Jerry Campbell, a former chief executive of Magna Entertainment Corp., resigned from the board of directors of Magna on Friday effective immediately, according to the company.
Magna did not cite a reason for the resignation in its release. Campbell did not immediately return a phone call on Saturday.
No racehorse should be allowed to start twice within a 10-day period, the American Association of Equine Practitioners recommended in a paper distributed on Monday that was developed to address racing injuries and the public's perception of the sport.
The prohibition on multiple starts within 10 days was one of dozens of recommendations in the paper, which was prepared by a 35-member task force formed in July 2008. The impetus behind the formation of the task force was the public scrutiny surrounding racing after the death of the filly Eight Belles in the 2008 Kentucky Derby.
TrackNet, the simulcasting-marketing partnership owned by Churchill Downs and Magna, has reached an agreement with a consortium of Nevada casinos that will end a blackout of the partnership's signals beginning Friday, the chief executive of the partnership said late on Thursday.
The agreement will restore the signals from Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park, Golden Gate Fields, Oaklawn Park, and Laurel Park to more than 80 casinos in Nevada. The signals were blocked from the casinos as of Jan. 26 when the two sides could not agree on a new simulcasting contract.
The Kentucky House Licensing and Occupations Committee on Thursday morning unanimously approved a bill that would legalize slot machines at the state's five racetracks, but the bill has little hope of proceeding any further this year during Kentucky's abbreviated legislative session.
The committee vote was the first step for the legislation, which was hastily scheduled for a vote by the committee late Wednesday. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Greg Stumbo, a Democrat who was elected speaker of the house earlier this year.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Fasig-Tipton Kentucky's February mixed auction on Monday ended with three $100,000-plus mares and declines across the board, but buy-backs improved from last year.
Fasig-Tipton shortened the sale from two days to one this year, producing an expected large drop in gross. Monday's single session sold 206 horses for $2,392,900, down 63 percent from last year's two-day gross for 318 horses. The 2009 average plummeted 43 percent, from $20,291 to $11,616, and median fell 29 percent, from $7,000 to $5,000.
The board of Breeders' Cup Ltd. on Wednesday committed the organization to a $5 million supplemental purse program "beyond 2009" and guaranteed that the purses for its 14 year-end races would remain at the same levels through this year's event, the organization announced.
Despite an 8 percent increase in race days, wagering on U.S. races in January of 2009 fell 1.6 percent compared to the same month in 2008, according to figures released by Equibase on Wednesday.
Wagering on U.S. races was $1,042,526,296 in January this year, compared to $1,059,007,418 in January of last year, according to the figures. Race days were up from 348 in January last year to 376 this year. In addition, January of 2009 included five weekends, compared to four weekends in January of 2008. Handle peaks on Saturdays and Sundays.
Magna Entertainment Corp., the owner and operator of Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course in Maryland, did not pay a $28.5 million fee associated with its bid to operate 4,750 slot machines at Laurel, according to the company and officials in Maryland, a failure that may cost it a chance to bid on a casino license.
Betfair, the British online betting exchange, does not expect to make any material changes to the operation of Television Games Network after buying the company for $50 million from Macrovision in a transaction that closed late Tuesday, officials for Betfair said Wednesday.