The average field size for a race held in May at U.S. racetracks jumped 21.4 percent this year as horsemen flooded races at tracks that were able to hold live races in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to figures released by Equibase on Thursday.

Average field size during the month was 8.64 horses per race, compared to 7.11 horses per race in May of last year, Equibase said. U.S. racetracks held only 1,059 races in May, compared to 3,650 races in May of last year.

Kevin Scheen, a steward in South Florida for the past 15 years, has been hired as the executive director of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, the organization announced on Wednesday.

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LEXINGTON, Ky. – Trainers of racehorses should focus on the adaptive changes to bone that occur in response to exercise in order to avoid catastrophic injuries, with a particular focus on those changes that occur when a horse has been returned to training after a long layoff or in older horses that have undergone high levels of training for a prolonged time, according to Dr. Sue Stover, a University of California-Davis professor who is one of the most foremost experts on musculoskeletal injuries in horses.

Philip Fitterer, who spent 30 years working for the Daily Racing Form, died May 27 following a short battle with cancer. He was 79.

Fitterer grew up in Ellensburg, Wash., and lived with his wife, Marian, in Edgewood, Wash., for the past 37 years.

Fitterer worked for DRF first as a writer and editor, and later as general manager of the Seattle office. He retired in 2004.

Live races from Belmont Park in New York and from the two other tracks operated by the New York Racing Association will not be available on TVG this year for the first time in 20 years, according to officials for both companies.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A Kentucky Circuit Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit from the state’s horsemen’s group that would have barred tracks in the state from writing races in which raceday administrations of Lasix are banned absent a formal ban by the state’s racing commission.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Race Dates Committee of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has scheduled a meeting for Wednesday to consider a special request by Keeneland Racecourse to run five live racing dates in July.

The committee will consider an agreement recently reached between Keeneland and Ellis Park that would allow Keeneland to run from July 8-12, overlapping dates that had been awarded to Ellis Park late last year, prior to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Keeneland announced the agreement late Friday night.

The Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association has filed a lawsuit challenging efforts by the state and Kentucky racetracks to implement raceday bans on the administration of the anti-bleeding medication Lasix.

The New York Gaming Commission on Tuesday approved the proposal of a rule that will ease requirements on horses going on and coming off the so-called Lasix list, in anticipation of Lasix-free racing being conducted at tracks in the state later this year.

Grants Pass Downs in southern Oregon has resurrected plans to hold live races this year and will run nine dates spectator-free beginning June 16, the track said Monday.

Grants Pass had earlier canceled its live race meet for this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but the track said that it will now hold live racing on a Tuesday and Wednesday schedule through July 8, with a post time of 4 p.m. The track had been scheduled to start its 2020 meet on May 10.