Changes Pending To Eligibility Rules

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Published: January 11, 2018 04:35 pm EST

Trot Insider has learned that the recent stakes eligibility rules outlined by the Woodbine Entertainment Group and The Meadowlands under the umbrella of the Standardbred Racing Integrity and Accountability Initiative (SRIAI) may undergo some changes before the end of the month.

Clay Horner, Chairman of the Board at Woodbine, confirmed to Trot Insider on Thursday that some changes are under serious consideration. One change will affect horses and trainers in a manner outlined by the following scenario:

► Horse X is owned by owners A, B and C and trained by trainer L, who is considered to be a higher-risk trainer due to a recent record of significant positive tests.
► Horse Y is owned by owners A, D and E and trained by trainer M.

If Horse X receives a positive test, and owner A owns at least 25 percent of both Horse X and Horse Y, Horse Y will still be eligible to compete in its stakes races but the purse Horse Y earns would be reduced by an amount equal to the percentage ownership of owner A in Horse Y.

In the event a horse receiving a serious positive test is trained by a lower-risk trainer, while that horse would become ineligible for future stakes races, other horses trained by that trainer could be transferred to another unaffiliated low-risk trainer and compete in future stakes races for a full purse share.

"The important part is that we can say we're going to concentrate on punishing those individuals that use higher-risk trainers and have new serious positives with that trainer," Horner told Trot Insider.

With feedback on the original ruleset placed into question by a number of trainers and owners over the past week, Horner noted that he personally discussed the proposed changes to 13 individuals and groups with expressed significant concerns. After those discussions, each of those parties indicated that they would be on board should any revised policy include the revisions that are under contemplation.

While an official release will be issued as soon as possible pertaining to these potential changes should response continue to be positive and the changes are approved by both The Meadowlands and WEG, Horner did say that the final language of the rule will require some detailed drafting and may not be available for sometime thereafter. However, these rules will be complete and available in a meaningful amount of time for the February 15 stakes payment deadline.

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