205 CMR 3.23 - Claiming Races
(1)
Who
May Claim. An owner and/or lessee of a horse that has been
declared and programmed to start in a purse race at that meeting. An authorized
agent may claim for a qualified owner. Any member seeking to effect a false
claim by inducing another to claim a horse for him or her will be subject to
the penalties provided by the Judges.
(2)
Prohibitions.
(a) No person shall claim his or her own
horse, nor shall he or she claim a horse trained or driven by him or
her.
(b) No person shall claim more
than one horse in a race.
(c) No
qualified owner or his or her agent shall claim a horse for another
person.
(d) No owner shall cause
his or her horse to be claimed directly or indirectly for his or her own
account.
(e) No person shall offer,
or enter into an agreement, to claim or not to claim, or attempt to prevent
another person from claiming any horse in a claiming race.
(f) No person shall enter a horse against
which there is a mortgage, bill of sale, or lien of any kind, unless the
written consent of the holder thereof shall be filed with the Clerk of the
Course of the Association conducting such a claiming race.
(g) Where a horse drawn to start in a
claiming race has been declared to start in a subsequent claiming race, a
successful claimant, if any, of the horse in the first race shall have the
option of scratching the horse from the subsequent race.
(h) Any mare which has been bred shall not be
declared into a claiming race for at least 45 days following the last breeding
of the mare, and thereafter such a mare may only be declared into a claiming
race after a veterinarian has pronounced the mare not to be in foal. Any mare
pronounced in foal shall not be declared into a claiming race.
(3)
Claiming
Procedure.
(a)
Owner's Credit. The owner must have to his or her
credit with the track giving the race an amount equivalent to the specified
claiming price plus the requisite fees for transfer of registration.
(b)
Owner's Consent.
No declaration may be accepted without written permission of the owner if filed
with the Racing Secretary at the time of declaration.
(c)
On Program. The
basic claiming price for which each horse is entered shall be printed on the
program, but all claims shall be for the adjusted price after the prescribed
allowances made for sex and/or age have been added to the basic
price.
(d)
Claim
Box. All claims shall be in writing, sealed and deposited at least
15 minutes before the time originally scheduled for the race to begin, in a
locked box provided for this purpose by the Clerk of Course. Once a claim has
been filed it is irrevocable and at the risk of the claimant, unless otherwise
provided for in
205 CMR
3.00.
(e)
Opening of Claim Box. No official shall open said box
or give any information on claims filed until after the race. Immediately after
the race, the claim box shall be opened and the claim, if any, examined by the
Judges.
(f)
Multiple
Claims on Same Horse. Should more than one claim be filed for the
same horse, the owner shall be determined by lot by the Judges.
(g)
Delivery of Claimed
Horse. A horse claimed shall be delivered immediately by the
original owner or his or her trainer to the successful claimant upon
authorization of the Presiding Judge. The horse's halter must accompany the
horse. Altering or removing the horse's shoes will be considered a violation of
205 CMR
3.00.
(h)
Refusal to Deliver Claimed Horse. Any person who
refuses to deliver a horse legally claimed out of a claiming race shall be
suspended together with the horse until delivery is made.
(i)
Vesting of Title to Claimed
Horse. Every horse claimed shall race in all heats or dashes of
the event in the interest and for the account of the owner who declared it in
the event, but title to the claimed horse shall be vested in the successful
claimant from the time the word "go" is given in the first heat or dash, and
said successful claimant shall become the owner of the horse, whether it be
alive or dead or sound or unsound, or injured during the race or after it,
provided however that the final vesting of title to a claimed horse is subject
to the conditions and provisions of the applicable USTA rules.
(j)
Affidavit by
Claimant. The Judges shall require any person making a claim for a
horse to make affidavit that he is claiming said horse for his or her own
account or as an authorized agent and not for any other person. Any person
making such affidavit willfully and falsely shall be subject to punishment as
hereinafter provided.
(k)
Penalty for 30 Day. If a horse is claimed, no right,
title or interest therein shall be sold or transferred except in a claiming
race for a period of 30 days.
(4)
Claiming Price.
Subject to the conditions of the current applicable USTA rules the track shall
pay the claiming price to the owner at the time the registration certificate is
delivered for presentation to the successful owner.
(5)
Claiming
Conditions. Except for the lowest claiming price offered at each
meeting, conditions and allowances in claiming races may be based only on age
and sex. Whenever possible claiming races shall be written to separate horses
five years old and up from young horses and to separate males from females. If
sexes are mixed, mares shall be given a price allowance, provided, however,
that there shall be no price allowance given to a spayed mare racing in a
claiming race.
