Those texts about unpaid tolls wasn’t real; and neither is this one about unpaid traffic tickets.

Another text message scam across multiple states is targeting Kentucky residents. It’s yet another smishing, or SMS phishing scam, and recipients should not go to the link in the text.

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet warns of scam

The scam is similar to recent fraudulent texts and emails about unpaid tolls.

In a May news release, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet warned residents of text messages that impersonate state agencies and have suspicious links meant to look like government URLs.

“If you receive one of these texts, do not click the link,” the news release warns. “KYTC does not collect traffic ticket fees or notify customers of violations, and we are taking appropriate steps to have the fraudulent websites taken down.”

Don’t click that link! Toll road scammers still sending fake payment requests via text

The messages may claim that if unpaid traffic fines aren’t paid right away, drivers will face actions such as their vehicle registrations or licenses being suspended, additional fees and prosecution.

What to do if you receive scam texts

Fraudulent text messages can be reported to the following agencies:

The Derby Alumni tracker checks in with the horses who raced in the Kentucky Derby, both this year and in previous years, keeping up with what they have done since they ran for the roses.

2025 Kentucky Derby

Three runners from the Kentucky Derby have started again since the run for the roses: Journalism, Sandman and American Promise all returned in the Preakness on May 17. Journalism fared best of the three, finishing heroically to catch Gosger and win the second jewel of the Triple Crown. Sandman rallied for third, while American Promise checked in eighth.

Most of the entrants in the Kentucky Derby are back in action this Saturday. Sovereignty, Journalism and Baeza, as well as the scratched Rodriguez, will clash in the Belmont Stakes. Both Citizen Bull and Neoequos turn back in distance for the Woody Stephens (G1). Five more also turn back in distance, as well as get a drop in class, in the Matt Winn (G3) at Churchill Downs: Final Gambit, Burnham Square, East Avenue, Chunk of Gold and Coal Battle.

2024 Kentucky Derby

Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs, Mystik Dan won for the first time since capturing the blanket of roses in 2024. Coming off a second in the Lake Ouachita at Oaklawn, Mystik Dan did one better in the Blame. The trip looked eerily familiar: he tracked the pace while saving ground under Brian Hernandez Jr., got through into the lane, opened up, and kept going. However, the finish wasn’t a nail-biter like the Kentucky Derby had been: he won by a measured 1 1/4 lengths over Antiquarian.

Grand Mo the First returned to action May 24 in an allowance going 7 1/2 furlongs on the Gulfstream grass, his first start of the yeaer. Sent off the odds-on favorite, the son of Uncle Mo didn’t have the best of trips: he broke a little bit slow, and even though he was still able to get into a tracking position, he had to check in the lane. He kept coming, however, only missing catching winner Eldest Son by a neck.

Four horses from the 2024 Kentucky Derby field are scheduled to race in the coming days. Both Fierceness and Just a Touch are entered to contest the Met Mile (G1) on Saturday at Saratoga. Epic Ride is also entered in stakes company Saturday. He will go five furlongs on the Churchill Downs grass in the Mighty Beau. Catalytic, second in an allowance optional-claiming race last time out, remains at that level at Gulfstream for his race Saturday at one mile on dirt.

2023 Kentucky Derby

Two horses from the 2023 Kentucky Derby field raced in Japan recently. 

Continuar returned to the winners’ circle in the Ritto Stakes, a listed race on May 18 going seven furlongs on the dirt at Kyoto. It was the shortest distance of his career, and though the public ignored him as a 40-1 long shot the son of Drefong took to it well. He saved ground just behind the leading group, had aim on leader Smart Sunny in upper stretch, drove past to that foe’s outside and scored by half a length.

Mandarin Hero contested the Oi Kinen on May 21. The race was his first start since November, and perhaps he needed it. He was never involved, and finished 13th in the field of 15.

2022 Kentucky Derby

Ethereal Road returned to action May 18 in a $16,000 claiming race at Churchill Downs going 1 1/16 miles on the dirt. He was left near the rear of the field of six after checking early. Ethereal Road made an honest rally in the lane but couldn’t quite catch the rest; he checked in fourth, but beaten only a length. He was claimed out of the race by trainer Joe Sharp for new owner TEC Racing.

