Churchill Downs had net income of $46.2 million in 2014, according to financial documents released Wednesday, a drop of 16 percent compared with net income of $54.9 million in 2013, despite posting record revenue during the year.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Longtime Woodbine trainer Barbara Pirie died from cancer at age 55 on Monday.

From 1,208 career starters since 1991, Pirie won 129 races, and her runners posted earnings in excess of $2.8 million. She trained the stakes winner Early Wisdom, who took the Grade 3 Col. R.S. McLaughlin at Woodbine in 2002.

Visitation will be at the Scott Funeral Home at 289 Main Street North in Brampton, Ontario, from 5-8 p.m. on Friday. A funeral will be held there Saturday at 3 p.m.

A cooperative of racetracks and the company controlling the simulcast signals to Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park have agreed to the main pricing aspects of a new simulcast contract, but approval of the pact is being held up by a related issue affecting one of the cooperative’s members, Rosecroft Raceway, according to officials for both sides.

KentuckyOne Health, a Kentucky health care provider, has reached an agreement to become the title sponsor of the Breeders’ Cup Festival, a live-entertainment program scheduled for the week leading up to this year’s Breeders’ Cup event Oct. 30-31 at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Ky., according to Breeders’ Cup.

On Friday morning, the full Kentucky Senate voted 22-9 to pass a bill that would allow the state lottery to send bets into commingled pari-mutuel pools, according to supporters of the legislation.

The legislation is being pushed by a private company called EquiLottery, which wants to cut deals with state lotteries, allowing for a game that would pay off based on pari-mutuel results. Under EquiLottery’s plan, bettors would buy tickets from lottery dealers, with half the bet going to the lottery and the other half going into a specific pari-mutuel pool.

Life and racing can be unpredictable. One minute you’re up and things seem to be going your way, then everything changes and nothing is going your way.

My goal has always been to be the best horseplayer I can possibly be. I am comfortable in the knowledge that no matter how much I think I know about racing, there is a lot more I don’t know. I prepare to the best of my ability only to find out that there is more.

Colonial Downs in New Kent, Va., and a consortium of the state’s breeding and racing organizations have joined together to push a bill through the state legislature that would reallocate revenue from account wagering in the state and potentially lead to the re-establishment of live racing, according to the groups.

Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., will increase purses by $1,000 to $3,000 per race starting next Thursday, Feb. 12, the track announced. The boost comes a month into the meet that debuted with a $20 million expansion to its thriving gaming center.

“We have a unique business model that features live racing, Instant Racing, and electronic games of skill, and what we are seeing is that the total is greater than the sum of the parts,” said David Longinotti, director of racing for Oaklawn. “It’s working.”

Handle on U.S. races in January climbed 1.5 percent compared with the same month last year despite a 2.8 percent drop in the number of races held during the month, according to figures released on Wednesday by Equibase.

Handle during January this year was $812.6 million compared with $800.4 million in the same month last year, while the number of races fell from 2,619 in January last year to 2,547 this year. Per race, handle was up 4.4 percent.