TUCSON, Ariz. -- The racing industry could benefit from richer academic analysis of its varied businesses by forging relationships with universities and making data more accessible to researchers, a panel of academics said on Tuesday afternoon at the Symposium on Racing and Gaming in Tucson, Ariz.

TUCSON, Ariz. – Art Sherman, the trainer of 2016 Horse of the Year candidate California Chrome, was presented with the Turf Publicists of America Big Sport of Turfdom Award on Tuesday during a luncheon held at the annual Symposium on Racing and Gaming.

During his acceptance remarks, Sherman, 79, thanked his family and shared memories of both California Chrome, who won the 2104 Kentucky Derby, and Swaps, the 1955 Derby winner. Sherman was Swaps’s regular exercise rider.

“It’s been a great life for me and my family,” Sherman said.

TUCSON, Ariz. – If racing has an “identity crisis,” the term used in the title for the kick-off panel at the annual Symposium on Racing and Gaming, then it’s one of multiple personalities, participants in the panel told a packed audience on Tuesday morning at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Ariz.

TUCSON, Ariz. – The annual University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program Symposium on Racing and Gaming opens on Tuesday in Tucson with a decidedly utilitarian bent.

Total handle on U.S races in October and November this year was down 3 percent compared with wagering during the same two months last year, according to comparisons based in part on figures distributed Sunday by Equibase.

Total handle for the two months was $1.627 billion, compared with $1.679 billion last year. Figures for the two months were combined by Daily Racing Form because the Breeders’ Cup was held over two days in November this year, whereas the event was held in October last year, making comparisons on a monthly basis inadequate.

Jon Court became the 71st jockey in North American racing history to win 4,000 races when he guided City Without Pity to an 8 3/4-length triumph in the fourth race Saturday night at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.

The milestone comes long after Court won his first race in 1980 at the old Centennial racetrack in Colorado.

“The horse’s name was Neva’s Hope,” Court, 56, said Sunday morning. “I remember it like it was yesterday.”

DEL MAR, Calif. – There is a single-ticket jackpot carryover of $89,411.16 awaiting pick six players on closing day Sunday at Del Mar, and since the pool must be paid out, it’s essentially a pick six carryover, period.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Jose Ortiz wants to finish the year as the leading rider in North America in wins and he knows the clock is ticking. While for most jockeys the year doesn’t end until Dec. 31, Ortiz will stop riding at the conclusion of the Dec. 18 card at Aqueduct.

Not only does the New York Racing Association take a 10-day break after that, but Ortiz is getting married on Dec. 20. He has a honeymoon planned and then another family gathering that will keep him out of the saddle until early January as will a five-day careless riding suspension.

The American Graded Stakes Committee has downgraded three Grade 1 races, including two key Kentucky Derby prep races, and upgraded the Pennsylvania Derby from Grade 2 to Grade 1, according to a release of the 2017 grade assignments on Friday.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Just as the imposing Pegasus statue towers over the Gulfstream Park landscape, so too will the $12 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational dominate any discussions when it comes to the 2016-17 Gulfstream Park championship meet, which opens with the first of 87 programs on Saturday.