Joe De Francis, a former co-owner of Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park, has resigned from the board of directors of the two tracks' parent company, Magna Entertainment Corp., De Francis said Monday.
De Francis said that he planned to send a letter to Magna officials on Monday announcing the resignation. On Friday, during a conference call with analysts to discuss Magna's 2007 results, company officials said that they had asked De Francis to resign. Magna lost $113.8 million last year.
A horse racing lobbying group in Kentucky said on Thursday night that it would support a bill asking voters to approve nine casinos in the state despite language in the legislation that would require racetracks to compete with casino companies for the licenses.
The California Horse Racing Board approved a rule change on Thursday to add four anabolic steroids to the list of Class 3 drugs subject to penalties for excessive usage.
The rule change is the first stage of a lengthy process that could last until late summer. The rule change will be forwarded to the state's office of administrative law for review, according to Dr. Rick Arthur, the racing board's equine medical director.
A horse racing lobbying group in Kentucky was scheduled to meet on Thursday night in order to discuss its response to legislation that would authorize casinos at nine locations in the state.
The board of directors of the group, the Kentucky Equine Education Project, scheduled the meeting after a committee in the house of representatives approved a bill on Wednesday that would ask voters to approve the casinos through a referendum on the November ballot.
A committee in the Kentucky House of Representatives passed a bill during an unscheduled meeting on Wednesday that would ask voters to approve nine casinos in the state.
The bill passed by a vote of 7-2 one day after the same committee rejected a similar bill. On Tuesday night, the chairman of the committee replaced one of the members who had voted against the bill on Tuesday.
The federal government may intervene if states fail to adopt uniform medication rules for horse racing, said Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky during a House committee hearing examining drug use in sports on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
During his questioning of Alex Waldrop, the president of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Whitfield said the government could require uniform medication rules, including regulations regarding the use of anabolic steroids, as a condition of allowing tracks to continue simulcasting across state lines.
Lonny Powell, the vice president of public affairs of Youbet.com, was fired by the company this week, Powell said, as part of an overall corporate restructuring.
Powell, who had been with the account-wagering company since December 2005, said that his removal was handled "amicably" amid a number of other recent layoffs, but he declined to comment on the details of the restructuring.
Powell was recruited by Charles Champion, Youbet's former chief executive, who resigned from the company in December.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - A committee in the Kentucky House of Representatives on Tuesday morning shot down legislation that would ask voters to approve casinos in the state through a constitutional amendment, but horse racing officials described the failure as merely a setback in their campaign to win approval of a bill this year.