Supporters of a bill that would require Maryland to issue $400 million in bonds for the reconstruction of Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore assured members of the House of Delegates Ways and Means Committee that the bill would lead to positive outcomes for the neighborhood surrounding the track at a hearing on Tuesday.

Junior Alvarado, who has won such major races as the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and Saudi Cup in recent months, has been honored with the 2024 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in a ballot of riders nationwide.

The result was announced on Friday by Santa Anita, which administers the award. Alvarado, 37, will receive the Woolf Award at a ceremony at Santa Anita at a date to be determined.

The Woolf Award, first presented in 1950, honors riders for achievement on the racetrack as well as personal character.

Equibase, the official data supplier of Thoroughbred racing in the U.S., will make a full year of its racing data available for research and evaluation purposes, the company announced on Monday.

The release of a large batch of Equibase’s racing data has been sought for years by a number of handicappers and researchers who say they are interested in teasing out information from the raw data. The dataset will include all past-performance data from all Equibase-charted races in 2023, along with the result charts.

Two trainers who are members of a horsemen’s advisory group to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority advocated for HISA to extend its jurisdiction to 2-year-old sales on Monday during a livestreamed “town hall” meeting with HISA’s chief executive officer.

The Florida legislature on Friday passed a tax bill that will remove a sunset provision on more than $30 million in subsidies and tax credits for the racing industry that were first authorized last year. 

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority has dropped the University of Kentucky Equine Analytical Testing Laboratory from its list of accredited labs after its director, Dr. Scott Stanley, was removed from his position in the midst of a “ongoing personnel investigation,” HISA confirmed on Tuesday.

Total betting on U.S. Thoroughbred races in February was down slightly compared to the same month last year, though the average bet on each race was statistically even with last year, according to figures distributed by Equibase on Tuesday.

Total betting during the month was $838.20 million, a 2.85 percent decline from the $862.78 million bet in February of 2023. The number of races held during the month declined 3.32 percent to 2,154, a loss of 74, while the average handle per race rose slightly, from $387,245 to $389,134.

The parent company of Gulfstream Park, Pimlico, and Santa Anita - 1/ST Racing - announced on Friday a lucrative bonus program for owners that will begin this spring and link three major dirt and turf races at each venue over an eight-month period.

The dirt series will consist of three Grade 1 races – the Preakness Stakes for 3-year-olds at Pimlico on May 18, the newly-enhanced California Crown at Santa Anita on Sept. 28, and the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 25, 2025.

Los Alamitos will not race on Saturday evening because of a forecast of rain, the track announced on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday, Santa Anita announced it would not race on Saturday. Santa Anita plans to race on Friday, Sunday, and Monday in the coming days.

Los Alamitos will have one day of racing this weekend, on Sunday, a program that will include time trials for the Los Alamitos Oaks for Quarter Horse fillies, which were scheduled for Saturday, and trials for the El Primero Del Ano Derby, which were scheduled for Sunday.