Magna Entertainment Corp., the racetrack company that is struggling to pay down its debt, has reached an agreement with a Canadian bank to extend the maturity date for a $40 million loan until May 23, the company announced on Wednesday night.

The loan was scheduled to mature on April 30. Magna has lost more than $500 million over the past five years and has more than $500 million in debt.

Horseplayers seeking to bet on the Kentucky Oaks card at Churchill Downs on Friday will not be able to place wagers on any of the undercard races through national account-wagering companies, according to both sides in a dispute that has resulted in a blackout of the races from Churchill since the track opened on Saturday.

The New York Racing Association and a cooperative representing 16 tracks in eight Eastern states remained at an impasse on Tuesday in negotiations over the simulcast signal from NYRA's Belmont Park, according to officials on both sides.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Monday approved a reorganization plan developed by the New York Racing Association that would lift it out of the protection of the court by June 30, NYRA officials said.

A cooperative of racetracks on the Eastern Seaboard has broken off negotiations on a simulcasting agreement with the New York Racing Association for the rights to accept wagers on Belmont Park, the cooperative said on Monday.

Belmont Park's popular spring-summer meet opens on Wednesday. The executive director of the cooperative - which includes 16 member tracks in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire - said the cooperative was unwilling to pay the rate that NYRA was seeking for the Belmont signal.

The signal from Churchill Downs was available over the track’s opening weekend on account-wagering operations that serve customers in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia despite a blackout of the signal on other account-wagering sites.

Negotiations between Churchill Downs Inc. and horsemen remained in a stalemate on Friday over issues related to a purse contract at Churchill's Calder Race Course in Florida and the export of the signal from Churchill Downs to account-wagering operations, officials on both sides of the dispute said.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - John Sikura called it "an embarrassment of riches," and it is certainly an embarrassment any breeder would love to share.

Sikura was referring to a recent bloom of champions in the close family of Better Than Honour. Sikura owns the 12-year-old Deputy Minister mare in partnership with Mike Moreno of Southern Equine Stables, and her quality was reaffirmed last week when the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders named her its Broodmare of the Year for 2007.

Youbet.com Inc. has appointed its chairman, Michael Brodsky, as its new president and chief executive officer, replacing interim chief executive Gary Sproule, who is leaving the company, according to Youbet.

Brodksy was appointed to Youbet's board in June 2007, and was appointed chairman in February of this year. He is also the managing partner of New World Opportunity Partners, a public investment company, and was formerly the chief financial officer of Away.com, an on-line travel company.

Churchill Downs Inc. has filed a lawsuit against the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and the Thoroughbred Horsemen's Group, alleging that the two groups are in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act by withholding their consent for Churchill's tracks to send their signals to out-of-state locations, the company announced late on Thursday.