A state committee that has spent the last 11 weeks evaluating proposals to run Aqueduct, Belmont Park, Saratoga Race Course and a casino at Aqueduct recommended Tuesday that Excelsior Gaming Associates operate New York's racing franchise.

Steve Swindal, the son-in-law of Yankees general partner George Steinbrenner, heads Excelsior Gaming Associates, a for-profit group that also includes the former Donald Trump associate and casino developer Richard Fields, plus the real-estate development company Tishman Speyer Properties.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Keeneland November sale ended Sunday, capping a remarkable fall auction season with a near-record gross. The 14-day sale did set a North American record for a weanling price and Keeneland record prices for a weanling filly and a horse in training.

The 14-day auction ended Sunday afternoon after selling 3,147 lots for $313,843,800, up 8opercent from last year's 12-day total of $289,602,900 for 2,816 lots. The average price dipped slightly, falling from $102,842 last year to $99,728, but the median remained level with last year's figure at $35,000.

United Tote and a high-rolling customer of the offshore rebate shop International Racing Group have fixed their software to avoid incidents like the one on Oct. 28, when the customer's robotic wagering system malfunctioned and affected a pick three pool at Calder Race Course, officials from the companies said Thursday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Trade inevitably appears to slow at the end of Keeneland's two-week November breeding stock sale. Where the first week featured such highlights as a $6.1 million sale-topper, the second week's sessions more often see top prices in the $100,000 to $200,000 range. But the financial numbers and conversations with buyers and sellers show that even if the top prices seem relatively low in the sale's final week, this year they are still very strong for the stock on offer.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Keeneland's November breeding stock sale was nearing its conclusion on Thursday, but there was still enough money in the market to spin off a six-figure horse.

Thursday's session, the 11th of the two-week sale, saw a $180,000 top price. That was what Diamond J Racing paid to acquire Fairway Farm's weanling Chapel Royal filly. Morris Floyd and Chuck Givens sold the filly as agents. The bay filly is out of the Cox's Ridge mare Staretta.

One day after the promising 3-year-old colt Spring at Last fetched a session-topping $675,000 bid from J. Paul Reddam, the Keeneland November breeding stock sale continued to see lively trade in the middle market on Wednesday, the two-week auction's 10th session.

Wednesday's session topper was the $300,000 filly Coronado Rose. Jack G. Jones Jr. bought Coronado Rose, a 4-year-old stakes winner, from Asmussen Horse Center, agent. The filly is a daughter of Coronado's Quest and the Nureyev mare Lakabi. She was cataloged as a broodmare prospect.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Day four of Keeneland's two-week November breeding stock sale showed Thursday that the momentum for mares and weanlings wasn't letting up.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Participants in a recent conference focusing on racehorse safety have developed a plan calling for the racing industry to develop better monitoring systems for injuries, regulations on the use of anabolic steroids, and the publication of statistics indicating the durability of the progeny of sires.

"Our plan is to keep her in training and then breed her to Storm Cat," Waldman said.

There will be no changes to operations at Zia Park in the immediate future following Penn National Gaming's announcement Tuesday that it has agreed to purchase the track and its slots casino for $200 million. The deal is expected to close in mid-2007.

Until then, it will be business as usual at Zia, said Bruce Rimbo, who is vice president of Zia and also a partner in the track.