This year’s Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit has been canceled, but the organizer of the conference will instead begin showing weekly seminars on relevant topics beginning May 12, the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation announced Wednesday.

U.S. racetracks held only 746 races in April, a decline of 71 percent compared to the same month last year, while per-race handle at the few tracks allowed to operate in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic soared 164 percent in the month, according to statistics released Tuesday by Equibase.

A consortium of racetracks and racing organizations formed last year to address safety concerns about the sport has launched a tool on its website tracking the members’ progress toward the goals set by the group.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has appointed a new chairman to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and made three other new appointments to the regulatory agency, according to a series of executive orders issued by his office near the end of April.

Steve Wren, a retired trainer who was a fixture at his hometrack of Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., died on April 28, according to a notice from the Arkansas Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. Wren was 67.

Wren trained a number of stakes winners, including 1999 Rebel winner Etbauer; 2003 Delta Downs Jackpot winner Mr. Jester; and five-time stakes winner Miss Seffens. His first win as a trainer came in 1979 at Louisiana Downs, according to records from Daily Racing Form. Wren won with his last starter, Mac Dehere, on April 10, 2010. 

West Virginia’s two Thoroughbred tracks will be allowed to conduct spectator-free racing beginning on May 14, the state’s governor said on Thursday night as part of a relaxation of directives intended to constrain the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

R.D. Hubbard, a lifelong owner and breeder who owned Hollywood Park and Ruidoso Downs, died Wednesday in Palm Desert, Calif., his family said.

Hubbard was 84 and had been in failing health in recent years.

Born in the tiny town of Smith Center, Kan., Hubbard was a teacher early in life and later owned a Fort Worth-based glass company. He became active in racing in the 1970s with Quarter Horses and led a small partnership that purchased Ruidoso Downs in 1988, making a much-needed investment in the southern New Mexico track.

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Opponents and supporters of medication changes in Kentucky, including a potential ban on the raceday use of furosemide in 2-year-old races later this year, voiced familiar arguments during a videoconference hearing held by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Wednesday morning.

NBC Sports will continue to simulcast TVG’s production of live horse racing coverage through the end of May, the two companies announced Wednesday.

NBC Sports has been broadcasting the TVG simulcasts since March, after all other major sports halted their seasons due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Several major racetracks continue to race spectator-free, giving the network live sports coverage during the disruption caused by the pandemic.

Tom Sage, executive director of the Nebraska Racing Commission, has been named chairman of the Association of Racing Commissioners International, the organization announced Tuesday.

Sage, who has been executive director of the Nebraska Racing Commission since 2008, has been active on a number of ARCI committees and is currently a member of its Executive Committee and its committees on model rules, parimutuel auditing, rider and driver welfare, and safety. The chairman position has a one-year term.