Pennsylvania Code › Title 7 - AGRICULTURE › Part VIII - State Horse Racing Commission › Subpart D - Standardbred Rules of Racing (Harness) › Chapter 205 - RULES OF STANDARDBRED RACING-TEMPORARY REGULATIONS › CLAIMING RACES › Section 205.251 - Claiming regulations and procedures

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a) A licensed owner, trainer or any other
					 person properly licensed may claim any horse in a claiming race if the owner,
					 trainer or licensee has on credit with the licensed racing entity conducting
					 the race, an amount equal to the specified claiming price, plus the applicable
					 tax and requisite fees for transfer of title. Except that, an unlicensed owner
					 operating under a 30-day affidavit procedure may make a claim as previously set
					 forth.
(b) The licensed racing
					 entity shall provide an automatic time clock which shall be used to stamp the
					 time the claim is filed in the claim box upon the envelope containing the
					 claim.
(c) Claims shall be in
					 writing on forms and in envelopes provided by the licensed racing entity,
					 sealed and deposited in the claim box at least 15 minutes before the time
					 originally scheduled for the race to begin. A person may file only one claim in
					 one race.
(d) The claiming price
					 shall be printed on the program and all claims shall be for the amount so
					 designated. If more than one claim is filed for the same horse, the successful
					 claimant shall be determined by lot by the Presiding Judge.
(e) The licensed racing entity shall provide
					 for an agent who shall, immediately after closing the claim box, deliver it to
					 the Presiding Judge. The licensed racing entity's agent or authorized person
					 shall be prepared to state whether the claimant has the proper amount of money
					 on credit equivalent to the specified claiming price. A racing official may not
					 give information on claims filed until after the race.
(f) If a horse programmed to start in a
					 claiming race is scratched, regardless of location, the horse on its next start
					 within this Commonwealth, notwithstanding the conditions of that race, shall be
					 subject to be claimed at the claiming price to which it was subject in the race
					 from which it was scratched. This provision applies for 30 days immediately
					 following the date of the race from which the horse was scratched. The removal
					 of the horse from this jurisdiction shall toll the 30-day period. The 30-day
					 period shall resume when the horse is returned to this jurisdiction.
(g) A horse claimed shall be delivered
					 immediately by the original owner to the successful claimant upon authorization
					 of the Presiding Judge. The horse's halter shall accompany the horse. Altering
					 or removing the horse's shoes will be considered a violation of this rule.
					 Every horse claimed shall race for the interest and for the account of the
					 owner who declared it in the event. Title to the claimed horse, subject to the
					 conditions and provisions of subsection (h), shall be vested in the successful
					 claimant from the word "go." The successful claimant shall become the owner of
					 the claimed horse, whether it be alive or dead, sound or unsound or injured
					 during the race or after it.
(h) A
					 post-race urine or blood test, or both, shall be taken from each horse claimed
					 out of a claiming race. The claim shall be voidable at the claimant's
					 discretion if the forensic analysis by the Commission's laboratory results in a
					 positive test for a prohibited substance. The claimant shall notify the
					 Presiding Judge in writing within 24 hours of the intention to void the claim
					 and return the claimed horse to the original owner. The claimant shall
					 immediately sign over to the original owner the necessary certificates of
					 ownership of the claimed horse. This subsection does not relieve the original
					 trainer/owner of the responsibility for the condition of the claimed horse
					 during the trainer/owner's control or care or custody of the horse.
(1) Except that, if the claimant elects to
					 race the claimed horse prior to the results of the forensic analysis results,
					 the claim shall not be voidable.