Title 9 Part 4111

All declarations must:

Declarations for any race may be accepted if made by mail or telegraph and deposited in the declaration box prior to the time prescribed for closing declarations. Such declaration must set forth the information required in section 4111.1 of this Part. Every owner bears the risk of ineligibility caused by noncompliance with the declaration requirements by any agency selected to make or forward declarations.

A misrepresentation, error or omission made in a declaration may void the declaration and the person or persons responsible therefor shall be subject to the penalties prescribed by this Subchapter.

The fee for nomination or declaration shall be fixed by the licensed association and shall be published in the conditions of the race.

At all tracks the management shall provide a locked declaration box with openings through which declaration slips may be deposited. Declarations shall close at 9 a.m. and such box shall not be opened until thereafter unless otherwise specified in the conditions, or unless another hour is approved by the commission.

All declarations for overnight events shall be closed not less than 18 hours, and not more than four racing days, prior to the date on which the race is scheduled. For overnights, stakes and all other races a change in the ownership or training of a horse drawn to start is prohibited and in the event such prohibited change occurs the horse shall be scratched and the parties responsible therefor shall be subject to fine or suspension.

In overnight events eight eligible starters from different interests may be required by the track before post positions are drawn.

After declarations to a race have closed no horse may be withdrawn except by permission of the presiding judge. The presiding judge acting on personal knowledge, belief or discretion may order a horse scratched from a race at any time prior to the actual start of the race, if the presiding judge has reasonable grounds to believe that any rules have been violated by any person connected with such horse.

A wager on one horse of a coupled entry shall be a wager on all of that entry.

No horse, having previously been scratched from a race on certification of unfitness by the State veterinarian, may be accepted for racing at a licensed harness race track unless the State veterinarian certifies that such horse is currently fit to race.

All nominations not actually received at the hour of closing shall be ineligible, except those by letter bearing postmark not later than noon of the following day (omitting Sunday) or entries notified by telegraph, the telegram to be actually received at the office of sending at or before the hour of closing, such telegram to state the color, sex, and name of the horse, the class to be entered; also to give the name and residence of the owner and the party making entry. Whenever a nomination or payment in a stake, futurity, or early closing race becomes payable on a Sunday or a legal holiday that falls on Saturday, such payment is to be due on the following Monday and if made by mail the envelope must be postmarked on or before noon of the following Tuesday. If a payment falls on a Monday that is a legal holiday, such payment is due on Tuesday, and if made by mail must be postmarked on or before noon of the following Wednesday.

All entries not governed by published conditions shall be void and no deviation from such published conditions shall be permitted. Any nominator who is allowed privileges not in accordance with the published conditions of the race, or that are in conflict with this Subchapter, shall be debarred from winning any portion of the purse.

A nominator is presumed to guarantee the identity, eligibility and accuracy, of his or her nominations and declarations and if given incorrectly such nominator may be deemed guilty of a violation of this Subchapter and any winning shall be forfeited and redistributed to eligible entries. A person obtaining a purse or money through fraud or error shall surrender or pay the same to the racing association conducting the meeting and such purse or money shall be awarded to the party justly entitled to the same. However, where an ineligible horse races as a result of the fault of the racing secretary, the track shall reimburse the owner for the resultant loss of winnings.

A horse entered in a class to which such horse is ineligible may be transferred to any event to which he is eligible at the same gait.

Unless otherwise provided in the conditions, a horse eligible to a stake or early closing event does not lose its eligibility through transfer of ownership if such transfer occurs prior to the close of declarations. A horse does not lose its eligibility through death of the nominator whether such occurs before or after close of declarations.

The proposed offering of and the conditions for each early closing event and stakes shall be submitted to the commission for approval not less than 20 days before advertising, and shall not be advertised before approval.

The proposed conditions shall include the place where the race is to be conducted, the conditions of eligibility, distance, amount of payments and due dates, the amount the sponsor will add to the purse, and, if the event is to be raced during the current year, the date of the race and the date and time for making declarations thereto.

A complete list of nominations and remaining eligibles after each payment date shall be filed with the commission within 30 days after such nomination or payment date. The most recent list shall also be mailed upon request to any nominator or eligible owner prior to any payment date and must be mailed to the owners of all horses eligible for declaration within 20 days after the payment date immediately preceding declaration date.

A sponsor may cancel any early closing event or stake within 10 days after nomination. In such event immediate notice shall be given to the commission and any nominators affected, and nomination fees shall be refunded. After such time stakes and early closers may not be cancelled except as elsewhere provided by these rules or by the conditions.

Where subsequent payments are required, a complete list of those withdrawn or declared out shall be made within 15 days after payment was due and the list filed with the commission and mailed to every nominator.

All fees paid in added money events, early closing events, stakes and futurities shall be segregated and held as trust funds until the event is contested. Proof of such segregation by bank letter or bank statement shall be submitted to the commission.

A horse accepted to start in any purse race shall be offered stable space on the grounds of the track, from 6 p.m. the day before until noon the day after such race, and such horse must be on the grounds at least 24 hours before its race in order to be available for examination by the State veterinarian, except where such horse is stabled elsewhere with the approval of the presiding judge, in which case the horse shall be available for such examination under conditions prescribed by the presiding judge.

Conditions of early closing events that will eliminate horses nominated or add horses that have not been nominated by reason of the performance of such horses at an earlier meeting held the same season are invalid. Early closing events shall not have more than two also eligible conditions. No condition which has the effect of backing up a horse four or more classes shall be permitted.

In early closing races, late closing races, and overnight races requiring entry fees, all monies paid in by the nominators in excess of 85 percent of the advertised purse shall be added to the purse. In addition to adding excess entry fees as provided above, the sponsor shall contribute at least 15 percent to the advertised purses of late closing races and overnight races. At least 15 percent of all monies paid in by the nominators shall be contributed to all early closing races by the sponsor. Where a race is split into divisions each division shall have a purse.

Declaration shall not be filed for any horse owned or controlled wholly or in part by a person who does not hold a license issued by the commission, or whose license has been fully suspended or revoked.

A licensed harness race track shall be warranted in withholding the premium or purse of any horse, if information establishes that the declaration of any horse was fraudulent or that the horse was ineligible. Such premium shall be withheld by the licensed harness race track pending decision of the commission concerning such fraud or ineligibility.

Before taking a nominating payment to an early closing event, or any sustaining payment to a stake during the year the stake is to be contested, the week and place of the race shall be announced and properly advertised by the stake sponsor.

A racing secretary may declare a horse to race provided such racing secretary has been specifically so requested by a person known to such racing secretary to be authorized to make the declaration. To complete such declaration, the racing secretary must deposit it in the declaration box prior to the closing time for declarations with an attached form signed by such racing secretary certifying that such racing secretary was so requested, the time of such request, by what means the request was made, and that such racing secretary knows the person so requesting was authorized to make such request. The request must relate to a specific race and may not be general in nature.

Except as provided in section 4111.34 of this Part, no person or organization may be the authorized agent for more than one owner for the purpose of declaring a horse or horses in a race unless the person acting as authorized agent is the trainer of record for the horse or horses being declared.