Trainer Chad Brown registered his fourth consecutive New York Racing Association year-end training title, jockey Manny Franco picked up his first crown, and Michael Dubb earned his fifth straight title on the circuit.

A rainy closing day saw Claudio Gonzalez continue his recent domination of the trainer standings while Trevor McCarthy returned to a familiar spot atop the jockey standings and a new face emerged as Maryland racing’s leading rider for the year.

A highly regarded sports medicine program in place at Maryland Jockey Club tracks may serve as an example of what can be accomplished at other North American tracks in terms of rider safety, especially relative to concussions.

Glorious Empire, who had been a candidate for the first edition of the $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T), has developed a filling in his ankle. will miss that Jan. 26 race, and may be sidelined until summer.

New York regulators this week are poised to approve several required measures to pave the way for an early January closing of the sale of Yonkers Racetrack and its adjoining racino to MGM Resorts.

Initial base payment for jockey and exercise rider coverage is $1,250, down from the $1,500 base in 2016-18.

While its Dec. 28 agenda included consideration of awarding the state’s sixth racing license, the New Mexico Racing Commission stopped short of that action Friday.

When Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races concluded its live racing season Dec. 29, it once again set a new record for wagering volume per race for the fourth consecutive year.

The Nebraska State Racing Commission is expected to reconsider options for historical racing at Fonner Park when it meets Jan. 16 at the Grand Island, Neb., track.

The New York Racing Association has announced a pair of shipping incentive programs Dec. 30 that will return in 2019 at Aqueduct Racetrack and Belmont Park for horsemen based this winter in Florida or at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas.

Finalists for the 2018 Eclipse Awards will be revealed live at 11:05 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 5 from Gulfstream Park, all racetrack outlets carrying the Gulfstream Park simulcast feed, and on XBTV.com. 

The New York State breeding program holds a high level of anticipation about 2019’s arrival. Yet, there will always be a fondness for the unparalleled success of 2018, especially at New York Racing Association (NYRA) tracks.

At morning-line odds of 9-5, Mind Control will take on a field of five other males in the one-mile Jerome, which awards 10-4-2-1 points to the top four finishers toward entry in the May 4 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).