LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Dale Romans and Tammy Fox were in Las Vegas with friends when they were walking in the direction of a wedding chapel.

“I said, ‘Come on, Dale, let’s get married,’ ” Fox recalled. “He literally took off running the other way.”
Some 17 years later, still unwed, Romans and Fox are the unofficial king and queen of the racing world. Their teamwork as trainer and exercise rider was critical in the way Shackleford came into the 136th Preakness, which he captured last Saturday in dramatic fashion over Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The rematch is on – maybe.

While trainer Graham Motion said Thursday from his Fair Hill Training Center base in northeastern Maryland that he would like to run Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom back in the Belmont Stakes, neither he nor Dale Romans, trainer of Preakness winner Shackleford, is ready to commit to the third leg of the Triple Crown on June 11 at Belmont Park in New York.

Mike Sherman, whose Farnsworth Farms won the 1996 Eclipse Award as breeder with champion Jewel Princess and Grade 1 winner Mecke, died May 7 at his home in North Miami, Fla., at age 71.

His obituary in the Miami Herald listed no cause of death.

Trainer Jeff Mullins filed a motion in U.S. Superior Court on Wednesday requesting a stay of a 70-day suspension that he is scheduled to begin serving June 1, citing violations of his due-process rights by the California Horse Racing Board.

In the lawsuit, filed in U.S. Superior Court of California in the County of San Diego, Mullins argued that he should be granted a hearing in the court before the suspension can begin, so that he can present evidence that the CHRB’s decision to enforce the suspension earlier this year violated his rights.

Proposed legislation that would expand gambling in Illinois and bring slot machines to racetracks was added as an amendment to an existing bill by Illinois state representative Lou Lang on Tuesday. Lang’s amendment to Senate Bill 744 calls for five new casinos, expansion in the number of gaming positions permitted at existing casinos, slot machines at Midway and O’Hare airports in Chicago, and slots at racetracks throughout the state, including shuttered Quad City Downs in western Illinois and at the state fairgrounds in Springfield.

Total revenue for racetrack casinos rose 5.9 percent in 2010 compared with 2009, according to figures compiled by a casino trade group, the American Gaming Association.

The 2010 revenue figure, $6.74 billion, was up from $6.38 billion in 2009. The number represents the amount of money that casinos retained from gambling on slot machines or table games. The report, released annually by the AGA, said that the figure was compiled from 45 racetrack casinos operating in 12 states.

Old Friends, the equine retirement facility in Georgetown, Ky., will hold a public memorial service Monday for its six retirees that have died since last spring.

The public is invited to attend the event, which will honor Eclipse Award winner The Wicked North, Secretariat’s son Academy Award, multiple Grade 1 winner Polish Navy, champion Silver Charm’s dam Bonnie’s Poker, world-record-setting sprinter Glitterman, and two-time Grade 1 winner Jade Hunter, sire of 2002 Horse of the Year Azeri.

Delta has been granted an 88-date Thoroughbred meet from Oct. 19, 2011 to March 17, 2012. The track will race on a Wednesday-through-Saturday basis. There will be no live racing on Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve, with special Tuesday cards added on the weeks of those holidays. The meet’s premiere race, the Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot, is Nov. 19. The 1 1/16-mile stakes for 2-year-olds will be held on a special afternoon card that will include the Grade 3 Delta Downs Princess.

William J. Cassity, who competed as a jockey from 1938-46 before working more than 60 years as a valet at Cahokia Downs and Fairmount Park in Illinois until his retirement last year, died Friday at age 87 in Collinsville, Ill., where funeral services were held Monday.

Cassity, a World War II veteran, was the grandfather of Justin Cassity, a longtime racing official and jockey agent on the Chicago circuit.

“He rode for trainer Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons and Calumet Farm and was the kind of man you don’t hear about any more,” said Justin Cassity.

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