Two horses from the 2022 Kentucky Derby field are entered to race in the coming days. White Abarrio, unraced since winning the Ghostzapper (G3) in March, returns in Saturday’s Met Mile, a race in which he ran third in 2023. Tiz the Bomb, who makes his first start since an eighth-place run in a starter allowance at Gulfstream in December, drops to the $7,500 claiming level for a 1 1/16 mile race on the dirt at Penn National on Thursday evening.

2021 Kentucky Derby

Like the King made his 7-year-old debut in a 7 1/2-furlong turf allowance at Gulfstream Park on May 24, the same race in which 2024 alumnus Grand Mo the First made his seasonal debut. Like the King settled at the rear after checking early, but could only run on evenly in the lane and settled for fourth, 4 1/4 lengths behind the winner Eldest Son.

Brooklyn Strong raced twice within the last month. First, he contested a $16,000 claiming race at 1 1/16 miles on the Penn National on May 16. He settled well off the pace in the field of five, and though he was not able to reel in the more forwardly placed Styner, he finished with good interest and rallied for second, 6 3/4 lengths behind the winner. Brooklyn Strong returned to the track at Parx on Monday for a $15,000 claiming race at the same 1 1/16-mile distnace on dirt. He was wide into the first turn, worked a place tracking in the second flight, but had no response when asked on the far turn and flattened out to finish sixth behind Hey Porter.

2020 Kentucky Derby

Enforceable made his second start of the year May 11 in the Clásico La Copa at Monterrico. He was keen to the early lead, and carried a clear lead for much of the race. He was headed past the five-sixteenths, and though he continued to battle into upper stretch, he flattened out through the final furlong and had to settle for third behind Gluck.

Answering questions around the proposed settlement, which promises to bring revenue sharing to college sports.

Roughly five years after its initial filing, the House v. NCAA settlement is still awaiting a decision from the courts.

It’s one of the most talked-about lawsuits in the history of college athletics. And for good reason. If approved, the settlement would establish a first-of-its-kind revenue-sharing model between schools and athletes.

Industry leaders have been operating for months under the assumption that the agreement would go through this spring and go into effect July 1, including those at the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky. But they’ve yet to receive the all-clear.

Here’s everything you need to know about the settlement, including how Kentucky’s two major schools are planning for two different futures: one where the agreement is approved and one where it’s not.

The proposed House settlement stems from the merging of three different lawsuits filed by current and former Division I athletes against the NCAA: House v. NCAA, Hubbard v. NCAA and Carter v. NCAA.

Plaintiffs Grant House (former Arizona State swimmer) and Sedona Prince (former Texas, Oregon and TCU basketball player) filed a class-action complaint in June 2020 alleging that the NCAA violated antitrust laws by restricting athletes’ ability to profit off their name, image and likeness. Former Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard and former Duke defensive tackle DeWayne Carter filed similar complaints against the NCAA and power conferences. Judge Claudia Wilken, who previously presided over the Alston v. NCAA lawsuit finding the NCAA in violation of antitrust laws by capping the value of athletic scholarships, later consolidated the House suit with Hubbard and Carter.

On Oct. 7, Wilken granted the House settlement preliminary approval. That version of the settlement would provide $2.8 billion in back damages to athletes who could not profit off their NIL between 2016 and Sept. 15, 2024. It would also bring revenue sharing to college sports starting July 1 with a projected cap for 2025-26 of $20.5 million per school. But one aspect of the agreement has delayed her final decision by nearly two months.

Instead of scholarship limits, the version of the House settlement Wilken granted preliminary approval to established roster caps. Objectors spoke out against roster limits at the April 7 final approval hearing in Oakland, California. Afterward, Wilken gave attorneys two weeks to amend the roster limit concept. She suggested grandfathering in athletes already on existing rosters. Executives from the Power Four conferences — Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12 — agreed to an optional grandfathering-in model for schools.

The settlement has been back in Wilken’s hands since May 16.

As the settlement currently stands, $2.8 billion would be provided to college athletes who could not profit off their NIL between 2016 and Sept. 15, 2024. These athletes had to file objections to or claims to be part of the settlement before Jan. 31. About 40,000 filed claims suggesting they would participate in the settlement, Front Office Sports reported in February.

The backpay is to be doled out over 10 years — 60% by the NCAA from its reserves and 40% from schools.

In addition to damages, the House settlement would bring revenue sharing to college sports starting July 1 with a projected cap for 2025-26 of $20.5 million per school. How that money is divvied up will be left to individual institutions.

