The Kentucky Supreme Court on Wednesday morning heard oral arguments in a case that may determine the future of slot-machine-like devices already installed at two Kentucky tracks that have generated millions of dollars for the track owners and Kentucky horsemen.

Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, La., will start and end its 2014 meet for Thoroughbreds a week earlier than the current meet after receiving approvals from the Louisiana Racing Commission on Monday. The track will again race 84 dates, but open on April 9 and close on Aug. 30. The current season opened April 17 and is scheduled to close Sept. 7.

Breeders’ Cup Ltd. has hired Front Row Marketing Services to take on the company’s efforts to obtain sponsorship and marketing deals with corporate partners, the Breeders’ Cup announced on Tuesday.

The deal comes after sponsorship revenue for the Breeders’ Cup dropped 46 percent for the 2012 event compared to the 2011 event, according to Breeders’ Cup’s annual reports. For the past several years, Breeders’ Cup has attempted to reach sponsorship and marketing agreements using in-house staff, according to Breeders’ Cup spokesperson Jim Gluckson.

Jeff Runco won 160 in six years as a jockey. He got heavy.

He has won 3,334 races in 30 years as a trainer. He got successful.

Runco has been dominating the standings at Charles Town for years, but he could win anywhere, as he proves whenever his horses go out of town.

He trains a very nice 3-year-old West Virginia-bred named In the Fairway. The horse has won four stakes at Charles Town, three for statebreds and the Tri-State Futurity. He has already won more than $200,000.

Arlington Park race-caller John G. Dooley was marveling Saturday evening at how owner-breeders Ken and Sarah Ramsey had dominated the international competition on the Arlington Million card, the biggest day of the year in Chicago racing.

“I should have told the crowd the Europeans have had a good day, and so has the red and white,” said Dooley, a sly reference to the familiar Ramsey colors. “The Americans didn’t need the blue.”

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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – When Orb gave trainer Shug McGaughey his first Kentucky Derby victory in May, it was viewed as a victory for the old school.

After disappointing efforts by Orb in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, however, the 62-year-old McGaughey decided to take a new approach in hopes of having Orb prepared to rebound in the latter part of the year.

Mark Couto, a former trainer who in recent years ran an equine shipping company out of Southern California, died Friday following a brief illiness at his home in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. He was 61.

Couto trained from 1980-1990 and won 137 races during that time. He most recently was the general manager of Air Equine Shipping Services.

He is the brother of Drew Couto, a former president of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders’ Association, as well as a former president of the Thoroughbred Owners of California.

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario – The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame introduced a new communicator category this year to facilitate the induction of writers, broadcasters, announcers, or photographers who otherwise might not have been recognized.

Appropriately, the first communicator inductee was Bruce Walker, who headed the publicity department of the Ontario Jockey Club from 1967 until his retirement in 1997 after starting out with the company in 1960.

Twinspires.com, the account-wagering service owned by Churchill Downs Inc., will begin offering a pick five on Saturday that will be split into two pools, one offering a payout only when there is a single ticket with all five winners and the other offering payouts to all ticket-holders whose selections finish third or better.

Sidney Craig was still glowing from the victory of his colt Dr Devious in the 213th running of England’s cherished Epsom Derby in 1992 when he was presented, with great ceremony, to Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II. Such a moment, fraught with pomp and circumstance, carried with it an unusual custom that called for the owner of the winning colt to promise the Queen a share in the Derby winner’s future as a stallion, Her Majesty being England’s most famous patron of the Thoroughbred breed.