(1) Each jockey must obtain a license from the board. (2) All jockeys shall have a complete physical examination before being issued a license. A certificate from the medical doctor conducting the physical examination shall accompany the application for licensure. The stewards may in their discretion waive the requirement of a physical examination.(3) No person under the age of 16 years shall be granted a jockey's license. (a) All jockey applicants not previously licensed by the Montana board of horse racing or another racing jurisdiction, shall present proof of age before being licensed by the Montana board of horse racing and a birth certificate may be required.(b) If the applicant is 16 or 17 years old, a signature from his/her parent or legal guardian must accompany the application.(4) No person shall be allowed to ride before applying for his first license.(5) No jockey will be permitted to ride pending action on the jockey's application for license. A person who has never ridden in an official race may be granted a temporary license by the stewards. The temporary license will permit the holder to ride two races. If the rider holding a temporary license rides two races to the satisfaction of the stewards the rider may receive an apprentice jockey license.(6) No licensed jockey shall be the owner or trainer of any race horse.(7) If a jockey is under contract to any trainer, the jockey shall not ride or agree to ride in any race without the written consent of the contract trainer.(8) Jockeys are required to present themselves to be weighed out at the time fixed by the clerk of scales.(9) All jockeys shall faithfully fulfill all engagements in respect to racing.(10) A jockey may not ride in any race against a starter of the jockey's contract employer.(11) In riding a race, a jockey must be neat in appearance. All riders must be dressed in clean jockey costumes, caps and jackets of silk or waterproof material, white breeches and top boots, unless otherwise approved by the stewards.(12) It shall be mandatory that jockeys wear a protective helmet which shall be approved by the board.(13) The weight of the protective helmet shall not be included in the jockey's weight.(14) A jockey must wear a safety vest when riding in any official race. The safety vest shall weigh no more than two pounds and shall be designed to provide shock absorbing protection to the upper body of at least a rating of five as defined by the British equestrian trade association (BETA) .(15) The weight of the safety vest shall not be included in the jockey's weight.(16) The use of spurs or steel is prohibited.(17) A jockey shall wear the standard colors for the post position of the horse he is riding except as otherwise ordered or permitted by the board.(18) A jockey shall wear a number on his helmet and it and the saddle cloth number shall correspond to the number of the horse in the official program.(19) Every jockey who is engaged in a race shall report to the scale room on the day of the race at the time required by the officials. He shall then report his engagements and overweight, if any, to the clerk of the scales, and thereafter, except with the permission of the stewards, shall not leave the jockey room, except to view the races from a point approved by the stewards or to ride in a race, until after his engagements of the day have been fulfilled.(20) Before the commencement of a meeting or during the conduct of a meeting, the board of stewards may require that any jockey be examined by a licensed physician and may refuse to allow said jockey to ride until he successfully passes such examination.(21) No jockey shall make a bet on any race, nor accept the promise, or the token of any bet, with respect to the race in which he is riding, except through or from the owner or trainer of the horse he rides, and then only on that horse.(22) Jockey's riding fees, for a meeting must be approved by the board. If any owner or trainer engages two or more jockeys for the same race, he shall pay the losing fee for each engaged jockey not riding in the race, as well as the proper fee for the jockey who does ride. Jockey's fees shall be considered earned when the jockey is weighed out by the clerk of scales. The fee shall not be considered earned if the jockey, of his own free will, takes himself off his mount, where injury to the horse or rider is not involved.(23) In a dead heat the jockeys involved shall divide equally the sum total of the fees they would have received individually had one beaten the other or others. Likewise, the owners of the horses involved shall pay their equal share.(24) A jockey under temporary suspension shall not ride in a race for any one during the period of his suspension. (a) Jockeys while under temporary suspension in any other state shall not be permitted to ride stakes engagements in Montana.