At a meeting of the Board of the Ontario Racing Commission (ORC) on March 26, 2015, the Rules of Standardbred Racing 2012 were amended with revisions for Racing Under Saddle (RUS).

The amendments include revised qualifying times and eligibility requirements. In addition, there was also an amendment related to riding boots.

The new rules are noted below.

QUALIFYING RACES

New rule # 12.01.01 Qualifying races will only be held for the trotting gait and a horse will be considered qualified for RACING UNDER SADDLE races if it meets the following standards at the track where the horse is qualifying.
1/2 mile – 2:08
5/8 mile – 2:06
7/8 mile – 2:04

HORSE PERMITTED TO RACE

New rule # 11.09 For the purpose of eligibility to race at extended meetings, past performance lines charted at non-extended meetings or RUS races in Ontario, shall not be considered other than for the purpose of crediting the horses with the number of starts, wins and purse money earned at non-extended meetings or RUS races.

RIDERS

New rule # 25.01.01 A rider shall participate and be approved in at least three (3) qualifying races prior to receiving final approval of their Commission licence. Both the rider and the horse must meet the qualifying standards set out in these rules.

Please refer to STANDARDBRED DIRECTIVE NUMBER 1 – 2015 attached to this Notice for details of the revised rule and the original counterpart.

(ORC)