Opinion ID: 397422
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Background of Litigation

Text: 5 USTA is an Ohio incorporated, non-profit service organization. It was founded in 1939 to counteract widespread problems in harness racing. Before that time a plethora of local sanctioning organizations had produced inconsistent regulations; record-keeping was spotty; penalties proved unenforceable; and the sport had fallen into general disrepute. The purpose of USTA was to develop comprehensive national records and to promulgate uniform rules and standards. USTA has never had any interest in breeding, buying, selling, or racing horses, nor any investment in race tracks or race meetings. It operates solely as a sanctioning organization and information bank. Since its inception, USTA has grown in size and influence. In 1977 it had 40,861 active members, 3 including 426 fair race tracks and 65 parimutuel tracks. Only members can register standardbred horses with the USTA and obtain eligibility certificates documenting a horse's performance in a given racing season. Only members can vote on matters of USTA governance. Nonetheless, tracks that do not wish to become USTA members can affiliate as contract tracks, paying to use USTA services on the same basis as member tracks, i.e., a percentage of the parimutuel take for each racing day, not in excess of $330 per day. See United States Trotting Association Charter, By-Laws, Rules, and Regulations (Rules) Art. I, § 4 and Art. VII, § 1. 6 Owner members of USTA register their standardbred horses with USTA. USTA issues a registration certificate to the owner that describes in detail the horse's physical markings and pedigree, and identifies its owner and breeder. The reverse side of the certificate provides space to record any transfers of ownership of the horse. In addition, USTA maintains central records of the information on the registration certificates and of any transfers of title, so that attempts to tamper with the certificates can be detected. 7 USTA also issues an eligibility certificate for each registered horse. This certificate contains performance information compiled from the horse's last eight starts in the prior racing season. Throughout the current season, pertinent information about the horse's performance in each of its races is added to the certificate by the clerk of the racecourse, a track employee who is licensed by USTA. The clerk of the course also records the same information on a Judge's Sheet which is forwarded to USTA, thus making it possible to detect discrepancies or alterations in the eligibility certificates. 8 Eligibility certificates are used by track officials to select competitive horses for balanced race fields. Registration certificates are chiefly important in insuring accurate identification and honest transfers of harness horses. They also play a limited role in actual racing activities. Many tracks, including Chicago Downs and Fox Valley, run claiming races, in which a price is established at which the winning horse can be purchased or claimed. Such tracks, including Chicago Downs and Fox Valley, require that the USTA registration certificate be surrendered to the new owner before the claiming amount is disbursed. The purpose of the claiming race is to keep owners from entering superior horses in mediocre fields, again to foster competitive races. 9 In Illinois the legislature has relied on the offices of USTA as an integral part of its regulatory scheme. Illinois law requires that all horses entering harness races be registered as (harness or standardbred horses) with and meet ( ) the requirements of and (be) approved by the United States Trotting Association. Ill.Rev.Stat.chap. 8 § 37-3.06(c) (1979). In addition the Illinois Racing Board Rules provide that any harness horse entered at a parimutuel track have a current USTA eligibility certificate (Rule 9.01), that all matters relating to registration of harness horses be governed by USTA rules (Rule 9.02), that all horses be tattooed with their USTA identification number (Rule 7.08), that persons suspended by USTA be barred from participating in harness race meetings (Rule 5.10), and that clerks of the course send race information to USTA and the Illinois Racing Board (Rule 6.18). The thirteen other states that allow parimutuel harness racing have similarly incorporated USTA standards in their regulatory systems (App. 304-305). 10 During the 1975, 1977, and subsequent racing seasons, 4 neither Chicago Downs nor Fox Valley joined USTA as a regular member or contracted to buy USTA's services. Both continued to hold races with USTA-registered horses and to use the information contained on USTA registration and eligibility certificates. Both continued to provide USTA with information about racing performances by forwarding Judge's Sheets to USTA headquarters. Each of the defendants thus enjoyed a paradigmatic free ride, receiving all of the benefits of USTA affiliation with none of the attendant costs. 11 In an effort to put an end to this free riding, USTA announced to its members its intention to invoke certain sanctions. 5 It would henceforth, it said, provide no services to Fox Valley and Chicago Downs. Nor would it enter in its records information about racing performances at the defendants' meets. Finally, it directed its members' attention to Rules 5 and 17 of its by-laws. The USTA eligibility certificate application states that members are prohibited from racing horses at meets sponsored by organizations that are not USTA members or contract tracks. Members who violate this prohibition are subject to revocation of their eligibility certificates and may be precluded from obtaining certificates for future racing seasons. Rule 5, § 1. Furthermore, USTA member drivers who drive horses at unaffiliated tracks can be fined up to $100 for each infraction. Rule 17, § 5. These rules are necessary, USTA asserts, to protect its system of racing information from those who might act to undermine it and to ensure the integrity of (its) data system (Br. 14). The rules were upheld as reasonable restraints in United States v. United States Trotting Association, 1960 CCH Trade Cases P 69,761 (S.D.Ohio 1960).