The New York City Off-Track Betting Company will close as early as next summer unless the state legislature grants the company relief from statutory payments to the state's racing industry and regulatory body, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday.

In a statement, Bloomberg said that the city-owned company is expected to run out of cash by June 2008 and that he has asked Ray Casey, the company's president, to present a plan to the company's board that would envision the "ceasing of wagering operations, including the closure of its branches."

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Keeneland November mixed sale saw declines across the board Wednesday at its 10th of 15 sessions, but the auction continued to see gains in its cumulative figures.

The Wednesday session sold 266 horses for $6,295,500, a drop of less than 1 percent from the 2006 figure for the equivalent session, when 240 horses were sold. The 2007 average of $23,667 was off by 10 percent, and the median of $17,500 was down 13 percent from last season.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - One day after setting a sale record with a gross of $321,774,400, Keeneland's November mixed auction continued to ring up a handful of six-figure prices in a market that buyers and sellers alike generally termed strong and competitive.

The new managers of the Jockeys' Guild met with representatives of many of the leading organizations in racing on Tuesday in Lexington, Ky., to discuss the guild's troubled financial situation, participants in the meeting said on Wednesday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Darley, which purchased Grade 1 winner Octave for $4 million at Fasig-Tipton's November sale after disputed bidding, has decided to retire the filly to the breeding shed.

Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum's breeding operation hasn't yet made breeding plans for Octave, said Darley America president Jimmy Bell. She is currently stabled at Gainsborough Farm, one of the sheikh's Lexington properties.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Keeneland's November mixed auction entered its eighth day Monday off of mixed weekend results that saw increased foreign buying and high prices for highly select horses.

"The market is feast or famine," said Brereton C. Jones Jr., owner of Airdrie Stud and a buyer and consignor on Monday. "If you've got just what people want, you'll get more than you thought you would. If you don't have just what people want, you might get nothing."

A daylong run of six-figure horses indicated that demand at the Keeneland November sale's sixth session was still strong, especially for horses perceived to have above-average quality.

At 5 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, Keeneland was reporting a top price of $310,000 for the broodmare Votsi, who satisfied two major market demands: She is a young mare at age 4 and by the popular sire A.P. Indy. A winner, she is a half-sister to the Group 3 winner Divine Task.

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - Los Alamitos may become a venue for Thoroughbred racing within a few years after all.

The track's owner, Ed Allred, said recently that he is considering a $25 million upgrade of the Orange County, Calif., facility to accommodate Thoroughbred racing when Hollywood Park closes, which could be as soon as 2009.

The plan comes a little more than a year after owner Mike Pegram dropped out of a proposed $50 million expansion of Los Alamitos in partnership with Allred.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - After posting mixed returns on Thursday, the Keeneland November sale opened its fifth session Friday with international buyers signing top-priced tickets.

The session leader at 5:30 p.m. Eastern was Hip No. 1513, Dhamma, a $520,000 Broad Brush mare out of French Group 1-placed Piquetnol. Epona Bloodstock made the buy from Lane's End, agent.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The 2007 Sales Integrity Task Force on Friday put forward its final recommendations to a Kentucky legislative committee, generally sticking to the preliminary recommendations it unveiled in October.

The task force's recommendations include banning the use of anabolic steroids within 45 days of sale, printing an agents' code of conduct in the conditions of sale, and establishing a voluntary restricted-access registry where sellers can detail a horse's ownership.