Livened up by its racing-age horses, the Barretts January mixed sale on Monday bucked the recent trend of steep bloodstock market losses.

The one-day auction in Pomona, Calif., suffered only a slight decline in average price and posted an increase in median. The session sold 202 horses, down from 354 last year, for a total of $1,232,400. That was off 45 percent, as expected, due to both the smaller catalog and the general 40 to 50 percent decline in the bloodstock market that started in the fall of 2008.

Betfair, the British online bet matchmaking company, has purchased Television Games Network, the U.S.'s largest horse race account-wagering and broadcasting company, the companies announced late Tuesday.

In a release, the companies said that Betfair purchased TVG for $50 million in cash consideration. TVG was owned by Macrovision, which acquired TVG's former parent, Gemstar-TV Guide, in 2008. Macrovision had begun to seek the sale of TVG shortly after purchasing Gemstar.

An extension to a simulcasting contract between Las Vegas casinos and most of the tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc. and Magna Entertainment Corp. expired as of midnight on Sunday, introducing the possibility that a blackout of the signals in the racebooks would begin on Wednesday.

TrackNet, a simulcast-marketing partnership co-owned by Magna and Churchill, is pressing the casinos to pay a higher rate for its signals, and the casinos have balked.

Las Vegas casinos are facing the loss of all signals from the tracks owned by Magna Entertainment Corp. and Churchill Downs Inc. as of Monday unless the two sides can come to agreement on a handful of stubborn financial issues.

As was the case industry wide, the New York Racing Association saw declines in handle and attendance in 2008.

According to numbers provided by NYRA, all-sources handle on NYRA races dropped 2.1 percent in 2008 to $2,489,276,587. The all-sources daily average wagering on NYRA races fell 3.7 percent from 2007 to $9,997,095. There were 249 racing days in 2008 compared with 245 in 2007.

Total ontrack handle on NYRA races in 2008 dropped 3.4 percent to $299,704,487. The daily average of $1,203,632 was down 5.1 percent from the 2007 average.

The simulcast signals from Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields on Thursday remained blacked out in betting locations owned by Churchill Downs Inc. in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Illinois.

The Thoroughbred Owners of California and a simulcast-marketing company remained deadlocked Tuesday in a dispute that has led the owners' group to block the distribution of California racing signals to most simulcast facilities owned by Churchill Downs Inc., according to top officials with the organizations.

Catlaunch was named Ohio s 2008 horse of the year at the Ohio Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Awards Banquet at Darby Dan Farm in Galloway, Ohio, on Saturday. Catlaunch, now 8, was also honored as Ohio s champion handicap horse and Ohio-accredited male champion.

Catlaunch won seven of nine starts in 2008, including the 1 1/4-mile Endurance on Best of Ohio Day at Thistledown, and earned $184,000. Catlaunch is owned and was bred by Scioto Farm and is trained by Ivan Vazquez. In his career, Catlaunch has won 27 of 64 starts and earned $614,896.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Keeneland's January all-ages sale ended Saturday with steep drops across the board but a moderate 22 percent buy-back rate.

The buy-back rate signaled that many consignors had accepted the current economic downturn in bloodstock prices rather than keep stock on their payroll. But a high number of withdrawals at the six-day sale also indicated that some were willing to wait out the slumping market in hopes there will be a turnaround soon.

Jockeys riding at Gulfstream Park and Calder Race Course will receive a minimum of $75 as a fee from owners for losing mounts under a new agreement between the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and the Jockeys' Guild. The agreement was announced on Thursday, the day the new mount fees went into effect.

Previously, the losing mount fees at Calder and Gulfstream started at $55 and $65, respectively.