The Virginia Racing Commission has adopted temporary regulations that will allow for the operation of up to 3,000 slot machine-like devices at Colonial Downs and a network of off-track betting parlors in the state, paving the way for the reopening of the New Kent racetrack.

Wagering on U.S. races in the third quarter of 2018 was up an anemic 1 percent, despite substantial gains in September of this year, according to figures released Friday by Equibase.

The third-quarter numbers can be viewed in a more positive light when accounting for a decline in the number of races during the three-month period. Races declined 3.8 percent compared to the third quarter of 2017, and, using that figure, average wagering per race in the third quarter was up 4.9 percent, from $252,125 in the third quarter of last year to $264,478.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The race dates committee of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has scheduled a meeting for this Tuesday in order to discuss three separate license applications for a new harness track and casino near the Tennessee border and the Fort Campbell military base, according to an agenda it distributed on Friday.

Louisiana Downs closed its 84-date meet Sept. 26 with a small decline in average daily handle on its races, but a double-digit increase in handle on Super Derby Day.

Louisiana Downs, which puts on seven- and eight-race cards for most of the season, handled an average $768,638 a program, down 4 percent from the corresponding meet in 2017, according to figures provided by officials. The average daily handle on its races offtrack was $725,958, and ontrack, $42,679.

Handle on the Super Derby Day program of 13 races Sept. 2 was $1,943,318, up 12 percent.

George R. Albright, a trainer based at Penn National Race Course in Grantville, Pa., with nearly 4,000 lifetime starts, has been charged by a Pennsylvania county district attorney with one count of rigging a publicly exhibited contest, according to his attorney and court documents.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – All-sources wagering at the 11-day September meet that ended Sunday at Churchill Downs was up nearly 15 percent on gross handle of more than $45.4 million, according to figures released Tuesday by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

An average of $4,128,469 was bet per card, well above the $3,522,492 average for 11 days at the corresponding 2017 meet. The single highest handle came last Saturday night, when $5,150,905 was bet on an 11-race card that included four stakes.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The inaugural Stronach 5 was deemed a success by officials from the Stronach Group on Friday after attracting a handle of $157,333 and ultimately producing a payoff of $9,888.30 to the 14 ticket holders who correctly selected the winners of all five events in the sequence.

The unique wager, which encompasses races from four Stronach-owned tracks, Laurel Park, Gulfstream Park, Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields, features an industry-low 12 percent takeout with a $1 minimum wager.

Anita Madden, the Lexington, Ky., socialite who restored a semblance of glamour to historic Hamburg Place with lavish Kentucky Derby parties, died on Thursday night in a nursing facility near her home, according to local news reports. Madden, who had been in declining health for several years, was 85.

Bill Thomason, the chief executive officer of Keeneland Association, was elected the chairman of the board of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association on Thursday, at a meeting in which the association also created a smaller executive committee to meet more frequently with management, according to the NTRA.

A former office employee of the equine industry’s federal lobbying organization, the American Horse Council, has been accused of stealing nearly $600,000 from the operation during a five-year span, according to a lawsuit filed this week by the AHC.

The employee, Ashley Furst, was fired in June after AHC officials confronted her with evidence of her theft, according to the lawsuit. Furst had been hired in 2010 as an office administrator and was later promoted to the organization’s director of communications. The thefts occurred from 2013 until 2018, the suit alleges.