The new rules governing the urging of horses in Ontario racing are now in their fourth week and over 1,000 races have been run
. The Ontario Racing Commission (ORC) is pleased with the efforts of racing participants to adapt to these rules and change/refine their driving or riding styles.
The benefits to the ORC’s program of education and orientation prior to implementation are evident and the vast majority has adjusted in a seamless manner. Of particular note is that under the new driving/riding styles, a number of horses have registered new lifetime marks.
The new rules came into place after a year-long dialogue with the racing community and considerable work and effort undertaken by industry Working Groups. There was a great deal of discussion, and the Groups were very clear: the rules had to be specific, fair and consistently enforced, and the penalties needed to back up the rules. For its part, the ORC is committed to ensuring that racing officials approach each and every race with these goals.
Among the highlights of the new rules:
· for Standardbred racing, there is now a requirement to keep a line in each hand for the entire race, except for the adjustment of equipment;
· Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse rules now stipulate only a ‘humane or cushion’ riding crop may be used, and the horse must be allowed time to respond before it may be used again;
· For all breeds, new penalty guidelines are in place to reflect the importance of adhering to these new rules on urging of the horse.
In addition to protecting the health and welfare of the horse and the public’s perception of racing, the design of these new rules was also intended to safeguard the fairness and level playing field of competition. In other words, no one should be able to gain an unfair advantage by breaking a rule – even in the heat of competition – by accepting a fine in order to win a bigger purse.
The ORC, the Working Groups and many in the racing community believe that the responsibility of competing fairly under the Rule of Racing needs to be shared among owners, trainers as well as the participants themselves. In this way, the racing public, including bettors, would be protected - knowing that every participant will play by the same rules and no one could side step the fairness aspect by 'just paying a fine'.
Racing in Ontario is changing and the ORC is committed to a continued dialogue with the racing community so that it can adjust to this change. This commitment may include refinements and adjustments to these rules, so that consistency, fairness and the integrity of racing will be maintained.
For more information and to view copies of the directives and rules, visit the ORC web site:
www.ontarioracingcommission.ca.
Why are they/(ORC) not
Why are they/(ORC) not listening to the people who drive these horses? The petition that Trevor presented here definitely represents the "majority" of drivers in Ontario & quite a few owners & trainers. These are the people who have that would have most valuable feedback that the ORC would need in deciding how far to go with these new rules. As a bettor I'm not happy with how they are applying the rule by disqualifying the horse. With 20% plus takeouts etc. it's already tough enough to handicap & potentially make a buck! Just wants to make a bettor go elsewhere for their harness racing fix!
The ORC says that rules have
The ORC says that rules have to be specific, fair, and consistently enforced. A group of friends and I were in Dresden yesterday, and just past the 3/4 pole, a horse went inside of 3 consecutive pylons, finished 3rd, and was left there without even having an inquiry. We all saw it but the judges missed it. The pylon rule is specific, supposedly fair, but it was not enforced.
An open letter, The new
An open letter,
The new urging rules have not found favour with most people that I have spoken with on the mater. As the President of OHHA I have had the opportunity to discuss this issue with many different sectors of our industry and it has been made very clear to me that most of us are not in favour of the changes. Horsepeople, gamblers, officials even track operators have all expressed a concern as to how these rules may affect our game. I am left feeling most believe we currently have enough challenges in our industry without this new layer added on top.
I would suggest that anyone with an opinion for or against the new rules, as this is how our democratic system is intended to work, should send a letter or email to the ORC addressed to John Blakney and copy Rod Seiling, Minister Dwight Duncan and your local MPP. These officials work for us and need to hear from "you" more often. They expect to hear from us at OHHA (and they do) yet what they need to hear more often is how you as an individual feel and what your opinion is.
Over the last few weeks we have been asking OHHA members to please let these officials know how they feel and it is paying dividends. We have been receiving phone calls at our office from elected officials (municipal and provincial) asking for us to meet with them and each time they tell us about the emails, phone calls or letters from concerned constituents and most importantly how they want to get educated and involved.
Each of you has a voice and collectively we can effect change. While it might seem obvious it must be said, the most opportune time to influence a decision is prior to its being made.
Sincerely,
Darryl MacArthur
President
OHHA
I've already made the jump
I've already made the jump to online poker. Until the ORC acknoledges that the betting public does in fact exist, why should they even get one of my hard earned red pennies? I feel bad for all horsemen and owners because it's not their fault these new rules were instituted. They only way to stick it to the "MAN" is for all the hard core bettors to stay away from the game for as much time as it takes for the ORC Politicians to wake up poor. A "Bettors" strike is what I suggest.
