ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Popular track announcer Dan Loiselle, breeder John G. Sikura, and trainer Reade Baker are among the 2018 inductees into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Monday signed a bill that allows the owner of Colonial Downs to operate gambling machines at the track and at as many as 10 off-track betting facilities, but he also issued a directive to the state’s racing commission to hew to several cautionary principles as it writes the regulations covering the devices.

A rules committee of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Monday voiced its approval for several major changes to the way drug positives are adjudicated in the state, including giving stewards the option of throwing out the cases if a trainer provides “substantial evidence” to overcome the requirements of the absolute insurer rule.

Wagering on races held at U.S. racetracks during the first quarter this year was up 6.2 percent despite a 3.4 percent drop in the number of races held, according to figures released on Thursday by Equibase, the best three-month showing for handle figures in the economically challenged racing industry for some time.

Hazel Park Raceway in southeast Michigan was shuttered Thursday after ownership group Hartman & Tyner announced that the property was in the process of being sold, just under a month before the scheduled opening day of the live race meet.

In a release, Hartman & Tyner revealed that the track has entered into an agreement to sell its assets, and closing of the transaction is expected within the next few weeks. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The track was scheduled to begin live racing on May 4.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the second time in six months, Keeneland Race Course will open its race meet with new takeout rates in place. But this time around, the silence greeting the decision is golden.

Average daily handle at Turfway Park this winter was down 9 percent over corresponding dates from the previous winter, according to figures released Wednesday by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. The Turfway winter-spring meet closed on Saturday.

Average all-sources handle for 54 dates was $1,406,202, down from the average for 66 dates of $1,544,170 in 2016-17. Both reports encompass the separate meets that Turfway traditionally conducts: the holiday meet from late November through Dec. 31, and the three-month winter-spring meet that begins Jan. 1.

Harry "The Hat" Hacek, an agent for top jockeys in California and Illinois, died Saturday in Hot Springs, Ark., his daughter, Brittney Hacek, said on Tuesday. Hacek was 71. 

“It was kidney failure,” said Brittney Hacek. “He was on dialysis for years. The doctor had let us know that the treatments weren’t effective any longer."

Larry Wolken, who headed the racetrack concessions company Turf Catering for decades and was a Thoroughbred owner, died on March 30 in Hot Springs, Ark. He was 87.

A late scratch in the third race at Mahoning Valley Race Course in Ohio led to a brief bet-processing outage at several tracks in the U.S. on Monday, delaying payouts and betting services at the tracks for approximately half an hour, according to officials with knowledge of the problem.

The tracks affected by the outage included Mahoning Valley, Parx racetrack in Philadelphia, Sam Houston in Texas, and Laurel in Maryland, according to the officials.