Churchill Downs Inc. and Nevada casinos remain dead-locked in a longstanding dispute over the company’s simulcast signals, but race books in the state were given authorization last week to offer fixed-odds bets on this Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, in defiance of Churchill’s demands.

The states of Oklahoma and West Virginia, and their respective racing commissions and several other racing-related entities, have filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the structure created by a law passed late last year to former a national regulatory body for racing.

Churchill Downs Inc. has dropped its plans to build a hotel and casino at its Louisville property but is eyeing the downtown Louisville market as a potential site for a new casino, officials of the company said on a conference call with analysts on Thursday morning.

Churchill Downs Inc. had net income of $36.1 million in the first quarter of 2021, according to financial statements released late on Wednesday, a sharp turnaround from a $23.4 million loss in the first quarter of last year, when many of the company’s operations were curtailed by the emerging coronavirus pandemic.

The full Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Tuesday approved a motion to contract with a revamped testing laboratory at the University of Kentucky for its future drug-testing programs.

The commission approved the decision 11 days after an offshoot of the commission, the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council, recommended the move. The new lab is expected to take over the drug-testing duties from Industrial Laboratories in Colorado as of June 27, when the Ellis Park meet is scheduled to begin.

The Arkansas Racing Commission on Tuesday voted unanimously to overrule a stewards’ ruling issued last year disqualifying two horses trained by Bob Baffert and suspending the trainer for 15 days, following two days of testimony to hear the trainer’s appeal.

Attorneys for trainer Bob Baffert during a nine-hour hearing Monday pursued multiple lines of inquiry to cast doubt on the basis for penalties levied by Arkansas stewards last year after two of Baffert’s horses tested positive for a regulated therapeutic medication following races at Oaklawn Park.

Maryland’s racetracks and four standalone offtrack betting parlors will be eligible to offer sports betting under a law passed by the legislature this week just prior to the legislative session ending.

Maryland voters approved sports betting in a November referendum, and the law passed this week codifies which facilities will be able to bid on licenses. The bill is likely to be signed by Gov. Larry Hogan, who has indicated support for the bill in the past.

Trainer Neil French, who overcame health problems in recent years to maintain a small Thoroughbred stable in Southern California, died Saturday of heart failure, according to an announcement released by Santa Anita.

French was 68.

French battled rheumatoid arthritis in the last decade, but was a regular fixture at Santa Anita, using a golf cart to travel to and from his stable on the backstretch to oversee the morning exercise of his runners.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council on Friday unanimously approved a recommendation to sign a contract with the University of Kentucky to perform the state’s post-race drug-testing program beginning later this year.