810 Ky. Admin. Regs. 2:020

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 5, November 1, 2024

Section 810 KAR 2:020 - Thoroughbred and flat racing officials

RELATES TO: KRS 230.215, 230.240, 230.260

NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 230.215(2) and 230.260(8) authorize the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation (the "corporation") to promulgate administrative regulations prescribing conditions under which all horse racing is conducted in Kentucky. This administrative regulation establishes the qualifications, duties, powers, and responsibilities of racing officials.

Section 1. Racing Officials.

(1) Racing officials at a thoroughbred or other flat race meeting shall include:

(a) Steward;

(b) Racing secretary;

(c) Assistant racing secretary;

(d) Clerk of scales;

(e) Paddock judge;

(f) Starter;

(g) Placing judge;

(h) Timer;

(i) Identifier;

(j) Veterinarian;

(k) Assistant starter;

(l) Jockey room custodian;

(m) Jockey room employee;

(n) Valet; and

(o) Outrider.

(2) Persons appointed by the association to serve as racing officials during a race meeting shall:

(a) First be approved by the corporation;

(b) Serve only so long as approved by the corporation; and

(c) Be under the supervision of the stewards.

(3) While serving as a racing official, a person shall not:

(a) Indirectly or directly, own a beneficial interest in:

1. A horse of the breed in which the person is engaged as a racing official; or

2. An association under his or her supervision;

(b) Cause to be bought or sold, for himself or another, a horse under his or her supervision;

(c) Buy or sell, for himself or another, a right to, or contract with, a jockey or apprentice jockey under his or her supervision;

(d) Wager on a race under his or her supervision;

(e) Write or solicit horse insurance; or

(f) Have a monetary interest in a business which seeks the patronage of horsemen or racing associations.

(4) A racing official serving in the capacity of steward, placing judge, clerk of scales, starter, or horse identifier shall take and satisfactorily pass an optical examination within one (1) year prior to the race meeting at which he or she serves. The examination shall show corrected twenty-twenty (20-20) vision and an ability to distinguish colors correctly.

(5) A racing official who desires to leave his or her employment during the race meeting shall notify the stewards; if a vacancy occurs among racing officials other than stewards, the association shall promptly appoint a successor, subject to approval of the corporation. If the association does not appoint a successor in time to permit the orderly conduct of racing, then the stewards shall immediately appoint a temporary successor.

(6) A racing official shall not officiate in multiple capacities on any one (1) race. The stewards may, in case of emergency, approve a racing official to serve in more than one (1) capacity until such time as an additional official can be appointed by the association and approved by the corporation.

Section 2. Racing Secretary. The racing secretary shall be responsible for:

(1) The programming of races during the race meeting;

(2) Compiling and publishing condition books;

(3) Assigning weights for handicap races;

(4) Receiving entries, subscriptions, declarations, and scratches;

(5) Safekeeping of registration certificates, virtual or digital certificates, and racing permits for horses, recording information required on the certificates and permits, and returning the certificates and permits to owners at the conclusion of the race meeting;

(6) Maintaining a record of stakes fees received, arrears, jockeys' fees, purchase money in claiming races, and other monies received incident to the race meeting, and making available payment to those persons entitled thereto within fourteen (14) days after the conclusion of the race meeting;

(7) Supervision of the horsemen's bookkeeper's handling of the "horseman's account";

(8) Daily posting of entries for the benefit of the public as soon as possible after entries have been closed and declarations have been made;

(9) Assigning stall applicants stabling as he or she may deem proper after consultation with the stewards, and maintaining a record of arrival and departure of all horses stabled on association grounds; and

(10) Publishing the official daily program, and ensuring that it contains accurate information of the following:

(a) Sequence of races to be run and post time for the first race;

(b) Purse, conditions, and distance for each race, and current track record for the distance;

(c) The full name of licensed owners of each horse, indicated as lessee if applicable, and description of racing colors to be carried;

(d) The full name of the trainer and the jockey named for each horse together with the weight to be carried;

(e) Notices that:

1. Jockeys will carry approximately three (3) pounds more than the published weight to account for safety helmets and safety vests that are not included in required weighing out procedures; and

2. Upon approval of the stewards, a jockey may be allowed up to three (3) pounds additional clothing and equipment for inclement weather or track conditions;

(f) The saddle cloth number or designation for each horse, and the post position for each horse, if there is a variance with the saddle cloth designation;

(g) Identification of each horse by name, color, sex, age, sire, and dam; and

(h) Other information as may be requested from time to time by the association or the corporation including changes of equipment, use of permitted race day medications, and wagering types available.

Section 3. Clerk of Scales. The clerk of scales shall be responsible for:

(1) The security, regulation, and control of the jockeys' room, its equipment, and the determination of which personnel are permitted access;

(2) Weighing out a jockey no later than fifteen (15) minutes prior to the race in which the jockey is scheduled to ride and recording all overweights, which shall immediately be posted and announced to the public before each race;

(3) Weighing in a jockey immediately after the finish of each race in which the jockey rode and promptly notifying the stewards whether a jockey weighed in underweight;

(4) Safekeeping of all racing colors;

(5) Reporting all color changes or jockey changes from that listed in the official daily program and causing the changes to be posted and announced to the public before each race;

(6) Supervision of all valets and the issuance of numbered saddle cloths and equipment for each horse;

(7) Ensuring accuracy of the scales and periodic tests of them;

(8) Submitting to the racing secretary at the close of each racing day a statement of weight carried in each race by each jockey, noting overweight, if any; and

(9) Immediately transmitting all complaints, protests, objections, or disputes submitted to the clerk of scales to the stewards, and if the stewards are unavailable, to the corporation.

