The Arkansas Racing Commission on Thursday approved a new set of medication rules that will bring the state into line with a handful of other states that have adopted the regulations in an ongoing effort to unify U.S. racing jurisdictions under one set of rules.

The Arkansas commission adopted both a new set of rules dealing with therapeutic and non-therapeutic medications and a new set of penalties for multiple violators, with the regulations set to go into effect prior to the opening of Oaklawn Park in early 2015. Oaklawn is the only Thoroughbred track in Arkansas.

LEXINGTON – The National Thoroughbred Racing Association will attempt to bring together the opposing sides on the divisive issue of raceday medication and federal regulation of racing in an attempt to “forge a consensus” before any other federal bills are introduced, the NTRA’s president, Alex Waldrop, said during a briefing to racing constituents on Friday morning at Keeneland.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie issued a directive Monday allowing the state’s casinos and racetracks to offer sports betting effective immediately, an unusual move that is sure to be challenged by sports leagues that had won earlier court rulings finding that sports betting in the state would violate federal law.

DraftKings, one of a number of online fantasy sports sites that have emerged over the past several years, will sponsor the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint this year and launch fantasy contests centered on racing results, the company and Breeders’ Cup announced Monday.

BOSTON -- The Massachusetts Gaming Commission endorsed the recommendation of its Horse Racing Committee to divide monies in the Race Horse Development Fund at a rate of 75 percent to the Thoroughbred industry and 25 percent to the Standardbred horsemen and breeders at a public hearing on Sept. 4.

Of each allotment, 80 percent will be dedicated to purse accounts, with 16 percent to the breeders and 4 percent to backstretch welfare.

Betfair U.S., the division of the international bet-exchange company that includes Television Games Network, had net revenue of $23.3 million in the first quarter of the company’s fiscal year, up 14 percent compared to the first quarter of the previous fiscal year, according to financial statements released Thursday by Betfair.

Wagering on U.S. races, helped by two days of the Labor Day weekend, was down marginally in August, by 0.4 percent, according to figures released Thursday by Equibase.

The number of races held at U.S. tracks during the month was down 2.5 percent, according to Equibase, while race days were down 1.1 percent. The month of August this year had 10 weekend days, compared with nine weekend dates in August last year, and this year’s calendar included a Saturday and a Sunday leading into the Sept. 1 Labor Day holiday. Last year, Labor Day was Sept. 2.

Jockeys at Santa Anita will be restricted to whipping a horse three times in succession before trying something else to urge the horse, a whip rule mirroring those of Europe and to be instituted at the beginning of the fall meeting starting Sept. 26, according to officials at Santa Anita and the Jockeys’ Guild.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A backlog of incomplete post-race drug tests at a widely respected laboratory in Lexington has sent regulators scrambling to get the work done while underlining the growing pains associated with the industry’s move to adopt stricter rules on therapeutic medications.

The Indiana Horse Racing Commission will consider an emergency regulation at a meeting next Thursday that would establish a threshold level for cobalt, the naturally occurring mineral that is allegedly being used by some horsemen under the belief that it could boost red-blood-cell production, according to a staff report posted on the commission’s website.