scenario their financial plight could lead to a 185-day reduction in racing dates from 2013.

Penn National Gaming Inc. will award refunds of entry and starting fees in 2014 under a new program designed to provide incentives for horsemen to target stakes races at Penn Gaming’s four tracks, the company announced Tuesday.

An insurance company associated with the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., is offering a $20,000 reward for “information leading to the arrest, recovery, and conviction” of the individual who stole five trophies from the museum Sept. 12, according to the museum.

The reward is being offered by StarNet Insurance Co., which has written policies insuring the museum’s assets, according to Brian Bouyea, a spokesman for the museum. The burglary took place late at night after the perpetrator broke into the museum and smashed a display case.

A federal court in Texas has rejected an argument by Churchill Downs Inc. that the state legislature’s ban on online gambling by Texas residents is a violation of the federal commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.

John Veitch, the former Kentucky state steward who was fired and suspended for his role in the Life At Ten incident at the 2010 Breeders’ Cup, will work as a patrol judge and entry clerk during the upcoming meet at Keeneland in Lexington.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission approved Veitch’s employment at the track when it conducted a vote Monday to approve a list of all racing officials for the track’s fall meet Oct. 4-26.

Several races last Saturday (Sept. 21) had varying degrees of impact toward the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, most notably the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom at Belmont Park, where New York-bred Cluster of Stars remained unbeaten in six starts with an eye-popping five-length victory, and the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx, where a couple of turn-back possibilities, Sweet Lulu and My Happy Face, put in sold efforts behind Close Hatches.

Will Take Charge continued his late-season resurgence Saturday with his victory in the Pennsylvania Derby, his second straight graded stakes win, his third straight sharp performance since a forgettable Triple Crown series, and his final prep for the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita.

The trio of owner Henry Mast, trainer Robert Gorham, and jockey Ricardo Barrios struck first and struck most often Sunday during the Michigan Sire Stakes card at Mount Pleasant Meadows, winning three of the six races in the series.

The Sire Stakes card is Michigan’s marquee day of racing, featuring six $50,000 races for Michigan-sired Thoroughbreds. The card also featured a pair of stakes for Quarter Horses and one for Arabians.

The Maryland Jockey Club placed a barn at the Bowie Training Center under a quarantine Saturday because of a suspected case of equine herpesvirus. Although preliminary tests came back negative for the virus, the quarantine was to remain in effect until the results are confirmed by additional tests early next week.

The MJC issued what it terms a “hold order” on Barn 16 at the training center, which is located about 30 miles southwest of Baltimore. A horse in the barn was euthanized Saturday morning after showing signs of being infected with the herpesvirus, known as EHV-1.

It had the best weather in years. It had a bolstered marketing budget to promote a 150th birthday. It had its first permanent management group in two years. And it had record purses, buoyed by subsidies from the most successful casino in the United States.

So what happened at Saratoga Race Course this summer, where attendance, handle, and field size all fell despite all that the track had going for it?