Kent Stirling, a longtime executive director of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association who played a leading role in state and national medication reform efforts, died on Wednesday at his home, according to friends. Stirling, 72, had been recently placed in hospice care due to a recurring bout with cancer.

DEL MAR, Calif. – One year after a summer season that was one of the most difficult in the track’s history, Del Mar bounced back this summer with a meeting that was up in handle, featured high-quality racing, had robust field size, and, most importantly, had a terrific safety record.

The track reported handle was up by 5.1 percent from a year ago for the 36-day season, which ended Monday, to an average of more than $12.5 million per day. Daily average ontrack attendance was 13,240, a dip of 1.5 percent.

Purses for the upcoming Gulfstream Park West meet will be increased by an average of 30 percent across the board from a year ago, track officials announced on Friday.

Known as the Fall Turf Festival, Gulfstream Park West’s annual two-month fall meeting is held at the old Calder Race Course and opens on Oct. 4.

Gulfstream Park also announced purses will be raised 5 percent through the remainder of the current summer session, which ends on Sept. 30.

Grade 2 winner Come On Flip was euthanized Thursday morning after battling chronic laminitis. He was 26.

The gelded son of Commemorate resided at Old Friends Equine Retirement in Georgetown, Ky., since 2014. Prior to arriving at Old Friends, he spent most of his retirement on the farm of Teresa and Bud Stahler, who adopted him out of ReRun Thoroughbred Adoption.

The summer meet at Laurel Park showed a significant gain in handle for the third straight year, according to figures released by the Maryland Jockey Club.

Lengthened to 33 days this year from 24 dates the two preceding seasons, Laurel averaged $2.72 million per day in all-sources handle. That is a 25.5 percent increase in average daily handle from the $2.17 million wagered in 2016.

In 2015, the Laurel summer meet had average daily handle of $1.7 million.

The New Mexico Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a request to prohibit state racing officials from placing Heza Streakin Legacy on the stewards’ list. As a result, Heza Streakin Legacy will not compete in the $3 million All American Futurity for Quarter Horses on Monday at Ruidoso Downs.

The management of Gillespie County Fair and the greyhound tracks Gulf Coast Racing and Gulf Greyhound Park have informed the Texas Racing Commission of their intent to cease live racing and simulcasting operations on Thursday. In a letter to the agency, an attorney representing the tracks said they won't pay license fees for the upcoming fiscal year, which starts Sept. 1.

A federal law from 1992 prohibiting states from authorizing gambling on sports should be struck down because it violates several constitutional principles, challengers of the law argued in briefs filed Tuesday with the United States Supreme Court.

The New York Racing Association has reached a three-year extension on a deal to broadcast a two-hour live racing program from Saratoga Race Course on FOX Sports 2 each racing day, the partners announced on Thursday.

The deal extends the partnership on the program, called Saratoga Live, through 2020. Saratoga Live first began broadcasting on Fox Sports 2 in 2016, with a two-hour program typically featuring the last four or five races on the card each day.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Handle at California tracks has failed to keep pace with business in 2016 through July, according to statistics provided at Thursday’s California Horse Racing Board meeting.

Betting at daytime Thoroughbred and fair meetings, the evening mixed meetings at Los Alamitos, and harness racing at Sacramento totaled $1.715 billion through July, down 1.94 percent from $1.749 billion through the first seven months of 2016. There was one fewer day of afternoon racing and three fewer programs in the evening in 2017.