Subpart 1. [See repealer.]Subp. 1a.Stewards must approve scratching horses.A. No horse may be scratched from a race without permission of stewards.B. Notwithstanding subpart 2, item B, the stewards may permit the withdrawal of any horse after the jockey has weighed out for any reason which the stewards determine to be in the best interests of racing.Subp. 1b.Procedure for scratching horses.A. Scratches must be made in writing and signed by the owner or trainer of the horse, the owner's authorized agent, or a commission veterinarian on a form provided by each association.B. All scratches, excluding stakes races and main track only horses, must be made by the scratch time designated by the association.C. Horses may be scratched down to a field of seven without penalty. Any horse that scratches below a field of seven horses without a reason allowed by this part must be placed on the stewards' list for a minimum of seven days and may not start until they are off the list.D. Any racing office request for a scratch must not be allowed unless the horse is coming out of a race to make a race of equal or lesser field size.Subp. 1c.Drawing horses into a race from also-eligible list.A. If a horse is scratched from a race and there is a horse on the also-eligible list for that race, the horse drawing into the race must be assigned a post position according to this subpart.B. For a race with turns, the horse drawing into the race from the also-eligible list must start in the outermost post position. Subp. 1d.Horse drawn into two races. A horse drawn into the body of a race that has drawn into the body of another race to be run within seven days or fewer shall be scratched from the first race. Main-track-only horses are excluded.Subp. 2.Scratches from stakes races.A scratch from an early-closing stakes race shall be made not less than 45 minutes before post time of the race.
Subp. 3.Horse must be entered in stakes race.In a stakes race, if a horse is not named through the entry box at the usual time of closing, the horse is automatically out.
Subp. 4.Nomination may be altered or withdrawn.A nomination of a horse to a sweepstakes may be altered or withdrawn at any time prior to the closing time for nominations.
Subp. 5.Stewards may permit withdrawal.Notwithstanding subpart 1, item B, the stewards may permit the withdrawal of any horse after weighing out for any reason which they determine to be in the best interests of racing.
Subp. 6.Horse declared nonstarter.The stewards shall have the authority to declare that a horse is not a starter if they determine that the horse was ineligible to participate in the race or any occurrence before, or during, the running of a race calls for such action by them.
Minn. R. agency 178, ch. 7883, pt. 7883.0120
9 SR 2527; 14 SR 332; 16 SR 2684; 35 SR 627; 42 SR 1258Statutory Authority: MS s 240.23; 240.24; 240.29