Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law on Monday a $31 million construction-program bill that will be funded, in part, by revenue from video poker terminals.

Restaurants and bars will have up to five video poker machines, and there may eventually be 45,000 machines in the state. None, however, will be found at racetracks or offtrack betting parlors, which were written out of the program. Neither will Illinois racing get any cut from the gaming expansion, which will begin after the Illinois Gaming Board formulates guidelines for operating the machines in the next 60 days.

CHICAGO - In a meeting here Tuesday, the Illinois Racing Board laid down the parameters for distributing $76.4 million in casino impact-fee funds to the state's beleaguered racing industry. But the fate of the money, which has sat in a court-administered protest fund since 2006, remains uncertain, and various racing factions are poised to start squabbling over the cash if it's released.

The Arkansas Racing Commission has scheduled a July 21 hearing on It's a Bird's positive test for Naproxen following his April 4 win in the Grade 2, $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap. The hearing will be heard during the commission's regularly scheduled meeting at the Ledbetter Building in Little Rock, Ark.

Oaklawn concluded its meet April 11.

"Since the stewards are gone, this one is going straight to the commission," said Ron Oliver, executive director of the commission.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Breeders' Cup is operating at a "substantial deficit," according to its top official, and it is becoming increasingly likely that purses for its top events and supplemental stakes program will need to be cut to return the organization to financial stability, according to several of its directors.

The question of how to address the deficit is the backdrop to an election Thursday to fill six of the board's 13 seats. Ten candidates are vying for the seats, including four members whose terms expire that day.

Wagering in June on U.S. races this year plummeted 16.9 percent compared to handle totals posted in June of last year, and purses declined 10.3 percent in the same time period, according to figures released on Sunday by Equibase.

Betting was $993,578,873 in June this year, compared to $1,195,562,620 last year, according to Equibase. The 16.9 percent decline was the largest month-to-month differential recorded since Equibase began releasing monthly handle figures in August of last year.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - The Illinois Racing Board is facing a financial crisis that could have serious negative consequences in the coming months.

The IRB, charged with regulating racing and maximizing state revenue from it, began its 2010 fiscal year July 1 facing a budget deficit of some $2.1 million, according to executive director Marc Laino. The IRB already has cut back on staffing, and could take more radical action absent some kind of financial relief.

Pennsylvania's budget woes and declining parimutuel handle have affected the statebred owner bonuses program, reducing available money in the state breeding fund from $21 million to $17 million for 2009, racing industry officials there say. But the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association says the state's purses and bonuses still remain a strong draw for breeders and owners of Pennsylvania-breds.

A study funded in part by North American racing groups and conducted using South African racehorses has indicated that furosemide, the diuretic administered prerace to about 90 percent of all horses racing at North American tracks, plays a significant role in reducing the severity of bleeding in the lungs.

Ron Geary, the owner of Ellis Park in western Kentucky, said that the track will close after the 2009 meet and that he will not apply for racing dates next year in light of failed legislation to legalize slot machines at Kentucky racetracks.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A Senate committee of the Kentucky legislature killed a bill on Monday night that would have legalized slot machines at seven racetracks in the state. The vote effectively torpedoed the racing industry's aggressive effort to get the legislation passed during a brief special session of the legislature.

The Senate Budget Committee voted 10-5 against sending the bill to the floor of the Senate. The vote was largely along party lines. In general, state Democrats have supported the effort while Republicans have been opposed.