Blood-Horse Thoroughbred Owners of California announced Tuesday, Oct. 20 that Nick Coukos has accepted the position of president. Coukos is stepping down as vice president racing/corporate affairs at Ajax Downs, a privately owned Quarter Horse racetrack and slot facility near Toronto. Prior to that he was executive director of Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association Ontario [...]

Blood-Horse The ownership groups of Suffolk Downs and the Brockton Fairgrounds, which has not hosted Thoroughbred racing since 2001, have filed applications with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission for live racing dates in 2016. The application of Sterling Suffolk Racing, which asked for and was granted three dates—Sept. 5, Oct. 3, and Oct. 31— this year, [...]

Blood-Horse The Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, which met Oct. 13, cited progress in state-by-state adoption of components of the National Uniform Medication Program and also added four drugs to the Controlled Therapeutic Substances Schedule. The uniform medication program calls for adoption of the therapeutic medication schedule; administration of furosemide, also called Lasix or Salix, [...]

Omaha.com LINCOLN — Backers of expanded gambling in Nebraska are launching their initiative petition drive with donations exceeding $250,000. Almost all of the money has come from Ho-Chunk Inc., the economic development wing of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, according to the petition group’s first campaign finance report. The group, Keep the Money in Nebraska, [...]

Blood-Horse United States Representative Andy Barr of Kentucky has reintroduced two bills that would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to benefit racehorse owners. Barr's office Oct. 12 said the two bills are designed to make the tax changes permanent. Over the years they have been extended as part of other pieces of tax [...]

Kent Stirling, who has served as executive director of the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association since 1995, will transition out of the position through the end of this year, the organization announced Oct. 9. His contract term expires Dec. 31. The Florida HBPA said it will seek a replacement for Stirling during the transition [...]

Paulick Report Thomas Weatherwax, chairman of the Indiana Horse Racing Commission, told the Indianapolis Business Journal commissioners are frustrated that longtime executive director Joe Gorajec is “too focused on enforcing regulations and not focused enough on marketing and promoting horse racing within the state.” On Saturday morning at a hastily called meeting, the commission, in [...]

Blood-Horse A tote security initiative launched by the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau remains on track, but in a major change, the organization said Oct. 7 there no longer is a need for outlets that receive simulcast signals to pay a monthly fee. The $950-per-month fee for any "point of distribution" for signals was part of [...]

Blood-Horse Fantasy sports, fixed odds, and broader distribution were offered as potential avenues of growth for the pari-mutuel racing industry—all of them with caveats—during an Oct.6 session at the International Simulcast Conference in Clearwater Beach, Fla. The options were discussed during a panel discussion titled "Wagering Innovation or Die?" None of the speakers suggested pari-mutuel [...]

Blood-Horse All-sources and live wagering and purses increased substantially during Gulfstream Park's 55-day summer meet that concluded Oct. 3 with the $1.3 million Florida Sire Stakes. According to the South Florida track, all-sources handle during the summer grew $32,062,231 to $316,252,302 for an 11% boost over 2014 figures. Total live handle increased $34,163,271 to $243,162,958, [...]