A press conference has been called for 8:45 Eastern on Friday morning, at which time it is expected that Uncle Mo will be withdrawn from the 137th Kentucky Derby. More details will follow.

LEXINGTON, Ky. − Bourbon. It’s been called “moonshine’s uptown cousin.” It’s been used as currency and as a painkiller for wounded Civil War soldiers. The artist John James Audubon once made a fortune speculating in it. And it’s the heart of the Kentucky Derby’s official drink, the mint julep.

Jack Robbins has switched titles at the Oak Tree Racing Association, giving up presidency of the not-for-profit organization to be chairman of the board of directors, Oak Tree announced on Wednesday.

Robbins, who is retired and lives in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., is the last remaining founding director of Oak Tree, which operated an autumn race meeting at Santa Anita from 1969 to 2009 and at Hollywood Park in 2010.

Robbins will be replaced as president by California breeder John Barr.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – John Greathouse’s three-time Grade 1 winner Devil May Care, who ran in last year’s Kentucky Derby, was euthanized Wednesday after being found to have lymphosarcoma, a form of cancer.

A 4-year-old Malibu Moon filly, Devil May Care received the cancer diagnosis from veterinarian Johanna Reimer of the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital here. Earlier this year, she had been hospitalized in Florida but relocated to the Greathouse family’s Glencrest Farm in Midway, Ky., this spring.

Nancy Alberts, 65, best known as the trainer, owner, breeder, and exercise rider for 2002 Preakness Stakes runner-up Magic Weisner, died late Tuesday night at Georgetown Medical Center, where she had been hospitalized since suffering a stroke on April 17.

Alberts was one of just 13 female trainers ever to start a horse in the Preakness. Her horse Magic Weisner, a Maryland-bred gelding, rallied from far back at 45-1 odds to finish three-quarters of a length behind War Emblem in the Preakness nine years ago.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Emile Ramsammy, who was born in Trinidad and has been riding in Ontario since 1991, has been named the 2011 recipient of the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award.

Presented annually on Woodbine Oaks Day, the Gomez Award is given to a jockey who is Canadian-born, was Canadian-raised, or has been a regular rider in the country for more than five years and has made significant contributions to the sport.

Indiana lawmakers have passed a two-year budget that will reduce the amount of casino subsidies going to the Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing industries by approximately $3 million, or 5 percent lower than the amount distributed in 2010.

The cuts were a victory, of sorts, for the racing industries, which were facing much larger cuts in earlier versions of the budget. Lawmakers had initially proposed a more than 50 percent reduction in the subsidies from casino revenue for both the Thoroughbred and Standardbred industries.

Drug quandary calls for action to reassure public

The past and current chairmen of the Association of Racing Commissioners International got the industry's attention recently on their recommendation to ban raceday medication, as we were reminded in the April 30 article, "RCI calls for rethinking of drug." I fail to see the wisdom in the opposition's side to maintain the current medication platform while the industry holds meetings and contemplates more scientific studies.

When a long-retired rider died this past January, the opening sentence of nearly every newspaper story began, “William Harmatz, 79, a jockey who rode Royal Orbit to victory in the 1959 Preakness Stakes . . .”

For all but a handful of the really illustrious riders, a jockey’s career is often defined by whether he or she won a Triple Crown race, especially the Kentucky Derby.

For the top riders of the day, this can involve picking between several horses. For others, it is often just the luck of the draw.

Though Flashpoint has enough graded stakes earnings ($140,000) to put him 22nd on the list of Kentucky Derby hopefuls - meaning he would need just two defections to get into the 20-horse Derby field - owner John Fort said Friday that his lightly-raced 3-year-old is being pointed to the Preakness at Pimlico on May 21.