(6)
Minimum Price. No claiming race shall be offered
permitting claims for less than the minimum purse offered at the time during
the same racing week.
(7)
Determination of Claiming Price. Except as provided by
the United States Trotting Association, no horse owner shall be prohibited from
determining the price for which his or her horse shall be entered.
(8)
Fraudulent
Claims.
(a) If the Judges
determine that the declaration of any horse to a claiming race is fraudulent on
the part of the declarer, they may void the claim and, at the option of the
claimant, order the horse returned to the person declaring it.
(b) If the Judges determine that any claim of
a horse is fraudulent on the part of the person making the claim they may void
the claim and may, at the option of the person declaring it in, return the
horse to the person declaring it.
(9) The current Registration Certificate of
all horses entered in claiming races must be on file with the Racing Secretary
together with a separate claiming authorization form signed by the registered
owner or owners and indicating the minimum amount for which the horse may be
entered to be claimed. To facilitate transfer of claimed horses the Presiding
Judge may sign the transfer provided that he or she then sends the Registration
Certificate and claiming authorization to the Registrar for transfer.
(10) Any person violating any of the
provisions of 205 CMR 3.23, shall be fined, suspended, or expelled.
(11)
Claiming. A
person or two or more persons in a partnership or other acceptable form of
joint ownership shall be eligible to claim a horse, without racing a horse at
the race meeting in progress, by complying with the provisions of the following
claiming rules:
(a) Such persons must first
register as an Owner with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and pass all
security and financial precautions required by the Commission. Further, any
such person must consent to a thorough background check by the State Police
Unit attached to the Gaming Commission.
(b) Such persons must be representing their
own interest only and may not have any undisclosed persons with any interests
in the authorized claim.
(c) Such
persons must, prior to any such claim, secure the services of a licensed
Massachusetts standardbred horse trainer and such trainer must consent to being
so engaged in writing to the Judges at the race meeting for which such claim is
authorized. Such consent must be given by that trainer both at the time of
authorization and on the authorization card submitted at the time of the claim.
Any change in the consent of the trainer to be employed by the prospective
owner must be reported to the Judges Promptly on the next racing day and a new
trainer authorized before a claim can be made.
(d) No such person may claim a horse until
all forms and security investigations are completed and approved.
(e) After all forms are approved, the Judges,
at the race meetings of commercial race tracks only, will be allowed to issue a
claiming authorization card to be submitted in the same envelope as the claim
slip in order that the claim be a valid one.
(f) The Judges will keep on file the names of
all such persons authorized to claim, the date in which such privilege is
exercised in the making of a claim.
(g) Such persons will be granted the balance
of the calendar year to exercise the claiming privileges. At the end of such
time, if unexercised, a new authorization card must be issued by the Judges to
allow the privilege to be exercised in the next calendar year.
(h) A claim must be made and owned in exactly
the same name or names authorized by the Judges and cannot be separated if a
partnership has been transferred or modified in any way, or such claim will be
held invalid.
(i) Any horse claimed
under the provisions of 205 CMR 3.23 must race exclusively in Massachusetts at
the track where claimed for 60 days following the date of claim. If racing
concludes at the track where the horse is claimed for a period in excess of 30
days and no other Massachusetts track offers comparable claiming or other races
suitable for that horse, a release statement may be obtained from the Judges or
in their absence the Gaming Commission , to allow said horse to race elsewhere
prior to the end of the 60 day period.
(j) Only one horse may be claimed under the
provisions of 205 CMR 3.23 except as provided in 205 CMR 3.23(11)(j). After a
horse is claimed, all future eligibility shall mean a horse must be raced to
make any additional claims. However, if for reasons of physical impairment, the
claimed horse cannot be raced for a six month period and the owner is willing
to indicate this in writing to the Judges along with supporting evidence from a
veterinarian licensed to practice at that track, the Judges may at their
discretion issue a second authorization to claim. No person shall be granted
permission under any circumstances to claim more than a second horse without
racing a horse and complying with eligibility at the race meet.
(k) Persons who exercise the privilege of
claiming under 205 CMR 3.23 as a member of a partnership or other form of
multiple ownership thereby become horse owners and ineligible to exercise the
privilege of 205 CMR 3.23 as individuals after that time.
(l) Any owner(s) who have not raced in the
existing meet because they no longer own racing stock due to losing a horse in
a claiming race, may be eligible to claim under 205 CMR 3.23.
(m) The Massachusetts Gaming Commission, or
the Judges at the track for which such authorization is granted, may at their
discretion, for the protection or general good of racing, revoke the claiming
authorization granted under 205 CMR 3.23 at any time during the eligibility
period.
Notes
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