No races were upgraded to Grade 1 status for 2020, but four races – three in California, one in New York – lost their Grade 1 ranking, the American Graded Stakes Committee announced Friday when releasing its comprehensive graded stakes list for next year.

The U.S. Senate passed an omnibus spending bill on Thursday that includes the renewal of a three-year depreciation period for racehorses through the end of 2020.

The spending bill had been passed by the House earlier in the week. The Senate was under pressure to pass the bill by Friday in order to avert a government shutdown.

Hall of Fame rider Javier Castellano, fellow Eclipse Award winner Tyler Baze, and veterans Chris Emigh, James Graham, and Luis M. Quinones are the finalists for the 2020 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, Santa Anita announced Thursday morning.

Santa Anita plays host to the Woolf Award, which is determined by a vote of jockeys nationwide. It has been presented annually since 1950, and is highly coveted by riders as it is voted on by their peers for both professional achievements and personal character. Scott Stevens won the award last year.

TUCSON, Ariz. - A panel of horseplayers on Wednesday afternoon at the Global Symposium on Racing in Tucson criticized the racing industry for being too slow to adapt to changing times and failing to embrace transparency and experimentation, complaints that have become familiar in the racing industry over the past five years.

TUCSON, Ariz. – Officials of state breeding associations are highly concerned about widespread declines in the foal crop but have also seen promising signs regarding the willingness of industry organizations to work together to find solutions, according to panels held this week at the Global Symposium on Racing.

TUCSON, Ariz. – The relative merits and challenges of different racing surfaces came up for discussion on Tuesday afternoon at the Global Symposium on Racing, in a discussion that is likely to foreshadow a future debate in the racing industry as the sport seeks to make significant reductions in catastrophic injuries.

TUCSON, Ariz. – Safety and welfare issues that continue to bedevil the racing industry took center stage on the opening morning of this year’s Global Symposium on Racing, with a number of racing officials arguing that protocols implemented at racetracks this year have made a measurable impact on injury rates already.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A proposal to phase out some raceday administrations of the anti-bleeding medication Lasix took a crucial step forward on Monday when it was approved by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

NEW YORK – Sports Information Group LLC, the parent company of Daily Racing Form, announced Monday that Itay Fisher has been appointed as its chief executive officer.

Fisher, who joined SIG as chief technology officer in 2018 and was named chief operating officer in April, has more than a decade of experience developing and managing digital platforms and improving the customer experience at some of the industry’s leading online gaming companies. Fisher replaces Don Ryan, who joined DRF as CEO in April 2018.

The largest racing conference in the United States will get under way next week in Tucson, Ariz., at a time when racing is facing an inflection point in its modern history.

The 46th Global Symposium on Racing, organized and administered by the Race Track Industry Program at the University of Arizona, will hold nonstop panels Tuesday and Wednesday, with many focused on racing’s most pressing problem – animal welfare. The Tuesday slate is dominated by the issue, with six of the eight panels either directly or indirectly addressing equine safety topics and their impact on the sport.