The New York State Racing and Wagering Board has forged a new, controversial approach in the enforcement of medication rules with an aggressive case against a Standardbred trainer in which out-of-state veterinary records are the board’s only evidence to support more than 1,700 alleged violations.

Viande Richelieu, the company that operates two of Canada’s four equine slaughterhouses, appears to be backing away from accepting Thoroughbreds for slaughter after their unusual move of returning slaughter-bound former racehorses Canuki and Cactus Cafe.

An Ohio judge has ruled that a group seeking to stop the installation of slot machines at state racetracks does not have legal standing to challenge the order authorizing the devices.

The ruling by the judge will likely remove a barrier that could have prevented the harness track Scioto Downs from opening a casino on Friday. Scioto is the first of seven racetracks in Ohio to commit to building and opening a casino, with the remaining operators waiting on the sidelines because of the legal challenge.

A hearing scheduled for May 30 to consider the New York Racing and Wagering Board’s decision to suspend indefinitely the license of harness trainer Lou Pena after charging him with 1,719 medication violations was postponed Tuesday at the request of Pena’s attorney, according to the board. The hearing will be scheduled after the attorneys for both sides confer and agree on a “mutually available date,” the board said.

A legal dispute between the embattled New York Racing Association and its former integrity counsel is posing yet another challenge for NYRA just days after the association agreed to a plan allowing the state to take control of its board.

Twenty-two candidates have been placed on the ballot for election for 16 open seats on the Breeders’ Cup board of Members, according to the organization.

Nine of the 22 candidates are seeking re-election as Members, a 39-person body that elects the organization’s 13-member board of directors. Those candidates are: Jack Brothers, Doug Cauthen, Lucy Young Hamilton, Clem Murphy, Maria Niarchos-Gouaze, Bill Oppenheim, Don Robinson, Charlotte Weber, and Barry Weisbord.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Clenbuterol, a bronchodilator sometimes used to build muscle mass, may be prohibited to appear in post-race tests for Thoroughbreds in California as early as this summer.

The California Horse Racing Board is scheduled to discuss the issue at its monthly meeting at Betfair Hollywood Park on Thursday. The board may enact guidelines prohibiting the use of clenbuterol in the days preceding a race.

The board of directors of the New York Racing Association will be dissolved and reconstituted as a smaller, state-controlled entity under a plan announced Tuesday by the board and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

A letter sent Tuesday by the heads of the two regulatory agencies overseeing the New York Racing Association is likely the opening salvo of what is expected to be a bruising legal and political battle over control of NYRA’s three tracks and the payments the association receives from a casino at Aqueduct.

A public-comment period on potential changes to rules in New York allowing for the raceday administration of the anti-bleeding medication furosemide was set to close on Monday after supporters and opponents had already submitted a “substantial” amount of commentary, according to an official with the New York State Racing and Wagering Board.