Code of Maine Rules › 01 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION AND FORESTRY › 017 - MAINE STATE HARNESS RACING COMMISSION › Chapter 7 - RACING › Section 017-7-18-A - Maine Owned or Bred Races

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
1. Persons licensed
				to conduct harness horse racing meets under Title 8, Chapter 11, may offer
				non-sire stakes races limited to horses wholly owned by Maine residents or
				sired by Maine stallions.
2. For
				purposes of this rule, a Maine bred horse shall be defined as one sired by a
				Maine stallion, registered with the Commission, who stood in Maine during the
				entire breeding season in which it sired a Maine bred horse or a horse whose
				dam was a wholly owned Maine mare at the time of breeding as shown on the
				horse's United State Trotting Association paper or electronic registration or
				electronic eligibilities. The breeding season means that period of time
				beginning February 15 and ending July 15 of each year.
3. For the purposes of this rule, a "Maine
				resident" shall mean a person who habitates permanently in Maine with intent to
				remain in Maine for the indefinite future. A person who is called elsewhere for
				labor or other special or temporary purposes shall not be excluded from
				consideration as being a Maine resident. The Commission or its designee shall
				determine all questions about a person's eligibility to participate in
				Maine-owned races. The Commission or its designee may review and subpoena any
				information which is deemed relevant to determine a person's residence,
				including but not limited to, the following:
A. Where the person lives and has been
				living;
B. The location of the
				person's sources of income;
C. The
				address used by the person for payment of taxes, including federal, state and
				property taxes;
D. The state in
				which the person's personal automobiles are registered;
E. The state issuing the person's driver's
				license;
F. The state in which the
				person is registered to vote;
G.
				Ownership of property in Maine or outside of Maine;
H. The residence used for U.S.T.A. membership
				and U.S.T.A. registration of a horse, whichever is applicable;
I. The residence claimed by a person on a
				loan application or other similar document;
J. Membership in civic, community, and other
				organizations in Maine and elsewhere.
K. None of these factors when considered
				alone shall be dispositive, except that a person must have resided in the State
				of Maine in the preceding calendar year for a minimum of one hundred and eighty
				three (183) days. Consideration of all of these factors together, as well as a
				person's expressed intention, shall be considered in arriving at a
				determination. The burden shall be on the applicant to prove Maine residency
				and eligibility for Maine-owned or bred races. The Commission may promulgate by
				regulation any other relevant requirements necessary to ensure that the
				licensee is a Maine resident. In the event of disputes about a person's
				eligibility to enter a horse in races limited to Maine-owned or Maine bred
				horses, the Commission shall resolve all disputes and that decision shall be
				final.