Blood-Horse Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter has vetoed legislation that would have made roughly 250 Instant Racing betting machines illegal. But Otter did put a moratorium on any new Instant Racing machines in the state and asked the legislature to join him in appointing a special investigator to assess the legality of the machines that [...]

Blood-Horse Racing industry officials in late March and early April said they again expect to see federal legislation filed this year that would authorize the United States Anti-Doping Agency to oversee equine medication and drug testing procedures. Last summer The Jockey Club at its Round Table conference indicated it would advocate for federal involvement in [...]

New Orleans Advocate Keith Gee, an attorney and longtime supporter of local horse racing and its many workers, died Saturday of cancer. He was 56. Born Ronald Keith Gee, he served as executive director of the Louisiana Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association since March 2012. Perhaps his biggest achievement occurred last year when he convinced [...]

Blood-Horse Bill White, one of South Florida's all-time leading trainers, has been elected president of the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association for the 12 months that began April 1. White succeeds Phil Combest, a trainer and owner who had been the Florida HBPA president since 2011. Members of the Florida HBPA 15-member board of [...]

Blood-Horse Horsemen's representatives told the Ohio Horse Racing Commission March 30 that equine medication rules, which the commission is reviewing, should be breed-specific in nature. The OSRC in February heard testimony from representatives of the Association of Racing Commissioners International and Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, and in April will hear from veterinarians and scientists [...]

Paulick Report Herb Elkins, who owned and raced horses in Florida for 30 years, passed away last week at the age of 91. Elkins and his wife, Ione, owned or co-owned a number of stakes winners, most trained by Bill Kaplan. Those stakes winners included Seacliff, who swept the 1995 Florida Sire Stakes (formerly Stallion [...]

Blood-Horse Six-time leading Oaklawn Park trainer Steve Asmussen earned his 7,000th North American victory April 1, when Drama Coach won the second race at Oaklawn to also give the trainer the sweep of the early Daily Double (VIDEO). Asmussen is just the second trainer ever to reach 7,000 career wins in North America, following the [...]

Daily Racing Form Representatives of Massachusetts horsemen plan to meet with officials from Suffolk Downs over the next several weeks to hammer out a plan for live racing this year after the state legislature passed a bill on Tuesday protecting the track’s racing license and simulcasting operations through 2016. The legislature approved the protections as [...]

Blood-Horse The Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, Keeneland, and Churchill Downs will join in a unique partnership designed to generate funds for the work of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the non-profit organization that serves as both an accrediting body for facilities that care for Thoroughbreds at the conclusion of their racing careers and a [...]

Blood-Horse As more jurisdictions continue to implement the multiple medication violation penalty system as part of the National Uniform Medication Program, officials March 31 said it's beginning to show it can be a useful tool. The MMV penalty system, which officially began Jan. 1, 2014, in jurisdictions that had adopted it at that time, assigns [...]