The Department of Labor has approved the issuance of an additional 35,000 visas for guest workers in the second half of the year under a program that is utilized heavily by trainers.

A subcommittee of the California Horse Racing Board is scheduled to discuss a radical proposal next week that would require the owners of horses that win certain stakes in the state to provide winning riders with a breeding season or a stallion share.

Total betting in April on Thoroughbred races held at U.S. tracks declined 2.1 percent compared to the same month last year, but the result was skewed somewhat by a calendar shift impacting the total.

Total betting was $1.08 billion, compared to $1.10 billion last year, a difference of $20 million. Last year, however, the Kentucky Oaks fell on April 30, and handle on the entire Oaks card at Churchill Downs that day was $78.1 million. This year’s Oaks card will be held Friday.

April of this year had nine weekend dates, while April of last year had eight weekend dates.

Churchill Downs Inc. has asked a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit from Bob Baffert seeking the lifting of a two-year ban the company placed on the Hall of Fame trainer last year.

In a filing on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, CDI asked the court to dismiss Baffert’s complaint “with prejudice,” citing case law and legal arguments that support the company’s right to ban individuals from its premises. Courts have generally upheld the rights of businesses to exclude individuals, provided the exclusion is not based on protected rights.

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority has tabbed Drug Free Sport International, a private company based in Kansas City, Mo., to run a national drug-testing and enforcement program for horse racing that is expected to be implemented early next year, the authority announced on Tuesday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Tuesday gave unanimous approval to several rule changes that will allow the commission to make limited comments about ongoing adjudications and open up stewards’ hearings to the general public.

The New Jersey Racing Commission on Friday approved new regulations on whip use that are identical to those approved by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, essentially ending an experiment that allowed riders to use the whip only to prevent accidents.

The California Horse Racing Board on Thursday became the first racing jurisdiction in the U.S. to agree to collect and remit fees to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the new federally overseen regulatory organization that will begin operations on July 1.

The agreement came in the unanimous approval of a motion to take responsibility for remitting the fees provided the state approves the mechanisms to do so. Several other states, including Maryland, New Jersey, and Texas, have said that they will not collect and remit the fees, citing a lack of statutory authority.

Betty Leon, a community activist in Queens, has been named to the board of directors of the New York Racing Association by the New York Assembly, the assembly announced on Wednesday.

Leon, a resident of Far Rockaway who is a registered nurse, attorney, and chair of a charter school in Queens, was appointed by Carl Heastie, the speaker of the General Assembly, acting on a recommendation from Stacey Pheffer Amato, a member of the Assembly who sits on the Racing and Wagering Committee.

The Rules Committee of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Tuesday unanimously recommended that the full commission adopt several rule changes that will allow the agency to make limited comments about ongoing adjudications and open stewards’ hearings to members of the public.