A U.S. District Court judge has once again ruled that the federal legislation establishing the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority passes constitutional muster, but the legal issues involved in the case will face a steeper hurdle when it is appealed to the U.S. Fifth Circuit.

Total betting on Thoroughbred races at U.S. racetracks in April was down 3.0 percent compared to the same month last year, according to figures released by Equibase on Thursday, but the average betting per race jumped because of a larger decline in the number of races held.

Customers of the enormous FanDuel sports-betting platform will have the ability this year to wager on the Kentucky Derby directly from their regular accounts for the first time, a feature that officials for the company and Churchill Downs Inc. believe could lead to a significant jump in betting on the race.

Jay Privman, who retired from a four-decade career covering horse racing last fall, will receive the David F. Woods Award from Pimlico Race Course at the track’s annual Alibi Breakfast, honoring his story last year on the trainer D. Wayne Lukas’s long history in the Preakness Stakes.

Privman, who received a Special Eclipse Award after his retirement, will become a three-time winner of the David F. Woods Award, which honors the previous year’s best story on the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown. He also won in 2002 and 2013.

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority will not be able to enforce its new Anti-Doping and Medication Control program until May 22 under an order issued on Thursday by its federal administrator, the Federal Trade Commission.

The order delays the implementation of a wide-ranging set of policies and protocols by approximately three weeks. HISA had planned to implement the program on May 1, following a judge’s ruling in early April that had delayed the launch of the program until at least that date.

Trainer Chris Block has accepted a 20-day suspension from stewards in Kentucky after a horse he trains, Knockyoursocksoff, tested positive for a Class A drug used to treat insomnia after finishing second in the Grade 2 Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland Racecourse in October of last year.

In a statement, Block said that he did not administer the drug, temazepam, to the horse, and that he suspected the positive was the result of environmental or accidental contamination. Temazepam is an ingredient in sleeping medications designed for humans.

The Jockey Club Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing will be held for the first time on a Thursday this year, rather than its traditional Sunday date, the organization announced Monday.

This year’s Round Table will be held on Thursday, Aug. 3, approximately 10 days earlier than normal. Since its inception in 1953, the conference, which serves as a platform for The Jockey Club to announce its initiatives and indicate its support for certain industry efforts, has been held on a Sunday. It has been held in Saratoga Springs since 1954.

The Maryland legislature on Monday night passed a bill creating a state agency that will consider plans and proposals for the redevelopment of Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course and other racing facilities, at a time of significant uncertainty over the long-term future of racing in the state.

Breeders’ Cup will once again award monetary bonuses to horses that compete in 12 different dirt stakes races this year as a way of incentivizing participation in six of the event’s dirt races in November, the organization announced on Tuesday.

A fifth lawsuit has been filed by horsemen seeking the nullification of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority on constitutional grounds, this time in a U.S. district court in Arkansas.