Betting on Thoroughbred races held at U.S. racetracks plummeted 9.3 percent in October compared to the same month last year, according to figures released Monday by Equibase.

Total handle during the month was $819.0 million, down slightly more than $84 million from the $903.3 million bet last year during October. The number of races held dropped 6.2 percent, from 2,782 last October to 2,610 this year, contributing to the decline. Average handle per race dropped 3.3 percent, from $324,469 last October to $313,793 this year.

Total wagering on the five Breeders’ Cup races held on Friday at Santa Anita Park in Southern California was down 8.9 percent compared to the record amount of wagering on the five races at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., last year, according to charts of the races.

Wagering was down despite the races starting nearly two hours later than last year, and despite the addition of a pick five that ended on the first Breeders’ Cup race. Handle on that pick five was $2.37 million.

Chris Merz, the senior director of racing operations at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn., has resigned from his position and has moved to Maryland to “pursue other opportunities” in racing, Merz said on Tuesday.

A jockey who is thrown from a horse or falls while riding will need to be examined by a medical specialist for possible concussion symptoms prior to being allowed to return to riding under a protocol released on Thursday by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.

Beginning in 2026, New York Racing Association will increase purses for maiden New York-bred 2-year-old races to be equal to that of open company maiden races, NYRA announced Wednesday.

While it is too early to define what the purse levels will be, a NYRA release noted that the 2023 summer meet at Saratoga, maiden races restricted to New York bred 2-year-old races offered purses of $88,000 compared to $105,000 for open company races.

The Horseracing Integrity and Wagering Unit has created a sub-category of its banned-substances list that includes drugs of human abuse such as cocaine and methamphetamine, a designation created to provide a layer of protection to trainers whose horses test positive for the substances from contamination.

Lieutenant Dan, a six-time stakes winner who was second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar in 2021, was recently retired and sent to the central California ranch of owner-breeder Nick Alexander.

“He had an ankle that was causing problems,” Alexander said. “We didn’t want to push it.”

Lieutenant Dan, a 7-year-old gelding by Grazen, won 9 of 18 starts and earned $923,740. All six of the stakes wins were achieved in sprints in Southern California, including three stakes for statebreds in 2019 and 2020.

Winter Memories, who added to the legacy of a prominent Darby Dan Farm family both as a Grade 1 winner on the track and as a stakes producer at the farm, died this past spring. The El Prado mare was 15.

Winter Memories, whose death was first confirmed by the BloodHorse, was euthanized in May at her birthplace, as trouble with her hind suspensory ligaments made standing and walking painful for her, Darby Dan owner John Phillips said.

The California Horse Racing Board is seeking to automate a process that will allow the board to quickly determine whether trainers are in compliance with a rule requiring written confirmations that a horse has been examined by a veterinarian prior to a workout, the board announced on Wednesday.

A number of individuals providing crucial behind-the-scenes work at racetracks and farms were honored at the 2023 Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards on Tuesday night at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.