A state legislative committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would exempt horse owners in Kentucky from a handful of state taxes related to equine care and farm upkeep.

The bill, the subject of lobbying by equine interests, would enable horse owners to avoid paying the state’s 6 percent sales tax on feed, fertilizer, chemicals, machinery, water, fuels, and other items “used in the production of equines,” according to the bill. The cost of the tax exemptions to the state’s general budget was estimated at $34.6 million annually.

Ramon Dominguez, a three-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey who sustained a career-ending injury in 2013, can be considered for induction into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame this year even though he has not been retired for five years, the Hall of Fame announced on Wednesday.

The Grade 3, $200,000 Texas Mile will be run a few weeks later than usual during the upcoming Lone Star Park meet in one of the most significant changes to the track’s 11-race, $1 million stakes schedule. Lone Star opens April 7 for a 50-date meet that runs through July 17.

The Texas Mile, for 3-year-olds and up, is set for May 6. The race traditionally had been run in late April and last season ended up being held May 1 because heavy rains forced it to be delayed for one week.

The number of horses testing positive for the equine herpesvirus at Sunland Park in New Mexico continues to climb, but Turf Paradise in Arizona has announced plans to lift its quarantine at the end of next week after reporting to health officials that no horses have exhibited symptoms of the disease since a horse was euthanized nearly two weeks ago.

An anticipated vote on whether to repeal historical racing rules in Texas never came to fruition at a Tuesday meeting of the state’s racing commission after a temporary restraining order was presented prohibiting a vote.

The 20-day restraining order against the commission was granted to the Texas Greyhound Association by a state judge. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 18, according to Robert Elrod, a spokesperson for the commission.

The fate of complex gambling legislation in Florida involving a compact between the state and the Seminole Indian Tribe remained unclear as one of two state legislative committees postponed debate on the issue Tuesday.

The number of horses testing positive for the equine herpesvirus at Sunland Park in New Mexico continues to climb, but Turf Paradise in Arizona has announced that it plans to lift its quarantine at the end of next week after reporting to health officials that no horses there have exhibited symptoms of the disease since a horse was euthanized nearly two weeks ago.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Continuing a program it began in late December for Parx horsemen, the New York Racing Association will offer free vanning for horsemen based at Laurel Park who want to run at Aqueduct from Feb. 19 to March 10. Laurel is not racing during that period.

Horsemen at Laurel are urged to make arrangements with Sal Russo of NYRA and contact him at (718) 641-4700, ext. 3029, or on his cellphone at (516) 322-0645.

Trainer Gary Contessa on Monday began serving a seven-day suspension for a drug violation incurred nearly two years ago at Tampa Bay Downs.

The Contessa-trained Jeremy’s Song, who finished second in a maiden race March 8, 2014, was found to have had 2.3 nanograms of cocaine in his system, according to Contessa. Jeremy’s Song was not disqualified from second, nor was there a redistribution of any purse money earned.

But after negotiations with the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, Contessa received a one-week suspension and a $500 fine.

Trainer Bill McLean won his 1,000^th race Sunday at Golden Gate Fields when Kyle Frey guided Moogie Woogie ($11) through an opening in the upper stretch and guided the 5-year-old gelding to a neck victory in a four-way photo in a $12,500 claiming race at one mile.

  McLean, a native of Cloverdale, British Columbia, has been training since 1971 after getting his start under trainers Carl Baze and Troy Taylor in the Northwest. He split time between Northern California and the Northwest until permanently settling in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1998.