LEXINGTON, Ky. – Betting on the five Breeders’ Cup races held on Friday at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Ky., was down 10.0 percent compared to the five races held on the first day of the event last year at Santa Anita in Southern California, according to charts of the races.

Andrew Byrnes, the longtime stakes coordinator for the New York Racing Association, testified Wednesday at a New York State Gaming Commission hearing that he personally returned an envelope that contained a monetary gift from trainer Linda Rice to her after she allegedly gave money to NYRA racing department employees following her winning the training title at Saratoga in 2009.

Total wagering on horse races held in the U.S. in the month of October once again climbed by double digits, according to figures released on Wednesday by Equibase, the third time in the last four months that betting has climbed significantly compared to the same month last year.

Total wagering was $929.1 million, up 19.7 percent compared to wagering of $776.1 million in October of last year, according to the figures. In July, total handle rose 16.6 percent, only to dip by two percent in August. Handle then climbed 30 percent in September.

Bob Baffert, the Hall of Fame trainer who is currently facing potential penalties for four medication violations over the past seven months, released a statement Wednesday morning pledging to “raise the bar and set the standard for equine safety and rule compliance” in his barn operations.

Lawmakers in both houses of the New Jersey legislature have introduced bills that would formally authorize fixed-odds wagering on horse races, according to racing officials in the state.

The bills would clear up a gray legal matter in New Jersey, where fixed-odds betting on sports was legalized in 2018 following a Supreme Court ruling that gave states the power to authorize the practice, said Dennis Drazin, the president of the company that operates Monmouth Park and a sportsbook on the track property.

Churchill Downs is planning to run next year’s Kentucky Derby on its traditional date on the first Saturday of May, but the track is currently limiting ticket sales to 40 percent to 50 percent of reserved-seating capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s chief executive said Thursday.

A working group of horse racing constituencies in seven states along the eastern seaboard will push to ban the use of the bronchial dilator clenbuterol without a prescription from the horse’s veterinarian and approval from regulatory authorities, the group said on Tuesday.

Jockey Carlos Hernandez was injured in an automobile accident near Monmouth Park on Saturday night following the closing-day card at the Oceanport, N.J., track, according to his agent John Salamone.

Hernandez had seven mounts at Monmouth on Saturday. He won the first race on the card and finished second in the third. According to Salamone, Hernandez went out to dinner after the races and at approximately 9:30 p.m. was involved in a three-car accident.

A group of racing companies seeking changes to racing rules and protocols has ratified eight new goals, a number of which pertain to oversight and regulation of horses while training.

The new goals, which were ratified by the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition’s Steering Committee, indicate that the group continues to broaden its focus and will seek more restrictions on how horses are medicated and treated prior to racing and training.

The 2021 Thoroughbred racing calendar in Southern California will closely resemble schedules from 2014 through 2019, with racing at Los Alamitos in September, a two-month summer season preceded by an open week at Del Mar similar to this year, and the bulk of the racing dates at Santa Anita.