Sean Alfortish, the president of the Louisiana Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, and Mona Romero, the organization’s executive director, were charged Thursday with conspiracy to commit mail fraud as part of a 29-count indictment, according to a release issued by U.S. Attorney Jim Letten of the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Alfortish did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

Frank Stronach has taken over as chief executive of MI Developments, the racing and real-estate company that holds a portfolio of racing assets that continues to struggle.

Stronach was installed in the position on Thursday following the immediate resignation of Dennis Mills, a former member of Canada’s parliament who had been chief executive at the company for two years. Mills will remain vice chairman of the company’s board, which Stronach will continue to chair. According to the company, the board of MI Developments appointed Stronach chief executive.

Frank Stronach has been elevated to chief executive officer of MI Developments, the real-estate and racetrack company he already leads as chairman, MI Developments announced in a release late on Thursday. Stronach replaces Dennis Mills, who resigned on Thursday but will remain vice chairman of the company and a director, the company said.

A company affiliated with the Internet entrepreneur Halsey Minor made an offer on Tuesday to purchase the racing assets held by MI Developments.

The ball has started rolling in New Jersey on a legislative package designed to help the racing industry.

The New Jersey Senate Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee passed four racing-related bills Monday, sending them to the full Senate. The bills, which are supported by the state’s racing industry, would streamline the approval process for new offtrack betting facilities, legalize exchange wagering and a concept called “single-pool wagering,” and reduce the minimum number of racing dates at the Meadowlands to 100.

Customers of Youbet.com will be transferred to the account-wagering operations of Twinspires.com as of Nov. 16, according to the owner of both account-wagering platforms, Churchill Downs Inc.

Frank Stronach, the chairman of MI Developments, told the Baltimore Sun on Monday that the company’s Laurel Park in Maryland will not close in 2011, in contradiction to what track officials said last week.

Stronach told the Sun that he learned of the plans to close Laurel Park after reading articles in racing newspapers last week. According to the Sun, Stronach met with Richard Hoffberger, the president of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, at the Fasig-Tipton auction in Kentucky on Sunday and vowed to keep Laurel open for its full racing schedule in 2011.

Wagering on the 14 races of the Breeders’ Cup held at Churchill Downs in Louisville on Friday and Saturday jumped 15.5 percent compared with the betting totals for the 14 races last year and established a record for the event, according to figures provided by the organization on Monday.

The television rating of the final hour of the Saturday ESPN-TV telecast of the Breeders’ Cup this year was nearly triple that of the television rating last year, according to figures provided by ESPN on Monday.

Race days in the United States plummeted for the second straight month in October when compared with October of last year, a decline that sent handle and purse figures south as well, according to figures released on Thursday by Equibase.

The number of race days held at U.S. tracks this October was 469, according to the figures, an 11.5 percent decline from the 530 race days held last year. Last month, race days declined at a similar rate, 12.5 percent, from 545 in September of last year to 477 in September of this year.