On Thursday, June 4, Ontario Racing (OR) provided an update in regard to the Purse Re-allocation Program.
The contents of the update appear below.
Update on Purse Funding Re-Allocation – June 4, 2020
As the Purse Reallocation Program draws to a close, Ontario Racing would like to extend its heartfelt thanks to the horsepersons’ associations (HBPA, COSA and QROOI), who participated in the decision process along with Ontario Racing to determine horse eligibility for the program based on the approved guidelines.
Horse eligibility was determined using strict guidelines approved by Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and sanctioned by the Ontario Government. Only horses which will race in the 2020 season were able to be accepted into the program, and all horses were required to meet the following criteria: (a) horses must be in the care of an Ontario-based AGCO licensed trainer, and (b) horses must be either currently in residence in Ontario or be the subject of a stall application that was submitted for the 2020 race season prior to the date of the application or have other approved verification of participation in the Ontario 2020 race season, and (c) horses must be at least three years old, and (d) horses must either have not yet raced or have raced since January 1, 2019.
Unfortunately, some horses did not meet the required criteria and were deemed not eligible for the program; we were unable to reimburse horsepeople for these applicants. In these challenging times, and given the nature of the relationships involved, such decisions were extremely difficult to make and to convey.
We are currently in the process of completing a final round of applications given certain administrative difficulties encountered throughout this process. Once this is done, a list of all horses found to be eligible for payment under the program will be published on the Ontario Racing website.
We understand that this has been a long and arduous process for everyone. We’d like to thank you all for your patience and understanding during the administration of this program.