Breeders’ Cup will not award automatic entries to its races or qualifying points to horses in graded stakes this year if the races are not run with bans on the raceday administration of Lasix, the organization announced Wednesday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A Kentucky House committee on Wednesday morning overwhelmingly approved a bill sanctioning a type of gambling device currently in use at a number of racetracks, setting the stage for a final vote on the House floor.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A divided Kentucky state Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that would sanction electronic gambling devices that are currently in use at most of the state’s racetracks, providing a measure of relief to the state’s racing industry.

The bill, which will still need to be taken up by the House, passed on a vote of 22-15, with one abstention, with both Republicans and Democrats divided on the legislation. Republicans hold a 30-8 supermajority in the chamber. Republicans also hold a supermajority in the House, where the bill’s passage is seen as facing a higher hurdle.

Dr. Jeff Blea, a Southern California racetrack practitioner for the last 28 years, will serve as the California Horse Racing Board’s equine medical director in July after the planned retirement of Dr. Rick Arthur, the CHRB announced on Monday.

Knicks Go got the green light to travel across the world for the Feb. 20 Saudi Cup after working Saturday at Fair Grounds and showing trainer Brad Cox and his team that he’s up for the trip.

Cox said last week he wanted to see Knicks Go work and assess his condition out of the drill before putting the horse on a plane, and Knicks Go displayed all the right signs. Knicks Go worked five furlongs in 1:01.20 and came out of his work in good shape, Cox said.

Marshall Cassidy, the voice of the New York Racing Association from 1979-1990, died in his sleep Sunday at his home in Saratoga. He was 75.

Cassidy had a distinctive baritone voice and was known for being succinct and accurate in his calls. When a horse was coming to the wire with a clear advantage, Cassidy would follow the horse’s name with the simple phrase “in front.”

One of his more popular calls came in the 1989 Belmont Stakes when Easy Goer stopped the Triple Crown bid of Sunday Silence.

Due to an expected snowstorm, Aqueduct will move Sunday’s card to Monday, the New York Racing Association announced Saturday.

The eight-race card, which includes the $100,000 Ruthless Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, will be run as previously drawn. First post is 1:20 p.m.

The forecast for Sunday is for snow beginning at 6 a.m. and lasting throughout the day before tapering off around 6 p.m., with five to nine inches possible.

Total wagering on Thoroughbred races held at U.S. tracks jumped nearly 10 percent in January compared to the same month in 2020 despite a six percent drop in races held, according to figures released by Equibase on Thursday.

Total betting was $959.6 million, according to Equibase, up 9.6 percent compared with total betting of $875.8 million in January of 2019, prior to the pandemic wreaking havoc on certain segments of the U.S. economy. Races held dropped from 2,352 in January of last year to 2,211, leading to a 16.6 percent gain in average handle during the month.

Churchill Downs Inc. has filed a suit against Thoroughbred Owners of California seeking to block the organization’s invocation of a state law that would put the two sides in binding arbitration over the amount that Churchill’s account-wagering company pays to Thoroughbred interests in the state.

For the third time in five years, Churchill Downs Inc. has reached an agreement to buy back an enormous bloc of shares from a company controlled by the Duchossois family, the former owner of Arlington Park near Chicago.

The privately negotiated transaction will pay The Duchossois Group $193.9 million for 1 million shares of the company’s stock. Since 2015, Churchill Downs Inc. has bought back $490.1 million in shares from the Duchossois family. Arlington Park merged with Churchill Downs in 2000.