Section 4. Paddock Judge. The paddock judge shall have general supervision of the paddock and shall be responsible for:

(1) Assembling the horses and jockeys in the paddock no later than fifteen (15) minutes before the scheduled post time for each race;

(2) Maintaining a written record of all equipment for each horse saddled, inspecting all the equipment, and reporting any changes in the equipment to the stewards;

(3) Inspecting the bandages of each horse. The paddock judge may order the bandages removed or replaced;

(4) Paddock schooling of horses approved for schooling by the stewards; and

(5) Ensuring that the saddling of horses is orderly, open to public view and free from interference, and ensuring that horses are mounted at the same time and leave the paddock for the post in proper sequence.

Section 5. Starter.

(1) The starter shall be responsible for the fair and equal start of horses in a race at the scheduled starting time by means of a starting gate and bell, or other device activated by his or her signal.

(2) So far as practical, the starter shall cause horses to be loaded in order of post position, except the starter may in his or her discretion load an unruly or fractious horse out of order or may start the unruly or fractious horse on the outside of the starting gate and one (1) length behind the starting line. With permission of the stewards, a race may be started without a starting gate. The starter may employ as many assistant starters as needed and shall daily change the gate position of each assistant starter without notice to the assistant starters until the field for the first race comes upon the track.

(3) A horse shall not be permitted to start in a race unless approval is given by the starter. The starter shall maintain a schooling list that shall be posted in the racing secretary's office listing the names of horses ineligible to start due to inadequate training at leaving the gate. Horses shall be schooled under the supervision of the starter or his or her assistants.

(4) The starter shall:

(a) Have constant radio or telephone communication with the stewards from the time the horses leave the paddock until the field is sent away;

(b) Report to the stewards any disobedience of his or her orders or attempts to take unfair advantage at the starting gate and recommend penalties for offenders.

(5) An assistant starter shall not handle a horse until instructed to do so by the starter.

(6) A starter or assistant starter shall not:

(a) Accept a gratuity or payment other than his regular salary, directly or indirectly, for services in starting a race;

(b) Wager on a race; or

(c) Strike a jockey or use abusive language to a jockey.

(7) The starter shall maintain a written record showing the names of starters during the day and the names of the assistant starters who handled each horse. This record shall be made available to the stewards upon request.

Section 6. Placing Judges.

(1) Three (3) placing judges shall occupy a stand directly above the finish line during the running of each race. The placing judges shall:

(a) Take special note of racing colors and distinguishing equipment carried by each horse;

(b) Determine the order of the horses as they cross the finish line by consideration of the respective noses of the horses; and

(c) Cause the numbers of the first four (4) horses to cross the finish line to be posted on the result board. The numbers of additional horses shall be posted in their correct order of finish if necessitated by an exotic wager.

(2) A photo finish camera approved by the corporation shall be used as an aid by the placing judges in determining the order of the horses as they cross the finish line. Placing judges may request a photo to assist in determining margins of less than a half-length (1/2).

Section 7. Timer.

(1) The timer shall occupy a stand directly above the finish line during the running of each race to record the official time.

(2) The timer shall:

(a) Record the fractional time of leading horses during each race and the final time of the first horse to cross the finish line; and

(b) Maintain a written record of fractional and final times of each race and have them available for inspection by the stewards or corporation on request.

(3) The timer may use an electrical or mechanical timing device approved by the corporation as an aid in determining the official time of each race.

(4) Quarter horses shall be timed from a standing start at the time the starter dispatches the field and the starting gate opens. Quarter horses shall be timed to the 1/1000th of a second.

Section 8. Horse Identifier.

(1) The corporation may employ a horse identifier who shall be responsible for the proper identification of all horses entered to be raced.

(2) The horse identifier may accompany the corporation veterinarian on the prerace examination of all starters.

(3) The horse identifier shall:

(a) Certify that each starter in the paddock matches its registration certificate, virtual or digital certificate, or racing permit by examining the horse's:

1. Sex, age, color, markings, and lip tattoo or microchip; and

2. Photographs as an aid in identification.

(b) Notify the paddock judge and the stewards if he or she has any doubt as to the identity of a horse entered to be raced;

(c) Be responsible for the safekeeping and return to owners at the conclusion of the race, the following:

1. Registration certificates, virtual or digital certificates, or racing permits; and

2. Racing permits for horses; and

(d) Record information from registration certificates, virtual or digital certificates, and racing permits.

810 KAR 2:020

45 Ky.R. 1868; 3079; eff. 5-31-2019; 47 Ky.R. 1271; eff. 7-6-2021; 50 Ky.R. 455, 1117; eff. 3/5/2024; TAm eff. 7/1/2024.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 230.215(2), 230.260(8)