Two U.S. legislators said on Tuesday during a hearing in Washington D.C. that they are considering introducing legislation that would amend the Interstate Horse Racing Act to give jockeys veto power over simulcast signals.

A bill that will move several million dollars a year from the coffers of four Illinois riverboat casinos into the state's racing industry passed both the Illinois Senate and House of Representatives on Thursday and is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Youbet.com, the online horse race broadcast and wagering company, had net income of $1.35 million in the first quarter of 2006, up 31 percent compared with net income of $1.03 million in the first quarter last year, according to financial documents released Thursday.

The House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday afternoon that will explore issues related to jockeys' health and welfare, Congressional officials said Thursday.

A member of the New York Racing Association's board of trustees, Wayne Barr, resigned his position on the board last week because of his business relationship with a principal in a group that intends to bid on NYRA's franchise.

Barr is the president of Capital and Technology Advisers, a New York-based consulting company. He co-founded the company with Jared Abbruzzese Sr., who is a principal in Empire Racing Associates. Empire was launched earlier this year in order to raise money to lobby for changes to New York's racing law and bid on NYRA's franchise.

A bill that will move several million dollars a year from the coffers of four Illinois riverboat casinos into the state's racing industry passed both the Illinois Senate and House of Representatives on Thursday, and is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher has vetoed language in the state budget that would have banned the state from assessing a daily fee on Kentucky racetracks to provide for regulation of the racing industry.

The fees, which require Thoroughbred racetracks to pay the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority $3,500 per live racing day, were prohibited in the budget largely on the advice of a state auditor, who claimed that the state had questionable legal authority to assess the fees. Annually, the fees on racetracks provide approximately $1.2 million of the authority's $3 million budget.

The Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association will continue to negotiate with Magna Entertainment Corp. over a contract for a share of slot-machine revenue at Gulfstream Park while in a state-sanctioned arbitration process, the executive director of the horsemen's association said Monday.

Magna announced Friday that it intended to seek binding arbitration over how to divide the revenue from 1,500 slot machines planned for Gulfstream later this year.

Magna Entertainment Corp., the owner of Santa Anita Park in California, Gulfstream Park in Florida, and other racetracks, had net income of $2.2 million in the first quarter of 2006, according to financial statements released Monday. It was the first quarterly profit the company has posted in two years.

Revenue in the quarter was $281.5 million, compared with revenue of $245.7 million in the first quarter of 2005, when Magna had a net loss of $4.1 million.

Magna Entertainment Corp. will seek to resolve its stalled negotiations with the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association over anticipated slot revenues at Magna's Gulfstream Park through binding arbitration, Magna announced Friday.