Total betting on U.S. Thoroughbred races in February was down slightly compared to the same month last year, though the average bet on each race was statistically even with last year, according to figures distributed by Equibase on Tuesday.

Total betting during the month was $838.20 million, a 2.85 percent decline from the $862.78 million bet in February of 2023. The number of races held during the month declined 3.32 percent to 2,154, a loss of 74, while the average handle per race rose slightly, from $387,245 to $389,134.

The parent company of Gulfstream Park, Pimlico, and Santa Anita - 1/ST Racing - announced on Friday a lucrative bonus program for owners that will begin this spring and link three major dirt and turf races at each venue over an eight-month period.

The dirt series will consist of three Grade 1 races – the Preakness Stakes for 3-year-olds at Pimlico on May 18, the newly-enhanced California Crown at Santa Anita on Sept. 28, and the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 25, 2025.

Los Alamitos will not race on Saturday evening because of a forecast of rain, the track announced on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday, Santa Anita announced it would not race on Saturday. Santa Anita plans to race on Friday, Sunday, and Monday in the coming days.

Los Alamitos will have one day of racing this weekend, on Sunday, a program that will include time trials for the Los Alamitos Oaks for Quarter Horse fillies, which were scheduled for Saturday, and trials for the El Primero Del Ano Derby, which were scheduled for Sunday.

The overall Thoroughbred fatality rate at North American racetracks ticked upwards slightly in 2023 compared to 2022, according to an analysis of data in the Equine Injury Database.

The fatality rate for all surfaces in 2023 was 1.32 per 1,000 starts, according to the administrators of the EID, which includes data from nearly every racetrack in North America. Last year, the fatality rate fell to its lowest rate since the EID was launched in 2009, at 1.25. The 1.32 rate is the second-lowest rate in the database’s history, and it is 34 percent lower than the 2.00 rate in 2009.

Jamie Haydon, the president of the Grayson Jockey Club Research Foundation, has been given additional duties at The Jockey Club as the organization’s new deputy executive director, The Jockey Club announced on Wednesday.

A barn at Mahoning Valley Racecourse in Ohio remains under quarantine after tests earlier this week revealed three new positives for strangles, according to horsemen’s officials, restricting the number of ship-ins the track is receiving for its race cards.

The New York Racing Association announced Wednesday that they have formed a committee with other prominent racing organizations to study the impact of various racing surfaces on injury rates, with a particular focus on artificial racing surfaces.

Trainer Cathal "Cal" Lynch earned his 1,000th lifetime victory when Mosler Time grabbed Saturday's finale at Laurel Park.

Ridden by Carlos Lopez, 4-year-old Mosler Time added blinkers for his second lifetime start, settled off the early leaders, commenced an outside bid on the turn, then drew away from a group of $30,000 maiden claimers at six furlongs on fast going.

Lynch, 49, came to the United States in 1996 from Northern Ireland, and saddled his first winner, Aneissa Chocolate, at Garden State Park on April 11, 1997.