Pennsylvania Code › Title 58 - RECREATION › Part IV - Horse Racing Commission › Chapter 163 - RULES OF RACING › ILLEGAL PRACTICES › Section 163.306 - Racing soundness examination

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a) A horse entered to race shall be
				  available for a veterinary examination for racing soundness and health on race
				  day. Horses entered to start in races one through five are required to be
				  present 1 1/2 hours prior to the published post time of the first race. Horses
				  entered to start in races six through the last race are required to be present
				  1 1/2 hours prior to the published post time of the fifth race.
(b) Commission stewards are granted the
				  discretion to waive the time limits outlined in subsection (a) in proper and
				  exceptional circumstances. They may not waive the prerace soundness
				  examination, which will be conducted on all horses.
(c) The examination shall be referred to as
				  the racing soundness exam.
(d) The
				  examinations shall be conducted in or near the stall to which the animal is
				  assigned and shall be conducted by a veterinarian employed by the Commission or
				  approved by it.
(e) The
				  veterinarian shall cause to be kept a continuing health and racing soundness
				  record of each horse so examined.
(f) A horse which suffers a breakdown on the
				  race track, in training or in competition, and is destroyed, and every other
				  horse which expires while stabled on the race track under the jurisdiction of
				  the Commission, shall undergo an examination at a time and place acceptable to
				  the Commission veterinarian to determine the injury or sickness which resulted
				  in euthanasia or natural death.
(g)
				  The examination required under this section will be conducted by a veterinarian
				  employed by the owner or his trainer in the presence of and in consultation
				  with the Commission veterinarian.
(h) Test samples shall be obtained from the
				  carcass upon which the examination is conducted and shall be sent to a
				  laboratory approved by the Commission for testing for foreign substances and
				  natural substances at abnormal levels. When practical, samples should be
				  procured prior to euthanasia.
(i)
				  The owner of the deceased horse shall make payment of charges due the
				  veterinarian employed by him to conduct the examination. The services of the
				  Commission veterinarian and the laboratory testing of samples shall be made
				  available by the Commission without charge to the owner.
(j) A record of an examination shall be filed
				  with the Commission by the owner's veterinarian within 72 hours of the death
				  and shall be submitted on a form supplied by the Commission.
(k) Each owner and trainer shall accept the
				  responsibility for the examination provided for in this section as a requisite
				  for maintaining the occupational license issued by the Commission.
This section cited in 58 Pa. Code §
												163.302 (relating to foreign
						drugs, medications or substances); 58 Pa. Code §
												163.303 (relating to prohibition;
						prima facie evidence; disqualification); and 58 Pa. Code §
												163.308 (relating to official
						laboratory).