Control of up to $15 million in bets made offtrack and online is now under the control of three horsemen’s groups following a Virginia Racing Commission meeting held Wednesday.

The Virginia Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and Virginia Harness Horse Association were recognized as the state’s official horsemen’s groups for Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds, respectively. This entitles the groups to up to 5 percent of offtrack and online bets if offtrack-betting facilities open under new legislation.

A bill to remove exercise riders from the state-sponsored New York Jockey Injury Compensation Fund failed to gain traction in either house of the New York legislature before the close of the 2015 session last week.

Introduced on May 14 by Sen. John Bonacic, the legislation aimed to reduce the cost of workers’ compensation insurance premiums to the NYJICF by requiring exercise riders to be covered by the policy maintained by the owner or trainer who employs them. Approximately 250 exercise riders are employed at any given time at New York Racing Association racetracks.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Brad Beilly, the attorney for trainer Kirk Ziadie, said he filed a petition for emergency relief with Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal on Wednesday after the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering declined to act on his client’s license renewal before his existing license expired at midnight on Tuesday.

A recently passed bill in the New York legislature would allow the state’s offtrack-betting corporations to draw from their capital funds to help pay for operating expenses.

Legendary equine cartoonist Pierre “Peb” Bellocq and Eclipse Award-winning writer Bill Heller will be honored at the Equine Advocates annual awards dinner and charity auction on July 30 at Canfield Casino in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Handle figures at California tracks rose in May compared with May 2014, leaving handle for the year well above last year’s figures, according to figures presented at Thursday’s California Horse Racing Board meeting by executive director Rick Baedeker.

The Breeders’ Cup has reached a licensing deal with the manufacturer of the Instant Racing gambling devices that will allow the manufacturer to use the Breeders’ Cup’s likenesses and brands, according to the companies.

CYPRESS, Calif. - The 2016 Thoroughbred racing calendar in Southern California could look similar to the last two years, or could include changes as significant as springtime meetings at Del Mar and Los Alamitos, a two-month autumn meeting at Santa Anita, or racing at Los Alamitos until Christmas Eve.

Executives with Southern California racetracks and horsemen’s organizations discussed racing dates publicly for the first time at a 70-minute hearing on Wednesday at Los Alamitos, speaking before the California Horse Racing Board’s race dates and stabling oversight committee.

A group that represents Thoroughbred owners, breeders, and farm managers in Kentucky has joined a lobbying effort for legislation that seeks the appointment of a federal overseer for the sport’s medication policies and enforcement, the lobbying organization announced on Wednesday.

Barry Weisbord, a part-owner of the technology company Trakus and the publisher of Thoroughbred Daily News, has resigned from the board of directors of the Breeders’ Cup, citing demands on his time, according to the organization.

Weisbord notified Breeders’ Cup officials on Tuesday morning about his decision to resign by letter, the Breeders’ Cup said. According to the Breeders’ Cup, the letter cited “the increasing need for me to travel extensively for Trakus around the world, and my desire to try to take in as much of my young daughter’s activities at home.”