Pennsylvania Administrative Code

§ 205.284. Deviation from published conditions. All nominations and payments not governed by published conditions shall be void and any proposed deviation from the published conditions shall be punished by a fine for each offense, and any nominator who is allowed privileges not i…

§ 205.285. Newly created stakes and futurities. No conditions for newly created stakes and futurities shall be written so as: (1) To permit a horse to race in more than two heats or dashes in a single day. (2) To provide for a filly division of a race with less added money than t…

§ 205.286. Sponsor’s contribution by non-track sponsors. (a) The sum contributed by a non-track sponsor shall be considered forfeit and is to be included in the sum distributed in the event the stake or futurity is not raced, provided, however, that for the provisions of this par…

§ 205.287. Events raced in divisions. (a) In the event a stake or futurity is split into divisions, the added money for each division shall be at least 20% of all nomination, sustaining and starting fees paid into the stake or futurity, except that in the case of a stake with a v…

§ 205.3. Conflict of official’s position. (a) A racing official may not participate in the supervision, regulation or review of a race in which either the racing official or a member of the racing official’s immediate family, or a business partner, agent, associate, employee or j…

ENTRIES AND STARTERS REQUIRED. § 205.301. Entries required for overnight events. A licensed racing entity must specify how many entries are required for overnight events and after the condition is fulfilled the event must be contested except when declared off by the Commission in…

§ 205.302. Entries required for early and late closing events. In either early closing events or late closing events, if five or more horses are entered in to start, the race must be contested, except when declared off as provided in the Commission’s regulations. At pari-mutuel r…

§ 205.303. Early closing events with fewer horses entered than required. In an early closing event, if fewer horses are entered than are required to start and all entrants are immediately notified, the horse or horses declared in and ready to race shall be entitled to all the ent…

§ 205.304. Number of Starters. (a) In any race where the number of horses declared in to start exceeds 11 on a 1/2-mile track, 12 on a 5/8-mile track, or 14 on a larger track, unless lesser numbers are specified in the conditions of the race, the race at the option of the track m…

§ 205.305. Purse money distribution. (a) Unless otherwise provided in the conditions, all purses shall be distributed on the heat basis with the money awarded according to a horse’s position in each separate heat of the race. (b) Purse placing in overnight events shall be limited…

BOARD OF JUDGES § 205.31. Accreditation of Judges. (a) To qualify for appointment as a Judge with the Board of Judges, the applicant must meet the education and examination requirements necessary to be accredited by the USTA Official’s School, the Association of Racing Commission…

ENTRY, DRAWING OF POST POSITIONS, POST DRAW § 205.311. Agreement to race under the rules. Every horse entry shall constitute an agreement by the person making the entry including, the owner, lessee, manager, agent, nominator, driver or other person having control of the horse to …

§ 205.312. Horses not starting more than one race per day. No horse shall be permitted to start in more than one pari-mutuel race or fair race on any one racing day.

§ 205.313. Length of race and number of heats. (a) Races or heats shall be given at a stated distance in units not shorter than a sixteenth of a mile. (b) The length of a race and the number of heats shall be stated in the conditions for the race. If no distance or number of heat…

§ 205.314. Entry time. Unless otherwise specified in the conditions by the race secretary, the entry time shall be 9 a.m.

§ 205.315. Payment of entrance and starting fee. The entrance or starting fee shall be due at time of declaration and payable not later than 1 hour prior to post time of the race to be contested, unless otherwise specified in the conditions for the race. The entrance or starting …

§ 205.316. Entry box. The licensed racing entity shall provide a locked box with an aperture through which entries shall be deposited. The Presiding Judge shall be in charge of the entry box.

§ 205.317. Taking of entries. Entries may be taken by the racing office in person, by telephone or any other acceptable means approved by the licensed racing entity. Evidence of all entries must be deposited in the entry box before the time specified to enter. An entry must state…

§ 205.318. Search for entries by Presiding Judge. Just prior to opening of the box the Presiding Judge shall check with the race secretary to ascertain if any declarations are in the office and not deposited in the entry box and the race secretary shall ensure that they are decla…

§ 205.319. Opening of entry box and drawing of horses. The entry box shall be opened by the Presiding Judge at the advertised time who shall be responsible to ensure see that at least one horseman or an official representative of the horsemen is present. No owner or agent for a h…

§ 205.32. Powers of the Judges. (a) General powers. In matters pertaining to racing, the orders of the Judges shall supersede the orders of the officers and directors of the association. The Judges shall have the authority to regulate and supervise the conduct of the race meeting…

§ 205.320. Preference date. (a) Preference dates shall be given to horses in all overnight events conducted at licensed pari-mutuel racetracks in accordance with the following: (1) The date of the horse’s last previous start in a purse race during the current year is the horse’s …

§ 205.321. Qualifying races for overnight events. (a) Within 45 days of being entered, a horse that has not raced previously at the gait chosen must start in a qualifying race under the supervision of the Board of Judges and acquire at least one charted line by a licensed charter…

§ 205.322. Qualifying race for added money events. Where qualifying races are provided in the conditions of an early closing event, stake or futurity the qualifying race must be held not more than 5 days prior to contesting the main event (excluding Sunday) and omitting the day o…

§ 205.323. Withdrawal of horse. After an entry to start has been made no horse shall be excused from the race without permission of the Presiding Judge. The Presiding Judge may impose a fine or suspension for violation of this provision.

