The finalists for the 2021 North American Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards have been announced, as well as the winner and runner-up of the Thoroughbred Industry Community Award. This year’s Community Award winner is Nick Caras of the New York Racetrack Chaplaincy, with Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association’s Diana Pinones as runner-up.

After last year's awards were presented virtually, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 award recipients and finalists will be honored in an in-person event planned for Oct. 15 at Keeneland.

The Jockey Club has elected six new Members, including Drew Fleming, the chief executive officer of the Breeders’ Cup.

Fleming was elevated to the chief executive position at Breeders’ Cup after the organization’s 2019 event, following several years as its chief operating officer. Prior to joining Breeders’ Cup, he practiced corporate law.

The others elected as Members, which choose the organization’s board members, were Gayle Benson, Dr. Jeffrey Berk, Kevin Lavin, Anthony Manganaro, and Adam Wachtel.

Three legislators who supported a federal bill to create a national regulatory authority for horse racing and several former members of state racing commission have asked a U.S. District Court in Texas to grant a motion allowing them to file briefs supporting the regulatory body.

Barbara Banke, William Lear, and Alex Rankin have been elected to the 10-member Board of Stewards at The Jockey Club, the organization announced on Monday.

Lear, the vice chairman of The Jockey Club and the chairman emeritus of the Lexington law firm Stoll Keenon Ogden, was re-elected to a four-year term. Lear is also on the board of the Keeneland Association.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association on July 28 began requiring computer-assisted wagering programs to place win bets on its races prior to three minutes to post, a decision that has led the operators of the programs to stop betting into the win pool entirely, NYRA officials said this week.

With some minor changes, a proposed Southern California racing calendar for 2022 may look similar to the current season, according to testimony during a two-hour teleconference meeting of the California Horse Racing Board’s dates committee on Tuesday.

The Northern California calendar for the summer of 2022 is not as clear, with annual disagreements regarding racing dates on the county fair circuit in July and August.

Government attorneys representing the Federal Trade Commission have filed a motion asking a federal court in Kentucky to dismiss a lawsuit filed by three states that seeks to invalidate the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Tuesday approved an increase in fees to become eligible for the state’s Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund in order to pay for studies of issues impacting the breeding industry.

The KHRC approved the increase in fees by a unanimous voice vote. The increase in fees, which will amount to approximately $160,000 per year, had earlier been discussed by the commission’s KTDF advisory committee, which had recommended that the commission approve the move on Aug. 3.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A prominent and well-respected racing-law expert predicted Monday that federal courts are ready to revisit doctrines regarding the delegation of government powers to private companies, a development that could lead to a drawn-out legal battle over a new national regulatory authority for horse racing.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – This year’s Jockey Club Round Table Conference, which will be held virtually for the second year in a row due to the coronavirus pandemic, will introduce many in the U.S. racing industry to a woman who may play a prominent role in its regulatory future.