While horses selling for millions of dollars grabbed much of the attention in the racing industry over the past year, a number of other issues also were competing for headlines.

From the turbulent internal politics of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) to the continuing onslaught on the record books by jockey Laffit Pincay Jr., the year 2000 produced a wide array of compelling news stories.

From a vote of the editorial staff of Thoroughbred Times, the following have been ranked as the top stories of the year after the soaring bloodstock markets.

Twenty-two racetracks threaten to quit NTRA

For the second year in a row, the NTRA faced the threatened defection of a group of racetracks, with the number of apparently dissatisfied track members swelling to 22, all of which planned to withdraw, effective at the end of the year.

Negotiations were continuing in December, but NTRA Commissioner Tim Smith said the organization had prepared its budget for the new year-which will be its first under a merger with Breeders' Cup Ltd.-with the assumption it would not regain the rebel tracks.

Major issues in the dispute included the NTRA's association with the Television Games Network (TVG), including the operation by NTRA Services of the TVG betting hub in Oregon, and governance by and representation in the organization. "We don't have the luxury of spending too much more time on internal conflict," Smith said.

Yet the issue seemed destined to spill over into 2001. Frank Stronach, chairman of Magna Entertainment Corp., which owns seven racetracks and plans to pull all of them out of the NTRA, slated a summit meeting on the issues at Magna-owned Gulfstream Park on January 14.

Arlington Park reopens and merges with Churchill Downs Inc.

The silence that hovered over Arlington Park since 1997, when owner and Chairman Richard Duchossois closed the track after failing to win political concessions from the Illinois Legislature, exploded into the shouting of fans when the track reopened to racing on May 14.

After gaining 1999 measures for tax relief and for racing industry revenue from a proposed casino in Rosemont, Duchossois presided over a 2000 race meeting that featured the first running of the Arlington Million Stakes (G1) with a $2-million purse. Won by Juddmonte Farms' Chester House, the Million was showcased as part of the Emirates World Series Racing Championship on August 19.

Shortly before then, Duchossois signed a deal to merge the track-which he had rebuilt for a reported $200-million after a fire destroyed the grandstand in 1985-with Churchill Downs Inc. His family's Duchossois Industries became the largest shareholder in Churchill Downs under the merger, and Duchossois, now 79, and other Arlington officials are keeping their executive posts.

Frank Stronach builds Magna, campaigns probable champions

Last year's Newsmaker of the Year, Frank Stronach came close to claiming the title again by making major news in many areas of the industry. From buying more racetracks with Magna Entertainment to challenging the NTRA's policies to winning two Breeders' Cup races with likely champions Macho Uno and Perfect Sting and the Preakness Stakes (G1) with Red Bullet, Stronach dominated the news like no other individual.

Magna Entertainment, with seven racetrack properties, stood poised to grow by "three or four" more tracks in the next few months, Stronach said. Yet even as the company is pursuing aggressive growth, its top-level management continued to change as Stronach sought the right combination of leadership. Two presidents-Jerry Campbell and Mark Feldman-resigned from their posts, and Stronach made himself interim chief executive officer on December 11.

At the end of the year, the NTRA offered Stronach a post on the organization's board in hopes of retaining his tracks' membership.

Fusaichi Pegasus soars to star status

He had it all-the bluest blood in the registry, a captivating classic victory, and a trainer who often kept him sequestered, enhancing his mystique. Fusaichi Pegasus kept racing fans enchanted most of the year, wondering if he could prove himself as the next superstar racehorse.

A $4-million Keeneland July selected sale yearling purchase by Fusao Sekiguchi, Fusaichi Pegasus smashed stallion records when Coolmore Stud purchased his breeding rights for a value between $60-million and $70-million after he won the Kentucky Derby (G1). The son of Mr. Prospector out of the Danzig mare Angel Fever will stand at Coolmore's Ashford Stud near Versailles, Kentucky, for $150,000 in 2001.

With a Derby win that was a powerful tour de force, "Fu Peg," as he became known in the racing media, lost some luster with a second-place finish in the Preakness over what trainer Neil Drysdale called a "greasy" track. Kept out of the Belmont Stakes (G1) with a slight hoof injury, Fusaichi Pegasus was rested for four months before returning victoriously in the Jerome Handicap (G2).

Although his nine-race career ended with a sixth-place effort in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), Fusaichi Pegasus earned $1,994,400 with six wins.

Laffit Pincay Jr. rolls on to more records

Less than a year after breaking Bill Shoemaker's all-time record of 8,833 career wins, Laffit Pincay Jr. crossed the finish line aboard his 9,000th winner-just one of five stakes victories for him on October 28 at Santa Anita Park during the California Cup program of state-bred races.

"As long as I feel good and I keep getting good horses, I will continue to ride," said Pincay, who will celebrate his 54th birthday on December 29. "If I really put my mind to it, maybe I could reach 10,000, but I don't know if I want to ride that long. I want to do other things in life."

Pincay scored his landmark victory aboard Chichim in the $150,000 Louis R. Rowan California Cup Distaff Handicap. Winning the five California Cup stakes also rewrote Santa Anita history, smashing the previous mark of four stakes wins on a card shared by Alex Solis and Patrick Valenzuela.

New York City Off-Track Betting Corp. put up for sale

New York City decided to offer for sale a majority interest of its OTB operation after the network, which includes 68 off-track betting parlors, three teletheaters, and four restaurants and sports pubs, topped $1-billion in handle for the fiscal year ended June 30. Since 1995, when home simulcasting began, the operation's handle grew from $30-million to more than $187-million.

Five bidders submitted proposals that New York City officials were considering in mid-December. The bidders are: a three-way partnership of Magna Entertainment, Greenwood Racing Inc., and Thoroughbred owners Robert Baker and William Mack; the New York Racing Association in a joint proposal with TVG; Churchill Downs Inc.; Japan-based Nomura Securities International Inc.; and the Catskill (New York) Off-Track Betting Corp.

Julie Krone becomes first woman in Racing Hall of Fame

Standing on a milk carton to reach the microphone, retired jockey Julie Krone emotionally accepted her place in the Racing Hall of Fame on August 7 in Saratoga Springs, New York.

"Today, I know for sure that life doesn't get any better than this," said the 37-year-old who was the winningest woman rider in history with 3,545 victories and the only woman to win a classic with her triumph on Colonial Affair in the 1993 Belmont Stakes.

Krone served as an analyst for TVG in racing broadcasts this year but was let go by the network after signing to be a spokesperson for Gulfstream Park in 2001.

Internet Gambling Prohibition bill left in limbo

Although they did not achieve success, many racing industry officials spent the year focused on the proposed Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, which endured numerous legislative changes but which supporters believed still wou