Jockey Patrick Valenzuela is scheduled to return to race-riding Sunday at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico. He has been named on three horses and has an additional mount at the track Monday. Valenzuela last rode Feb. 26 at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.

“This week, he’s been working horses at Ruidoso,” Jodi Mackey, the agent for Valenzuela, 53, and his brother, J.R. Valenzuela, 55, said Friday. “We’ll start taking calls for The Downs at Albuquerque, some of the bigger races, then plan to go to Zia Park.”

The meet at Zia, in Hobbs, N.M., opens next Saturday.

A new horse-racing convention aimed at fans of the sport will be held in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., next year during Saratoga’s popular summer meet, the organizers of the convention announced on Friday.

Equestricon, the trademarked name given to the convention by the organizers, will be held at the Saratoga Springs City Center beginning on the evening of Aug. 13, a Sunday, through Tuesday, Aug. 15. Tuesday is traditionally the meet’s only dark day during the seven-week Saratoga meet, which attracts racing fans from across the country.

The finalists for the inaugural Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards, presented by Godolphin, were announced Friday, as the committee whittled down more than 110 nominees in the five categories to 13. The winners will be announced at a ceremony at Keeneland on Oct. 7, opening day of the fall meeting of the Lexington, Ky., track.

Del Mar has scheduled 14 stakes worth $2,050,000 for its 15-day autumn meeting from Nov. 11 to Dec. 4, a reduction from the 17 stakes offered at the 20-day meeting in 2015.

This year’s schedule more closely resembles the 14-race stakes schedule from 2014, the first year the track ran an autumn meeting following the closure of Hollywood Park at the end of 2013.

This year’s calendar includes two Grade 1 turf races worth $300,000 each – the Hollywood Derby for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on Dec. 3 and the Matriarch Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile Dec. 4.

Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., and the United Tote Co. announced Wednesday that they have entered into a long-term agreement that will lead to significant upgrades to the track’s infield tote boards as well as its self-serve wagering terminals. Oaklawn also will now be able to accommodate 14 betting interests instead of its traditional 12. The changes are to be in place for the meet that opens in January.

A review of the racing and training surfaces at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in the wake of 10 exercise-related musculoskeletal fatalities so far during the meet meet has not unearthed any obvious problems with the tracks, according to the New York State Gaming Commission.

The New York Gaming Commission on Tuesday released a video it produced with state agencies seeking to raise the profile of fund-raising efforts for racehorse retirement and retraining.

The video, which in long form ran for approximately 12 minutes, was produced as a result of recommendations coming out of a meeting last year held by the gaming commission to discuss in-state retirement efforts, the first of its kind. The meeting Tuesday was described as a follow-up to that first meeting.

Fair Grounds Race Course and Boyd Gaming, the parent company of Delta Downs and Evangeline Downs, are making donations to those affected by the recent floods in Louisiana.

Boyd Gaming announced Monday that it will provide $50,000 to match cash donations made to the American Red Cross for relief efforts in Louisiana through Sept. 12.  

Fair Grounds, in New Orleans, along with First American Bankcard announced Saturday they have donated $27,847 to the United Way of Southeast Louisiana.

Parx Racing had a power outage Monday morning that created phone and internet issues in the racing office. As a result, the Saturday card, which was to be drawn Monday, will now be drawn Tuesday morning.

Horsemen wishing to enter horses for the Saturday card at Parx will have until 9 a.m. Tuesday to do so, according to Sam Elliott, the track's director of racing.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – All-sources handle for Saturday’s Travers card at Saratoga was $45,596,366, the second-highest in history.

The figure was down 8.1 percent from last year’s figure of $49,668,754, when Triple Crown winner American Pharoah participated in the race, finishing second to Keen Ice.