(25) A jockey under temporary suspension may, with the approval of the board, be permitted to exercise or gallop horses during the morning hours and to lodge on the grounds of the race meet at night, but he shall be refused admission to any part of the racing course during such periods of time as the stewards may order.(26) The suspension of a jockey for an offense not involving fraud shall begin on the second day after the ruling, unless otherwise ordered by the stewards. A suspension for fraud shall begin immediately after the ruling.(27) A forfeiture must be paid by the jockey himself and any other person paying it shall be subject to punishment.(28) Every jockey may have only one agent.(29) Every owner or trainer claiming a first or second preference on a named jockey for a specified horse in a particular race shall obtain written proof of same from the jockey or his agent and present said proof at time of entry.(30) No jockey shall have an attendant other than those provided by the licensee. Attendants shall be a minimum of 18 years of age. Attendants shall be subject to rules and regulations of the Montana board of horse racing. Attendants shall be authorized to assist trainers in the saddling paddock. They shall also care for the jockey equipment, but not be responsible for the cost of necessary repairs to equipment not caused by their own acts.(31) Employers retaining the same jockeys have precedence according to the priority of retainers as specified in the contracts.(32) If a jockey intends to carry overweight, he must declare the amount thereof at the time of weighing out, or if in doubt as to proper weight, he may declare the weight he will carry.(33) If a jockey intends to carry overweight exceeding by more than two pounds the weight which the jockey's horse is to carry, the owner or trainer assenting, the jockey must declare the amount of overweight to the clerk of the scales at least 45 minutes before the time appointed for the race, and the clerk shall notify the stewards immediately. Failure on the part of a jockey to comply with this rule shall be reported to the stewards.(34) Any overweight exceeding seven pounds may be approved by the stewards.(35) After a race has been run and after he has pulled up the horse he has ridden, the jockey shall ride promptly to the winner's circle and there dismount, after obtaining permission from the judges, and present himself to the clerk of the scales to be weighed in. If a jockey is prevented from riding his mount to the judge's stand because of an accident or of illness either to himself or his horse, he may walk or be carried to the scales, or he may be excused by the stewards from weighing.(36) Except by permission of the stewards, every jockey must, upon returning to the unsaddling area, unsaddle the horse the jockey has ridden and no person shall touch the jockey or the horse, except by the bridle, nor cover the horse in any manner until the jockey has removed the equipment to be weighed.(37) No person shall assist a jockey in removing from his horse the equipment that is to be included in the jockey weight, except by permission of the stewards.(38) Each jockey shall, in weighing in, carry over to the scales all pieces of equipment with which he weighed out. Thereafter he may hand it to his attendant.(39) Each jockey shall weigh in at the same weight as that at which the jockey weighted out, and if short of it by more than two pounds, the jockey shall be fined or suspended or ruled off at the discretion of the stewards, and the jockey's mount may be disqualified.(40) If any jockey weighs in at more than two pounds over the jockey's proper or declared weight, the jockey shall be fined or suspended or ruled off at the discretion of the stewards, who shall have regard for any excess weight caused by rain or mud.(41) No jockey shall take his horse back without reasonable cause, or intentionally ride wide on the turns, or otherwise cause his mount to lose ground when there is not reasonable cause for such loss, or otherwise ride in a manner which is inconsistent with using the best efforts of the horse he is riding.(42) Rough riding is defined as a deliberate act in violation of any riding rule, or any willful or wanton act which is the proximate cause of any racing accident or injury to any jockey or his mount during the running of a race. The stewards shall report to the board any rough riding.(43) A jockey shall put forth every reasonable effort and exercise the greatest diligence in riding a race. If, in the opinion of the stewards, a jockey does not put forth every reasonable effort or use proper diligence in the riding of a race, such jockey shall be penalized by the board according to the gravity of the offense.Mont. Admin. r. 8.22.2905
Transfer from 32.28.705, 2015 MAR p. 2252, Eff. 12/25/2015; AMD, 2017 MAR p. 132, Eff. 1/21/2017AUTH: 23-4-104, 23-4-202, MCA; IMP: 23-4-104, 23-4-201, MCA