There was little joy at the stable of Rusty Arnold following Morticia's course-record performance in the Stormy Blues Stakes at Laurel Park on Saturday following the death the evening before of longtime employee Armando Cortes.

Cortes, 39, worked as a groom for Arnold 14 years. He accompanied Morticia from Keeneland to Laurel on Friday but became sick that evening and died.

"The details are a little sketchy," Arnold said. "He was at the barn to feed her that afternoon and went out to dinner with friends. He became ill, was taken to the hospital, and died."

The federal government will issue an additional 15,000 visas under its H2-B visa program this fiscal year, according to the Department of Homeland Security, a decision that may benefit trainers who rely on the program for backstretch help.

The Department of Homeland Security announced the decision on Monday, citing pressure from American businesses that contended that they were facing a shortage of workers. The industries that benefit from the guest-worker program include fisheries, hotels, and, to more limited degrees, industries such as racing.

CYPRESS, Calif. – Los Alamitos completed its two-week summer meeting on Sunday with a decline in all-sources handle from its last summer meeting, which came in July 2015, according to track officials.

Los Alamitos did not release data on the business of the meeting, which consisted of eight days of racing. The track handled approximately $40.3 million for the meeting, which was plagued by shorter-than-expected fields.

ELMONT, N.Y. – All-sources handle for the 54-day Belmont spring-summer meet that ended Sunday was $581,496,467 down 5.3 percent from last year’s figure of $613,870,654, according to figures provided by the New York Racing Association. Ontrack handle was $77,960,658, down 5.6 percent from last year’s 54-day meet figure of $82,620,628.

Two new directors have been elected to the Breeders’ Cup board while another member was re-elected, according to election results announced on Wednesday by the organization.

Craig Bernick, the president of Glen Hill Farm, and Anthony Manganaro, the co-owner of Siena Farm, are the newly elected members. Roy Jackson, the co-owner of Lael Stables with his wife, Gretchen, was re-elected. All will serve four-year terms.

Thoroughbred owner and breeder Barbara Banke and a former senior executive of the National Basketball Association will be among the featured speakers at this year’s Jockey Club Round Table on Matters Pertaining to Racing, The Jockey Club announced on Wednesday.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – The Illinois state budget passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday night not only restores about $1.8 million in Illinois owners’ awards payments that weren’t made available the last two years, it doubles them to about $3.67 million, according to a press release from the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, which helped lobby the legislature.

The Grade 3 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash will move from its mid-November spot on the calendar to mid-September at the Laurel Park fall meet. The $250,000 De Francis Dash is part of a 44-race stakes schedule that has a total value of $4.42 million, an increase of $250,000 from a year ago.

The 60-day season will begin Sept. 8 and continue through the end of the year. On Nov. 11, the recently retired Ben’s Cat, a four-time Maryland Horse of the Year, will be honored. Six stakes are scheduled for that day.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Julio Canani, the winner of three Breeders’ Cup races who was suspended for 13 months ending last November for financial improprieties related to the sale of horses in the late 2000s, was recently denied a trainer’s license by the California Horse Racing Board.

Canani participated in a fitness-for-license hearing in April before an administrative law judge who proposed to the racing board that Canani not be allowed to resume training. The racing board adopted the decision June 26.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – All-sources handle at the Churchill Downs spring meet that ended Friday night was up 6.9 percent over the corresponding 2016 meet, according to figures released Monday by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

Gross wagering was $419,165,824, up from the $392 million handled last spring. Both meets consisted of 38 days. All-sources handle last spring was up nearly 4 percent over the corresponding 2015 meet, which also was 38 days.