Jeff Gural, the owner of three harness tracks, has signed on with a group lobbying for support of a bill that would grant control of Thoroughbred racing’s medication policies and drug-testing programs to the United States Anti-Doping Agency, the group said.

The New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association will buy drug-testing equipment worth $450,000 for the state’s drug-testing laboratory at Morrisville State College, the association announced on Tuesday, one day after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill extending an 8-year-old law that provides the association with 2 percent of the purse money generated by the New York Racing Association.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Ed Lewi, a pioneer in public relations in the Capital Region whose agency assisted in media relations and marketing efforts for the New York Racing Association for more than  four decades, died Saturday after suffering a heart attack earlier in the week. He was 81.

Seth Hancock, part of the family that founded central Kentucky’s Claiborne Farm, has been appointed a trustee of the Keeneland Association, replacing Louis Lee Haggin III, who has retired from the position, the company announced on Friday.

Hancock, who was made president of Claiborne in 1972 after the death of his father, will join William S. Farish and William M. Lear Jr. as trustees of Keeneland. Hancock is a longtime member of Keeneland’s board of directors.

The Texas Racing Commission on Tuesday voted against repealing rules that provide for the installation of historical racing terminals at the state’s tracks, according to a commission spokesman. The vote was a tight one during a meeting in Austin, Texas.

Of the eight commissioners in attendance, three voted to repeal the rules and four voted against repealing them, according to Robert Elrod, the commission’s spokesman. There was one commissioner who abstained from voting.

The Louisiana Racing Commission on Monday formally adopted a set of rules governing the use of medication in racing that is being pushed by a national coalition of industry organizations, with the rules becoming effective for Thoroughbred races in October, according to racing groups.

The vote on Monday to formally adopt the rules ends a nearly nine-month process to put the rules on the books. The state racing commission had issued a notice of intent to adopt the rules last November, leading to a public-comment period and regulatory review.

The Virginia Equine Alliance, a partnership between the state’s horsemen and breeders, has scheduled six Thoroughbred turf races to be held at an equine facility in The Plains, Virginia, for Sept. 20, the group has announced.

The six races will take place at Great Meadow, which has facilities for steeplechasing, eventing, and other equine events. All of the races will be flat races, with distances ranging from 1 1/8 miles to 1 1/2 miles, the group said. Entries will be taken by the Maryland Jockey Club.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Tuesday approved a raft of amendments to its medication rules and penalties schedule in an attempt to address a recent court case and move the state further toward adoption of a uniform rules policy for horse racing.

Barring a setback, the new rules are likely to go into effect a few months into 2016. In Kentucky, many horse racing rules are statutes, and amendments to the rules must first go through a public-comment period and then receive approval through legislative agencies.

Everett Dobson, a prominent owner and breeder, has been appointed to the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, according to the organization, replacing David Willmot, who was required to step down from the committee after nine years under term-limit bylaws.

Dobson was appointed to the committee at a meeting of the TOBA board on Tuesday. The graded stakes committee also met that day.

Kelly Cathey was named interim executive director of the Oklahoma Racing Commission at a special meeting in Oklahoma City on Wednesday, according to the commission’s personnel director, Bonnie Morris. Constantin Rieger, who for the past 10 years has served as the organization’s executive director, submitted his letter of resignation last Friday, and it was accepted at the meeting Wednesday.