Three Illinois horsemen’s groups have filed a lawsuit with the circuit court of Cook County seeking to compel the Illinois legislature to fund an $11 million 2016 recapture payment debited this year from racing purse accounts in the state.

The lawsuit was filed Nov. 1 by the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association, and the Illinois Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, and names Illinois state comptroller Susan Mendoza as the defendant.

The Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission has suspended four trainers indefinitely for failing to comply with broad subpoenas in an investigation apparently focusing on hidden ownership and program trainers at Parx racetrack, an attorney representing the trainers confirmed on Wednesday.

The suspended trainers are Marcos Zulueta, Juan Carlos Guerrero, Joseph Taylor and Silvio Martin, according to Alan Pincus, who confirmed the names. Zulueta and Guerrero are third and fifth in the Parx trainers’ standings by wins.

A federal jury in Louisiana has found a backstretch veterinarian and a compounding pharmacy guilty on several counts related to the sale and distribution of a powerful synthetic pain-killing drug to trainers in the state, according to the U.S. district attorney prosecuting the case.

Wagering on the 13 races of the Breeders’ Cup this year, held on Friday and Saturday at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., rose for the second straight year, with both years showing the strongest gains in the pools for multi-race wagers, according to data collected from Equibase charts.

Betting on the 13 Breeders’ Cup races held at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., on Friday and Saturday was up 5.7 percent compared with last year and was the highest total since the 2013 event, according to charts of the races.

Handle on the four Breeders’ Cup races held on Friday at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., was $31.5 million, according to the charts of the races, up 3.2 percent compared to the same four races last year.

The federal tax reform plan released on Thursday by Republicans contains a change to tax law that could limit the number of deductions used by a small number of horse players and other gamblers to offset or eliminate their gambling winnings, according to officials who have analyzed the plan.

Daily Racing Form writer Matt Hegarty was among four honorees Thursday night at the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association annual awards dinner at The Brigantine restaurant in Del Mar.

Hegarty, who writes about industry topics ranging from medication regulation to business issues to politics, was presented with the Walter Haight Award for excellence in turf writing. He has been employed by the Form for 20 years after previously working for Thoroughbred Times.

Churchill Downs Inc. had net income of $16.7 million in the third quarter of 2017, nearly double the net income of the third quarter last year, according to financial statements released late Wednesday by the company.

In a Pennsylvania Racing Commission ruling dated Oct. 26, the Penn National board of stewards fined trainer Peter Miller $1,500 for his horse Richard's Boy testing positive for methamphetamine following the $200,000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup on June 3.

Richard's Boy finished second by a head to Bold Thunder in the five-furlong turf sprint, but was placed first by the stewards, who disqualified Bold Thunder to second for ducking out in midstretch.