LEXINGTON, Ky. – Steve Asmussen will receive a stay of a 30-day suspension recently handed down by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission for two positives for a regulated sedative while he appeals the penalty, according to the commission’s executive director.

Marc Guilfoil, the KHRC’s executive director, said on Wednesday morning that he informed Asmussen’s attorney during a phone call on Tuesday night that a stay will be granted. The commission typically grants stays of penalties for violations that do not involve drugs that have no clear medical purposes for a horse.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – All-sources wagering at the Churchill Downs fall meet that ended Sunday averaged $5.02 million per card, which is slightly less than what was handled in 2017, the last time a Breeders’ Cup was not held here.

Gross wagering during the 25-day meet that began Oct. 27 was $125,505,219. A scheduled 26th day, Nov. 13, was canceled because of freezing weather.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, closed as usual as a decisive favorite in Pool 1 of the 2020 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which closed Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern after a four-day wagering window.

With $284,317 in the win pool, the field (No. 24) closed at even-money and was followed by Tiz the Law (11-1), Dennis’ Moment (12-1), Independence Hall (13-1), and Maxfield (13-1), with all other separately listed horses at 24-1 or higher. “Any filly,” offered as No. 23, closed at 57-1.

Richard Ury, a second-generation horseman who rode and trained Thoroughbreds in his 20s and 30s, died Friday in Hot Springs, Ark. He was 84.

Ury was born in New Orleans and grew up in Palatine, Ill., riding races on the Chicago circuit in his late teens, according to his daughter, Nancy Holthus, the racing analyst who works a circuit of Oaklawn Park and Indiana Grand. Ury began training in his mid-20s and later moved to California, with his career lasting about 15 years.

Besides his daughter, Ury is survived by his wife of 54 years, Jane, and his son, Steve.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Koa, a 3-year-old gelding who had finished second in an upper-level allowance sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 14, was euthanized on Saturday morning after being injured in a workout, track officials reported.

Koa broke off at the half-mile pole in company with a Jerry Hollendorfer-trained stablemate, but was pulled up a furlong into the work. He was taken from the track in the horse ambulance with an apparent injury to a foreleg. According to track officials, he suffered fractured sesamoids that were irreparable.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council, an offshoot of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, on Monday voted in favor of a proposal to phase out some raceday administrations of the anti-bleeding medication Lasix.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Brian Lynch has been suspended 30 days and fined $500 after one of his horses, Into a Hot Spot, tested positive for a Class B medication following a victory in a $20,000 maiden-claiming race on May 16 at Churchill Downs.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – For its entire modern history, the Kentucky racing circuit has never been thought of along the same lines as California or New York, as a place for horsemen with top-class stock to settle down year-round. There were too many holes in the calendar that sent horsemen to richer locales in the summer and winter.

But that is rapidly changing.

A conference focused on equine safety and health issues has been scheduled for the summer of 2020 at its regular location, the sales pavilion at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Ky., according to the organizers.

The ninth Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit will be held on June 23, according to The Jockey Club and the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, which have organized the conference in the past. The conference has been held every two years since 2006.

The California Horse Racing Board is preparing a wide-ranging list of policy changes to present to Governor Gavin Newsom that include greater transparency in the reporting of medication violations, an expansion of funding for veterinary services, and greater access to veterinary records.

At Thursday’s racing board meeting, executive director Rick Baedeker said the racing board is submitting the ideas to Newsom at his request on Dec. 4.

“This is an idea paper given a lot of thought,” he said.