LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. – Quarter Horse racing will have a new World Champion for 2012.

The result of the $750,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos last Saturday night will have a pivotal impact on the championships, which will be announced in January.

Cold Cash 123, the 2011 World Champion, finished eighth in the Champion of Champions, losing a chance to retain his title.

STICKNEY, Ill. – The situation regarding the equine herpesvirus outbreak at Hawthorne has been as quiet the last two weeks as at any point since the first horses became ill Oct. 14. No horses have displayed the serious neurologic symptoms of the disease, known as EHV-1, since a horse became ill and died Dec. 7.

STICKNEY, Ill. - Trainer Greg Geier has a pair of promising 2-year-olds for owner-breeder Jim Tafel. The question as the calendar flips over to 2013 is what he will be able to do with them.

Ron Faucheux has only been a trainer since 2009, but we know this about him by now: Faucheux wins races. Through Dec. 18, his career record stood at 94 for 315, a strike rate just under 30 percent. Last season at Fair Grounds, Faucheux went 19 for 62, and he continued to win races in bunches over the summer at Evangeline Downs.

The Maryland Racing Commission at a meeting on Tuesday approved a schedule calling for 146 live racing dates at Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course next year, according to state racing officials.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Gary Contessa believes Bernie the Jet is destined to be a better sprinter than distance horse as his career progresses. He’ll get the opportunity to test that theory when he turns Bernie the Jet back to five furlongs on the turf to face the potent Wesley Ward entry of stakes winner Rip Roaring Ritchie and Skylander in Thursday’s $54,500 optional claiming feature for 2-year-olds at Gulfstream Park.

Randy Wehrman, the racing secretary at Charles Town racetrack in West Virginia, was escorted off track grounds by security personnel last week and fired, state racing officials confirmed on Tuesday.

It was unclear on Tuesday what prompted Charles Town management to fire Wehrman, who had been racing secretary since 2008. State racing officials said on Tuesday that they are investigating the matter and that a hearing will likely be held to determine whether to revoke Wehrman’s occupational permit.

Penn National Race Course will hold a $500,000 race for 3-year-olds going a mile on the turf on the first Saturday in June this year, the richest race the Pennsylvania racetrack has ever carded, the track announced on Tuesday.

The $500,000 Penn Mile is part of a three-stakes card on June 1 that will also include the $250,000 Mountainview Handicap for 3-year-olds and older going 1 1/8 miles and the $150,000 Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup for 3-year-olds and older at five furlongs on the turf.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed Monday that the multiple Grade 1 winner Turbulent Descent has been retired and will be bred to War Front this spring.

The average daily handle on Zia Park’s live races during its 54-date meet was on par with last season, according to figures provided by the Hobbs, N.M., track. The mixed meet for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses closed Dec. 4.

Zia handled an average $394,890 a day on its live races this meet, just a half-percentage point less than the corresponding average during the track’s 50-date meet in 2011.

Purses at the slots-rich meet averaged $263,592, up from $249,989 during the corresponding meet in 2011.