LAUREL, Md. - Laurel Park handled $4.45 million on the Maryland Million card Saturday, an increase of 18.5 percent from last year's handle of $3.78 million.

This is the third consecutive year that handle on Maryland Million Day has increased. In 2014, Laurel handled $2.8 million on the card. The cumulative increase from 2014 to 2016 is 60 percent.

Laurel is owned by The Stronach Group, which has put $20 million in capital improvements into the frontside and backstretch of the track over the last two years.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Baccelo, winner of the Grade 3 Iselin Stakes at Monmouth Park in August, had to be euthanized after suffering a fractured right foreleg during training Thursday morning at Belmont Park.

Baccelo was one of seven equine fatalities - two racing-related - to occur at Belmont in a one-week period.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Sixty-one winning tickets, each worth $16,690 for $1, were sold Thursday at Keeneland on a pick 6 that drew more than $1.1 million in new handle.

Held on races 4 through 9, the pick 6 had not been won during the five prior racing days, leading to a carryover of $329,321 into Thursday.

Odds on the winning horses in the sequence were 7-2, 9-5, 2-1, 5-2, 9-1, and 3-1. The winning numbers were 2-7-6-2-4-3.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The California Horse Racing Board failed to approve a 2017 racing calendar for Northern California on Thursday after a discussion that lasted more than 2 1/2 hours and included testimony from more than a dozen racing and track officials.

A Kentucky circuit court ruled Thursday that Charles and Maria Borell have no claim to horses found earlier this year on a farm leased by Charles Borell, according to the state’s agriculture department.

The ruling by Mercer County Circuit Court Judge Darren Peckler is somewhat redundant, because Charles Borell relinquished all ownership claims to the horses when accepting a plea deal last month on charges of animal cruelty related to the abandonment of the horses. The ruling also noted that Maria Borell, his daughter, has not asserted any claims to the horses.

Racetracks located in states that do not enforce medication and drug-testing policies endorsed by a national racing organization will not be eligible for accreditation by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association beginning in 2019, the NTRA announced on Thursday.

Thistledown in North Randall, Ohio, cancelled its racing card late on Wednesday afternoon after track valets refused to work because of a contract dispute, according to a representative of riders at the track.

The track’s valets, which handle tack for the track’s riders and also assist in saddling and unsaddling duties, announced that they would not work the card 10 minutes prior to the first post at 1:40 p.m. Eastern, according to Heriberto Rivera Jr., a regional representative of the Jockeys’ Guild.

Whether horsemen in New York have the right to a split sample when notified of a positive drug test is at the heart of a lawsuit brought by Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott against the New York State Gaming Commission.

Mott is appealing a 15-day suspension and a $1,000 fine handed him by the commission for overages of two legal medications found in the horse Saratoga Snacks when he finished last in the fourth race at Belmont Park on Sept. 20, 2014. The levels of the medications found in the horse were so high that Mott believes the tests were faulty.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Churchill Downs plans to begin a $16 million renovation of the second-floor area of the track when the fall meet ends Nov. 27. The project is to be completed in time for the 2017 spring meet, according to a release from Churchill Downs Inc.

The project encompasses some 95,000 square feet, extending from the Gate 17 escalators and toward the racetrack. It covers the Gold Room and Champions Bar, as well as the Aristides Lounge.

The Stronach Group, the racing company controlled by owner-breeder Frank Stronach, purchased the historical racing machine operator RaceTech earlier this summer, top officials of the companies confirmed on Tuesday.

The acquisition, which was first reported by the Blood-Horse, closed in July, according to Louis Cella, part of the family that founded RaceTech in 2000, and Steve Keech, an executive vice president of The Stronach Group.