Lewis Michael, the Arlington-based 3-year-old who almost upset the Peter Pan Stakes in his most recent start, was scheduled to have throat surgery Saturday in Kentucky to correct a breathing problem, but he is expected to be back at Arlington on Sunday, and still has a chance to make his next scheduled start in the $1 million Colonial Turf Cup on June 24 in Virginia.

Lewis Michael is suffering from an entrapped epiglottis. The surgery will free it and allow him to breathe properly during strenuous exercise.

Four Chicago-area riverboat casinos have filed a joint lawsuit seeking to overturn a recently passed law that would funnel a percentage of revenue, some $36 million annually, from the casinos into the horse racing industry.

The casinos contend the new law is unconstitutional on several grounds, especially because it takes from one group of businesses and gives to a group of competitors. Racing interests say the legislation provides just compensation for an erosion of local fan support attributable to the introduction of dockside gambling in 1999.

Darrell Vienna, an attorney and active trainer, has been retained by the California Horse Racing Board as a consultant and will work with the board to launch a continuing education program for the board's members and staff, the racing board announced Wednesday.

Vienna, who operates a stable based at Santa Anita, will assist the board on seminars for employees and developing uniform rules for penalties. The development of a manual for stewards and investigators regarding rules and procedures is being considered, according to the board.

Empire Racing Associates, the New York horsemen's group that intends to bid on the franchise held by the New York Racing Association, has raised $1.5 million from New York owners, breeders, and trainers since being formed in March, the executive director of the group, Jeff Perlee, said Friday.

The amount is halfway toward Empire's goal of raising $3 million to fund a lobbying effort geared toward changing New York's racing laws.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Legislation that could generate an estimated $36 million annually for horse racing in Illinois was signed into law Friday by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and will boost purses at Arlington Park within weeks.

The final rating for the May 20 Preakness Stakes broadcast on NBC was a 5.4, a 6 percent increase over the 5.1 rating generated by last year's broadcast.

The increase was in contrast to a decline in the rating for the Kentucky Derby broadcast on NBC two weeks earlier. The Derby rating was a 7.0, down 4 percent from the 2005 broadcast.

Each rating point equals approximately 1.1 million households, so the 2006 Preakness broadcast, which ran from 5 to 6:50 p.m. Eastern, was watched in approximately 5.9 million homes.

Fox Hill Farm's Rick Porter and trainer John Servis have ended a 12-year partnership, the trainer and owner said Thursday.

In separate interviews, Servis and Porter described the split as amicable, though Servis said that the loss of Porter's 27 horses, including the 2005 Acorn Stakes winner, Round Pond, would be a "pretty big blow" to his operation. Porter was Servis's biggest client, and Servis purchased yearlings and 2-year-olds at auction for Porter's operation.

"Mr. Porter wasn't happy and he wanted to make some changes," Servis said.

The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee approved a bill on Thursday that would prohibit most forms of Internet gambling but provides exceptions for horse racing.

The bill passed by a vote of 25-11 after 90 minutes of debate, much of it centering on the horse racing exemption. Several amendments designed to strip the exemption out of the bill failed to win approval from members of the committee.

Ohio has begun prerace blood gas testing of Thoroughbreds in an attempt to detect excessive levels of total carbon dioxide, the result of the illegal administration of alkalizing agents. Blood gas testing in Ohio has been restricted to Standardbreds for the past eight years.

Dr. Daniel Wilson, a veterinarian who has worked with Standardbreds for many years, said that alkalizing agents - commonly a combination of baking soda, sugar, and electrolytes - are intended to reduce muscle fatigue and improves endurance by reducing the buildup of lactic acid in the horse's muscles.

The good news is that a record crowd of 118,402 jammed Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Saturday in anticipation of the Preakness Stakes. The bad news is that a record crowd of 118,402 was on hand to watch Barbaro pull up with a catastrophic injury shortly after the start.