The Association of Racing Commissioners International has launched a subsidiary modeled on itself that would issue recommendations for government agencies overseeing sports betting in their states.

A budget for New York approved on Saturday by state legislators includes language that guarantees that the New York Racing Association will continue to receive significant payments from the state’s casinos, a significant victory for NYRA, which runs Aqueduct, Belmont, and Saratoga Race Course.

The first-year budget for the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority has been estimated at $14.3 million, according to a document the authority has distributed to racetracks and racing commissions.

The budget is listed on two spreadsheets detailing the estimated funding responsibilities of either individual states or racetracks to the authority, which expects to begin operations on July 1, in accordance with a date set in federal legislation. The authority is currently paying its bills through loans provided by supporters.

Attendance for each day of the two-day Breeders’ Cup event scheduled for Nov. 4 and 5 at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington will be capped at 45,000, and tickets to a variety of permanent and temporary seating areas will go on sale beginning May 9, Breeders’ Cup and Keeneland announced on Thursday.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Queen’s Plate-winning owner-trainer John Cardella died last Dec. 25 at 90, according to owner Paul Cooper.

Cardella was best known for campaigning 1983 Queen’s Plate victor Bompago, a gelding he had claimed from trainer Gord Huntley as a 2-year-old at Fort Erie for $40,000. The hard-to-handle Bompago won the Plate Trial Stakes at 25-1 before his authoritative 4 1/2-length score as the favorite under Larry Attard in the $175,000 Queen’s Plate.

Total wagering on U.S. horse races in March fell 2.4 percent compared to the same month last year, according to figures released by Equibase on Tuesday, a signal that the surge in betting on Thoroughbred races that occurred during the pandemic has begun to moderate.

The Federal Trade Commission has approved a set of rules drafted by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority that includes a formula for determining the funding responsibilities of racing states, with the formula based on the number of races held in the state and the “size of the purses” in the state.

A federal judge in Texas has dismissed a lawsuit brought by horsemen’s groups challenging the constitutionality of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, ruling that the legislation “stays within current constitutional limitations” as defined by previous courts.

Fair Grounds handled an average of $3,209,189 per day on an 80-day racing season that ended March 27.  

Gross handle for the meet at the famed New Orleans racing venue was $256,735,127. The track conducted 747 races during a season that began on Thanksgiving, 744 of them for Thoroughbreds, three – all on Louisiana Champions Day – for Quarter Horses.  

The rate of fatal injury in 2021 on all surfaces at North American racetracks declined to its lowest number since the industry began collecting data on the rates in 2009, according to statistics released by The Jockey Club on Tuesday.

Though the 2021 rate of 1.39 was only a slight decline from the 2020 rate of 1.41, the rate last year was a 30.5 percent decline from the 2.00 rate in 2009. The rate represents the number of fatalities per 1,000 starts. In addition, the overall rate has declined 17.3 percent since 2018, according to the data.