Ercel Ellis Jr., a jack-of-all-trades in the racing industry who hosted a racing radio broadcast for five decades, died on May 7 in Lexington at a veterans’ affair facility, according to his family. Ellis was 94.

A Central Kentucky native whose father managed Dixiana Farm during his youth, Ellis hosted the race results show “Post Time” from 1959 to 2010 and developed a separate radio program, “Horse Tales,” chronicling the industry’s horses and personalities, that ran until early 2026. The programs were highly popular in Central Kentucky.

Regulatory veterinarians should take extra care in declaring horses fit to race and train when those horses have been placed on the vet’s list for unsoundness at any time in their careers, according to a health advisory issued by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority on Friday. 

The three-week Los Angeles county fair meet at Los Alamitos this summer will offer the same three stakes presented in recent years.

The season runs from June 19 to July 5 on a Friday-through-Sunday basis.

The richest race of the nine-day meeting is the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes, a $200,000 race for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs on July 4.

The other two Saturday programs will include stakes – the $100,000 Bertrando Stakes for California-breds at a mile on June 20, and the $100,000 Los Alamitos Derby at 1 1/8 miles on June 27.

Betting on Thoroughbred races at U.S. racetracks rebounded into positive territory in April after months of decline, but the average per race dipped marginally, according to statistics released by Equibase on Tuesday.

Total betting was up 2.23 percent compared to April of last year to $898.25 million. April of this year and last year both had eight weekend dates.

The number of U.S. races held in the month jumped 3 percent, so the average handle per race declined marginally, by 0.7 percent to $413,942.

The race-day administration of the diuretic Lasix will continue to be allowed for horses 3 years old and older running in non-graded stakes races following a much anticipated vote by the board of directors of the Horseracing Safety and Integrity Authority on April 24 that was announced on Tuesday morning.

All-sources handle at the Keeneland spring meet that concluded on Friday jumped 8.65 percent over wagering during the weather-challenged spring meet last year but declined slightly when compared to the spring meet of 2024, according to figures distributed by the track on Friday night.

Remington Park stewards on Wednesday placed 171 Quarter Horses from three leading trainers on a stewards’ list, leaving them unable to race, after horses from those stables were vanned off following major stakes in March and last Saturday.

According to a statement from the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission, the horses were put on the stewards’ list after track stewards reviewed “evidence, reports, video recordings, veterinary opinions, and other information concerning horses that appeared in extreme distress after racing.”

Executives at Churchill Downs Inc. said on Thursday morning during a conference call that a recent agreement to purchase a package of intellectual property rights related to the Preakness Stakes would generate approximately $6 million in revenue each year while also acknowledging that “control” over the race and racing in Maryland remained in the hands of the state.

Churchill Downs Inc. has reached a deal to acquire the intellectual property rights to the Preakness Stakes from 1/ST Racing and Gaming for $85 million, the company announced on Tuesday, a transaction that will end 1/ST Racing’s connection to Maryland racing for good.