ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association of Ontario has come out against the way a significant cut in the Woodbine stakes purses will be redistributed.

Released last week, Woodbine’s 2017 stakes schedule revealed a $2 million reduction in purses. The biggest cuts were to the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile and the Grade 1 Canadian International, which were both lowered to $800,000 from $1 million. Numerous other stakes received a $25,000 decrease.

Language in a Florida gambling bill that would potentially outlaw account wagering in the state is generating discussion among the state’s racing constituencies on how to regulate the practice, according to officials involved in the talks.

The $10 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai and the Epsom Derby in England will be broadcast live this year on NBC Sports Network, the network announced on Monday.

The Dubai World Cup, which is annually targeted by a number of U.S. horses, will be the anchor event of a three-hour broadcast March 25 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Eastern. Last year, 2016 Horse of the Year California Chrome won the race. It had previously been simulcast at wagering sites and broadcast on Television Games Network and through live-streaming on account-wagering sites.

ARCADIA, Calif.- Santa Anita officials moved Sunday’s ninth race from turf to dirt an hour before post time after several jockeys told senior vice president Joe Morris that the turf course became slippery because of early afternoon rain.

The decision greatly affected bettors with wagers in the 50-cent late pick four and $2 pick six. Because the surface switch occurred after betting in the pick four and pick six began, all tickets were credited as winners in the ninth race.

Retired jockey Larry Melancon has been in an induced coma in a North Carolina hospital since undergoing six hours of surgery Saturday after suffering a major stroke the previous day.

Trainer Al Stall Jr., for whom Melancon worked as an assistant and exercise rider in recent years, said friends throughout the racing community are “devastated” at the news.

“Larry was one of the last people you’d think this would ever happen to,” Stall said early Sunday from New Orleans.

ARCADIA, Calif. - There is a rare carryover in the 50-cent pick five at Santa Anita for Sunday’s program.

The bet proved too difficult on Saturday, resulting in a carryover of $335,216 for Sunday. The pool of new money on Sunday could surpass $2 million.

This is the first carryover in the pick five at Santa Anita since January 2015, when the bet had a carryover of $392,287 from a Saturday into a Sunday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association has tinkered with its schedule for the month of March the last several winters trying to deal with what it says is a “brutal” month when it comes to field size.

This year, NYRA has scheduled just three days of racing per week at Aqueduct for the balance of March. The three-day schedule was supposed to start next week, but it actually began this week when high winds forced the cancellation of Thursday’s card.

The board of stewards at Oaklawn Park has instituted a new wrinkle to prerace exam procedures at the track, a move concerning “questionable marks on a horse’s neck.” The new procedures went into effect Thursday.

Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. sustained a shoulder injury when thrown from his mount in Thursday's second race at Oaklawn Park, according to a track official. Lawyer Daggett, who fell in the heel-clipping accident, had to be euthanized due to injuries, according to the official.

Santana and jockey Didiel Osorio, who also was involved in the incident, were transported to St. Vincent Hospital in Hot Springs, Ark.

Osorio was diagnosed with a bruised back, while diagnostics revealed Santana has a separated shoulder, according to Oaklawn spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyt.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association will offer the winners of two specific races in Germany automatic invitations to races at the Belmont Park summer/spring meet, NYRA announced Thursday.

As part of a three-year deal with Hoppegarten Racecourse in Berlin, the winner of the Group 2 Diana-Trial, contested at 2,000 meters on turf at Hoppegarten on June 4, will get an invitation to the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Oaks, a 1 1/4-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies on July 8. NYRA will include an unspecified shipping stipend as well.