§ 205.324. Notification of scratched horse. Whenever a horse has been ‘‘scratched’’ by the Presiding Judge and placed on the Judges’ List, the Presiding Judge shall specify the reason for the scratch.

§ 205.325. Coupled entries. (a) When the Starters in a race include two or more horses owned or trained by the same person or trained in the same stable or by the same management, the starts shall be ‘‘coupled’’ as a single entry and a wager on one horse in the ‘‘entry’’ shall be…

§ 205.326. Judges’ approval of drivers. No driver may be changed without permission of the Presiding Judge and for good cause. When an entry starts two or more horses, the Presiding Judge shall approve or disapprove the second and third drivers.

§ 205.327. Transfer of ineligible horse. A horse nominated in an event to which it is ineligible may be transferred, with the consent of its owner, to any event to which it is eligible at the same gait.

§ 205.328. Drawing of post positions. (a) For each individual race of a race card, post positions for horses in a race shall be conducted by a separate procedure to be determined by the Presiding Judge. The results of a draw procedure shall not be applied to more than one race of…

§ 205.329. Also eligible. (a) Not more than two horses may be drawn as ‘‘also eligible’’ for a race and their positions shall be drawn along with the Starters in the race. In the event one or more horses are excused by the Judges, the also eligible horse or horses shall race and …

§ 205.33. Disciplinary action. (a) The Judges shall take notice of alleged misconduct or rule violations and may initiate investigations into the matters through the Commission’s investigative staff or matters may be referred to them for hearing. The Judges shall have the express…

§ 205.330. Horses omitted through error. For all events, including, but not limited to overnight and stakes races, all drawings shall be final unless there is conclusive evidence that a properly declared horse, eligible at the time of entry, has been mistakenly omitted from the r…

§ 205.331. When an ineligible horse races. (a) A nominator is required to guarantee the identity and eligibility of the nominations and entries and if given incorrectly the nominator may be fined, suspended or expelled, and any winnings shall be forfeited and redistributed to eli…

§ 205.332. Effect of failure to enter on time. When a licensed racing entity requires a horse to be entered at a stated time, failure to declare the timely entry as required shall be considered a withdrawal from the event.

§ 205.34. Judges’ presence in the stand. (a) Three Judges shall be present and on duty in the Judges’ stand during the running of each race. During the race times, the Judges shall remain in the stand, in the paddock or otherwise readily available to the participants at the meet.…

§ 205.35. Duties of Judges. (a) The Judges shall investigate promptly and render a decision in every protest, objection and complaint made to them. They shall maintain a record of all protests, objections and complaints. The Judges shall file daily with the Commission a copy of e…

POSTPONEMENT § 205.351. Postponement. (a) In addition to the Commission’s authority set forth in the act, USTA Rule 15, section 1, is incorporated herein and shall govern matters related to the postponement of races. (b) Each licensed racing entity shall report a postponement to …

§ 205.36. Judges’ List. (a) The Judges shall maintain a Judges’ List of the horses which are ineligible to be declared or entered in a race because of poor or inconsistent performance or behavior on the racetrack that endangers the health or safety of other participants in racing…

§ 205.37. Procedure of the Judges. It shall be the procedure of the Judges to: (1) Be in the stand 15 minutes before the first race and remain in the stand for 10 minutes after the last race and at all times when the horses are upon the track. (2) Observe the preliminary warming …

STARTING OF HORSES § 205.371. Starter’s control. In addition to the duties and responsibilities set forth in this chapter, the Starter shall be under the supervision of the Presiding Judge and shall have control of the horses from the formation of the parade until the Starter giv…

§ 205.372. Starting gate requirements. (a) Every licensed racing entity shall utilize a mobile starting gate of a type and quality approved by the Commission. Every licensed racing entity shall maintain a standby mobile starting gate similarly approved. The arms of all starting g…

§ 205.373. Scoring of horses/coming to starting gate. After one or two preliminary warming up scores the Starter shall notify the drivers to come to the starting gate. During or before the parade the drivers must be informed as to the number of scores permitted. The horses shall …

§ 205.374. Speed of gate. Allowing sufficient time so that the speed of the gate can be increased gradually the following minimum speeds will be maintained. (1) For the first 1/8 mile, not less than 11 miles per hour. (2) For the next 1/16 of a mile not less than 18 miles per hou…

§ 205.375. Starting point. The starting point will be a point marked on the inside rail at a distance of not less than 200 feet from the first turn. The Starter shall give the word ‘‘go’’ at the starting point.

§ 205.376. Recall procedure. In case of a recall, a light plainly visible to the driver shall be flashed and a recall sounded but the starting gate shall proceed out of the path of the horses. Whenever possible the Starter shall leave the wings of the gate extended and gradually …

§ 205.377. Reasons for recall. The Starter may sound a recall only for the following reasons: (1) A horse scores ahead of the gate. (2) There is interference. (3) A horse has broken equipment. (4) There is a malfunction of the starting gate. (5) A horse falls before the word ‘‘go…