Louisville athletics director Josh Heird told The Courier Journal at ACC spring meetings that U of L knows how it will distribute the $20.5 million among its varsity sports but declined to share exact numbers. Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart told the CJ at SEC spring meetings that, rather than establishing firm percentages for each program, Kentucky will take a less rigid approach to meet each sport’s needs year in and year out.

Front Office Sports reported that power conference schools are expected to dedicate 75% of the $20.5 million toward their football programs. Texas Tech’s reported breakdown gives 74% to football, 17% to 18% to men’s basketball, 2% to women’s basketball, 1.8% to baseball and the rest to other sports. That’s $15.17 million for football, $3.69 million for men’s basketball and $410,000 for women’s basketball.

College athletes would make money through revenue-sharing agreements with their schools and still be eligible for third-party NIL deals if the settlement is approved. However, the NIL market would be more heavily monitored than it is now under an enforcement structure that some industry leaders are skeptical of.

All NIL deals exceeding $600 will have to be reported to and pass through a clearinghouse called “NIL go,” starting three days after the settlement is approved. NIL go will be operated by Deloitte with the purpose of assessing athletes’ fair market value.

Officials from the clearinghouse have been sharing data about past deals with athletics directors and coaches over the last several weeks, including 

Those numbers are a far cry from the millions collectives have reportedly spent on athletes over the last four years or so. Restricting compensation in this way feels, to some, like a bit of a step backward.

“They’re just encouraging people to cheat again,” Dan Furman, president of Louisville’s official collective 502Circle, told The Courier Journal.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey spoke about the clearinghouse at spring meetings. When asked directly if he had confidence in these guardrails, Sankey said yes.

“People are going to have opinions,” he said. “Nothing ever worked when people sat around and said, ‘Well, this won’t work.’ We’re adults, we’re leaders, and I think I communicated this (recently), we have a responsibility to make this work.”

Instead of scholarship limits, the version of the House settlement Wilken granted preliminary approval to established roster caps. This structure would cause thousands of athletes across the country to lose their spots — mainly in football and Olympic sports. Objectors spoke out against roster limits at the final approval hearing in Oakland on April 7.

Wilken told attorneys they needed to fix this issue or else she would reject the settlement. She suggested grandfathering in athletes already on existing rosters. Executives from the Power Four conferences came back with an optional grandfathering-in model for schools.

Objectors then argued for mandatory grandfathering, but lawyers from the NCAA and power conferences maintained that their proposal should satisfy Wilken’s demands and solicit approval.

Several states have laws permitting schools to directly pay college athletes — including Kentucky. The commonwealth passed Senate Bill 3 in March, amending its previous NIL legislation so state universities could legally operate within the House settlement’s proposed revenue-sharing model.

Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports reported in early May that athletics directors predict many schools will use state law to begin paying athletes, regardless of whether Wilken denies the settlement. One AD told Yahoo!: “What can the NCAA do about it?”

If Wilken denies the settlement, U of L will likely move forward with paying its athletes directly, Heird told The Courier Journal at ACC spring meetings.

“That’s probably the path we would go down,” Heird said. “Just from the standpoint of the more control you can have of the situation, the better. It’s been a little bit disjointed with outside entities, collectives, doing things. So I would presume that’s the road we would go down.”

Should the settlement get denied, U of L wouldn’t be beholden to the $20.5 million cap. Instead, paying athletes would just “be a budget constraint,” Heird said. “But I’d contend it’s a budget constraint now.”

UK, like all other universities, will be limited to $20.5 million to share with its athletes under the settlement’s current terms. This $20.5 million represents 22% of the average revenue of power conference schools and Notre Dame across eight categories, including but not limited to ticket sales and media rights. UK totaled $129.2 million across those categories, according to its 2023-24 NCAA financial report. 

Barnhart told The Courier Journal at SEC spring meetings that, rather than establishing firm percentages of the $20.5 million for each program, Kentucky will take a less rigid approach to meet each sport’s needs year in and year out.

U of L, like all other universities, will be limited to $20.5 million to share with its athletes under the settlement’s current terms. This $20.5 million represents 22% of the average revenue of power conference schools and Notre Dame across eight categories, including but not limited to ticket sales and media rights. Louisville totaled $105.5 million across those categories, according to its 2023-24 NCAA financial report. 

Heird told The Courier Journal at ACC spring meetings that U of L knows how it will distribute the $20.5 million among its varsity sports but declined to share exact numbers.

Reach college sports enterprise reporter Payton Titus at ptitus@gannett.com, and follow her on X @petitus25.