LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Tuesday approved a “non-contiguous” racing license for Ellis Park that will allow the track to proceed with plans to open a casino in nearby Owensboro.

The casino, which will have 600 historical horse racing machines, will be located in an existing building on the main business street in Owensboro, which is a 30-minute drive from Ellis Park in Henderson, according to Ellis Park officials who spoke in front of the commission Tuesday. The officials said that the cost of the facility would be $16.7 million.

Equibase has begun publishing charts that are produced using data collected by GPS systems in use at more than a dozen U.S. racetracks, the company announced Friday. 

Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields have filed a lawsuit alleging that an offshore website is taking wagers from California residents in violation of federal laws.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleges that the owners and operators of two websites, usracing.com and busr.com, are accepting the bets without the required consents of the Interstate Horseracing Act, a federal law that governs simulcasting. The suit also alleges violations of federal anti-racketeering laws and California business regulations.

Tom Rooney, the former U.S. Representative from Florida whose family has been involved in horse racing for three generations, has been hired to become the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s president and chief executive officer, the NTRA announced on Thursday.

Trainer Simon Callaghan has been suspended from Nov. 14-28 and fined $5,000 by the stewards at Santa Anita for allegedly administering shock-wave treatments to a horse within 30 days of a workout, a violation of California racing rules.

Chris Oakes, a Standardbred trainer based in Pennsylvania who was indicted with 26 others last year in a wide-ranging investigation of horse racing, entered a guilty plea to one felony count of drug misbranding and adulteration with intent to defraud and mislead on Wednesday.

A subcommittee of the California Horse Racing Board held a 90-minute meeting on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of drafting a regulation that would allow the board to sanction trainers whose horses suffer catastrophic injuries, a rule that would be the first of its kind in the U.S.

Chris Oakes, one of the more than two dozen people connected to horse racing who were indicted last year on drug charges, has become the latest individual in the case to enter a change-of-plea request.

In court filings on Tuesday, Oakes, a harness trainer, was ordered to appear before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Oct. 20 for the change-of-plea hearing. Oakes had earlier entered a not-guilty plea to two charges related to misbranding and adulterating drugs.

Marcos Zulueta, one of three trainers indicted last year along with two dozen other individuals on charges related to administering illegal substances to racehorses, will change his initial plea of not guilty in the case, according to a Thursday court filing.

Zulueta, who trained in the Mid-Atlantic before being banned after being indicted, will have his change-of-plea hearing on Oct. 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, according to the filing.

Jordan Fishman, one of 27 people initially indicted early last year on charges related to the adulteration and misbranding of drugs in horse racing, entered a guilty plea on Wednesday afternoon as part of a deal with the government.