Here and There

Trainer Nick Zito will appear as a guest panelist on the ESPN game show ESPN's 2-Minute Drill to be broadcast Monday at 7:00 p.m. (EST). "It was great having Nick on the show," said host Kenny Mayne. "The fact he kept running out to an OTB down the street to check on his horses didn't really set the show back too much." Zito follows in the footsteps of Franco Harris, Johnny Bench, Marcus Camby, Regis Philbin, and Dale Earnhardt, who previously appeared as guests panelists on the show. Zito donated his honorarium for appearing on the show to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation...Average daily attendance of 2,442 represented a 7.3% decline from the previous year at the Remington Park fall meet that ended Sunday. The Oklahoma City, Oklahoma track owned by Magna Entertainment reported average daily on-track live handle dropped 10.2% to $136,175, but that overall total handle from all sources averaged $868,271 daily, a drop of almost 2%. Average daily purse distribution fell 2.3% to $97,071...The 2001 Thoroughbred season at Canada's Woodbine Racecourse ended prematurely Sunday when the last four races on the closing-day card were cancelled due to unsafe track conditions caused by inclement weather. Jockeys determined that the racing surface was unraceable after the featured Valedictory Stakes, won by Afleets Dancer...The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a challenge to a South Carolina law banning possession of video gambling machines. Two businesses challenged the ban, which outlawed gambling and possession of the devices...David Willmot, president and CEO of the Ontario Jockey Club, announced that the organization will not proceed with its proposed acquisition of Flamboro Downs. The OJC, which operates Woodbine Racecourse, and Flamboro signed an acquisition letter of intent in August. If completed after due diligence, the transaction was scheduled to close in early January 2001.