The 56-day Laurel Park meet, which concluded Sunday, showed gains in total handle, average daily handle, in-state wagering, and out-of-state wagering.

The meet, which began Jan. 1, had four more race days than in 2016, so it is not unexpected that total handle would be up. But while the number of days increased 7.6 percent, total handle was up 22.2 percent, from $151.1 million in 2016 to $184.7 million this year.

Average daily handle for the meet was up from $2.37 million a day in 2016 to more than $2.72 million, an increase of 14.7 percent.

Despite unseasonably cool temperatures, the lack of a popular contender, and a quirky wet track, wagering on the Kentucky Derby and its supporting card Saturday at Churchill Downs set records, with total betting surpassing $200 million for the first time on a North American race card, according to the race charts.

The race portion of the Kentucky Derby broadcast on NBC late Saturday afternoon posted a 10.5 overnight rating and a 23 share, the second-best overnight rating in the past 25 years, the network said Sunday morning.

The 10.5 rating was a 12-percent gain over the overnight figure from last year, which was a 9.1. Share, which measures the percentage of televisions in use tuned to a broadcast, for the Derby portion of the broadcast last year was a 21.

Total handle on the Kentucky Derby and the supporting 14-race card at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday were both records, according to charts of the races, with total wagering on Saturday breaking a milestone mark of $200 million.

Both houses of Congress have approved a budget bill that will allow for an increase in the number of nonagricultural visas issued this fiscal year, a provision considered important to the racing industry.

The Senate passed the bipartisan budget bill Thursday night, several days after the House of Representatives passed the same bill, largely unchanged from the original budget agreement reached between Republicans and Democrats on Sunday night. Passage of the bill allows the government to avoid a shutdown prior to a Friday deadline.

An effort to pass legislation in Florida dramatically altering the state’s gambling landscape died on Tuesday when legislators dissolved a conference committee that was set up to resolve the vast differences between bills that passed separately in the House and the Senate.

Epicharis, the Japanese-bred 3-year-old who was eligible to run in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, was confirmed as a starter for the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes on June 10, it was announced late Tuesday night.

Should he win the Belmont, Epicharis would earn his connections a $1 million bonus that the New York Racing Association announced earlier this year for any Japanese-based horse who wins the race. That is on top of the $800,000 first-place purse.

A bipartisan federal budget agreement reached Sunday night includes language that raises a cap on the number of nonagricultural worker visas that can be issued this year, quelling concerns in the racing industry, at least temporarily, that the federal government would cut back on a source of visas critical to backstretch workers.

Parx Racing is changing the conditions of one of its June stakes in the hope of drawing a larger, more competitive field.

June 24 is Turning for Home Day at Parx, and is named after the track's Thoroughbred retirement and rescue program, which was founded in 2008. The day serves as a fundraising and promotional opportunity for Turning for Home and a $100,000 stakes on the card has been named for it in recent years.

This year, the stakes will be replaced with a starter handicap with a purse of $100,000, according to Sam Elliott, the track's director of racing.

The board of directors of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association approved three new directors at a meeting Thursday, a move that expands the board by two seats, according to the organization.

Bill Mudd, the president and chief operating officer of Churchill Downs Inc., and Kip Levin, the chief executive of Betfair US/TVG, were both formally approved as new directors at the meeting, following the decisions by their companies earlier this year to rejoin the NTRA as dues-paying members. With the approvals, the NTRA board was expanded to 15 members.