SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The imminent closure of Hollywood Park has created widespread turmoil in the California racing industry, and that was reflected while the California Horse Racing Board tried to resolve 2014 racing dates at its monthly meeting held Thursday in Sacramento.

Santa Anita and Del Mar proposed taking most of the 2014 dates vacated by Hollywood, including an extended meet at Santa Anita through early July and a fall meet in November at Del Mar. Those new or revised race meets would be in addition to the annual Del Mar summer meet and Santa Anita fall meet.

In a sobering count, more than 150 horses died as a result of the violent tornado that swept through Moore, Okla., on Monday. The number represents the entire community of farms that sit on the southern border of Oklahoma City, including Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses who were based at Celestial Acres Training Center.

Several organizations coordinating horse-rescue efforts, as well as local veterinarians and horse owners themselves, determined the number, said Joe Lucas, executive vice president of the Thoroughbred Racing Association of Oklahoma.

The questions appear here.

1. By 1912, directors of New York racetracks sensed the fervor at the state capitol had died down. Further, Gov. Charles Hughes had earlier resigned to become an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Chantal Sutherland, who announced her retirement here last summer, was at Woodbine on Thursday morning and plans to return to riding at the Del Mar meeting, which begins July 18.

“I just started dreaming about it again,” said the 37-year-old Sutherland, who is working for Del Mar’s marketing department and is here to extol the benefits of racing there.

“All of a sudden I started waking up at 4 a.m. I missed it too much; I love all the people at the racetrack.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In the rough-and-tumble world of sales, there exists a certain belief that gray whiskers may have a persuasive effect on potential customers because they imply invaluable experience and wisdom.

These dudes don’t have gray whiskers.

It can be an extremely tough sell, indeed, for an 18-year-old jockey and his 18-year-old agent in trying to convince owners and trainers that they are capable of helping them win horse races.

A representative of the Celestial Acres Training Center in Moore, Okla., said 34 horses had been found alive as of Wednesday following Monday’s tornado, which packed winds of nearly 200 miles an hour.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The Woodbine Entertainment Group’s plans for expanded casino gambling suffered what would appear to be a fatal blow on Tuesday when Toronto City Council voted 24-20 against Mayor Rob Ford’s proposal to put more slot machines and table games at the racetrack.

“It’s very disappointing news, especially coming out of a positive recommendation in the City of Toronto’s staff report and then an overwhelmingly supportive vote in favor by the executive committee in the middle of April,” said Nick Eaves, president and chief executive officer of WEG.

The race portion of the Preakness Stakes broadcast on NBC-TV on Saturday drew a 5.9 rating, according to NBC, up 13 percent over the rating for the race portion of the broadcast last year and the highest rating since 2009.

NBC said that the rating translated into 9.7 million viewers. The race portion of the broadcast, from 5:50 p.m. Eastern to 6:39, had a 14 share this year, compared to a 13 last year, NBC said, up 7.7 percent.

Share measures the percentage of televisions in use at the time that are tuned to a broadcast.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission testified on Tuesday that the commission did not initially intend to make purse forfeiture a mandatory penalty when a horse tested positive for a certain class of drugs.

The statement by KHRC executive director John Ward came at the end of a 1 1/2-day hearing at the KHRC offices into an appeal of the disqualification of the filly Sign from the Grade 2, $168,150 Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs last year. The appeal was lodged by the owners of the filly, Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Santa Anita winter meet will extend to early summer – more than six consecutive months of racing in Arcadia from Dec. 26 to July 6 – pending the California Horse Racing Board allocation of 2014 dates.

A redesigned Southern California racing calendar necessitated by the looming closure of Hollywood Park is the chief topic Thursday when the CHRB meets in Sacramento. In addition to the Santa Anita proposal, the CHRB will consider a request from Del Mar to conduct a one-month November fall meet in addition to its annual summer meet.