LEXINGTON, Ky. -- A Jockey Club-affiliated charitable fundraising group has selected two projects studying bleeding in racehorses and the effects of the anti-bleeding medication furosemide for funding, the organization announced on Tuesday.

Tom Amoss, the trainer ranked 32nd in the U.S. by purse earnings in 2015, will begin a 45-day suspension imposed by the Indiana Horse Racing Commission on Thursday, running through the end of October and the two-day Breeders’ Cup event at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.

The company that owns a harness track and a Thoroughbred track in Indiana has joined a coalition calling for the appointment of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to enforce U.S. racing’s medication policies and drug-testing programs, the coalition announced Thursday.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club will assist horse-racing organizations in mainland China in developing the sport and implementing drug-testing protocols over the next several years as part of an agreement with China’s racing regulatory body, the two organizations announced jointly on Thursday at a press conference in Beijing.

An adjunct to the Kentucky Legislature voted on Tuesday to find “deficient” a rule allowing racetracks to card races open only to horses that have not received a raceday administration of the anti-bleeding medication furosemide, placing the implementation of the rule in jeopardy.

DEL MAR, Calif. - The California Horse Racing Board moved closer to implementing rules for the third-party administration of Lasix when its medication committee approved proposed rules at a meeting on Friday.

The committee, which consists of Thoroughbred owner and breeder Madeline Auerbach and Hall of Fame jockey Alex Solis, voted in support of a rule that will require representatives of horsemen’s organizations and racing associations to reach an agreement on the assignment of third-party veterinarians or third-party veterinary technicians to administer the medication.

Jim Gallagher, the executive director of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association since 2007, has announced his retirement, effective next Tuesday, NYTHA announced on Friday.

Gallagher, who has held a number of management positions in New York and Kentucky, will be replaced by Andy Belfiore, who has been NYTHA’s director of communications since 2011, NYTHA said.

The number of U.S. races held in August plummeted 10 percent, but handle on those races was up marginally, according to figures released on Friday by Equibase.

Handle during the month was $1.14 billion, according to Equibase, up 0.4 percent compared with handle in August 2014. Races held during the month, however, fell from 4,523 last August to 4,069, the biggest month-to-month contraction in recent history. The average handle per race during the month soared 12 percent to $281,345.

The details of a temporary Texas Racing Commission funding plan that enabled the state’s tracks to resume operations after a one-day shutdown Tuesday are beginning to emerge. The commission has been granted authority to transfer $186,000 from already-appropriated funds to administrative cost accounts in order to operate for the next 90 days, according Dave Nelson, the chief of staff for Texas Sen. Jane Nelson. The temporary funding plan extends through Nov. 30. 

The Texas Racing Commission authorized the state’s tracks to resume simulcasting and racing operations Wednesday morning after a temporary funding plan for the commission’s administrative costs was announced by the offices of Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. The extension covers 90 days and was agreed upon by the senate members of the state’s legislative budget board and John Otto, the House appropriations chairman.