With the new whipping rule
With the new whipping rule we have a situation where the whole driver colony at WEG is totally against the new whipping rules. Trevor Ritchie and Randy Waples have unequivocally stated in print that the new whipping rule makes driving unsafe and they fear for their safety. You can see it in their driving as most driver's feel like they are HANDCUFFED by the rules as they are more tentative, stay in the hole longer and are slower to react to get into the race. Moreover, at the end of they day we get races where everyone goes around the track single Indian file and sprint home the final quarter mile. Exciting racing isn't it?
Yet according to The ORC and the supporters of the whipping rule we are suppose to believe HANDCUFFED drivers who fear for their safety are setting lifetime marks because of this rule. They site examples like Sportswriter who went 149.2 mark as proof the whipping rule is a great success. The truth is Sportswriter set his lifetime mark because of the suicidal fractions of 26,53,1:21 set by other horses in the race and probably would have went even faster if Mark Macdonald were allowed to give the horse a few one handed hits instead of being HANDCUFFED down the lane to just steering the horse.
After the Angostura disqualification judging by all the postings on Standarbredcanada 95 percent of the betting public despises the new whipping rule. I use strong words like despise because many bettors like myself have vowed never to play a race on an Ontario track till the whipping rule is changed. To the ORC and the Jack Darlings of this world what 95 per cent of the betting public thinks are irrelevant. They pretend we don't exist. That is the same betting public who is responsible for 100 per cent of the purse money the horseman race for and 100 per cent of the ORC commission member salaries. I ask everyone reading this blog do these people deserve our betting dollars?
In reply to With the new whipping rule by JWood
First let me say I am not
First let me say I am not for seeing horses get abused & have said my whole career that the whip is over rated by both horsemen & the betting public in thinking it gets horses to go faster. I like to think I'm not an abuser & I cringe when I see a horse being abused. I also do not want us to go back to the way we were but I believe the ORC can accomplish their goal without putting the safety of both horse & drivers at increased risk which this rule has done in my opinion. You can easily restrict the movement of the whip & severity of the blow to the horse (which they have done already in the new rule & I applaud them for) without making the driver keep a line in each hand. I included a link below to a petition with the names of the drivers that requested the one handed provision in the rule be left out. Please click on the link & you will see a very impressive list of drivers from all over North America that also believe as I do.
http://www.ontarioracingcommission.ca/uploadedFiles/Submission%20-%20Pe…
"Of particular note is that
"Of particular note is that under the new driving/riding styles, a number of horses have registered new lifetime marks."
AND
"In other words, no one should be able to gain an unfair advantage by breaking a rule."
I usually would not care but if the O.R.C finds this "of particular note" so it should be commented on. If horses race better with the new rules then how can breaking the rules gain an unfair advantage. I know the rule has other enacted clauses, but as a gambler of approximately $250,000 a month I am having a difficult time getting my head around the meaning of the rule or the implementation of it.
Where did Trevor put the "health and welfare of the horse" in jeopardy, or where did Trevor damage the "public’s perception" of racing. Furthermore, where did Trevor "gain an unfair advantage." by doing what he did when obviously he didn't since horses are racing better under the new conditions.
I guess they would have a difficult time just eliminating horse racing immediately so when you slowly make it so the product is not enjoyable anymore then you still achieve the same end goal.
In reply to "Of particular note is that by Sivraj Hicr
Well said Jarvis.... If you
Well said Jarvis....
If you are going to make a decision to implement and enforce such a rule... don't you think you should provide the evidence to back it?
1) We know the drivers are against it
2) We know the trainers are against it
3) Unfortunately we cant pole the horses, but I am sure they would prefer to go back to the urging stretch drive then the entire mile urge.
4) Do we really know how the betting public feels???
In my experience as a research analyst; when conducting a survey it is important to survey more then 5 people. And in surveying those people; ensure that they are not all animal rights activists.
Stay tuned as a petition signed by the BETTING PUBLIC is in the works. I am sure the ORC will find it interesting to see how the betting public truly feels. Isn't it they who keep us in business?
Jim if you check the results
Jim if you check the results you will see a decline of the week over week handle. At mohawk it appears to be in between $100,000 to $150,000 depending on the night.
So it took over a week for
So it took over a week for the ORC to get a Philadelphia Lawyer to Craft such a fine Response to the Fiasco that happened on Sept.14.
The ORC may be pleased but by the look of the negative responses on this web site they are in the 5% that are happy with this rule. To act like every thing is fine and dandy is an Insult to the other 95% of people against this rule .
Due to safety factors top drivers in Ontario and North America signed a petition against this new rule but The ORC neglected to mention this in this propaganda release.
By saying that new records were taken during this period come on , that happens all the time.
I also noticed that the ORC neglected to mention the BETTOR in this Release. Obviously the BETTOR is not important to the ORC.
It is pretty pathetic when the Harness Racing Business is being run for the most part by a bunch of people that would not know how to put a Bridle on a Horse.
we've probably lost one fan
we've probably lost one fan for every race that has been run so far
after 4 weeks and 1000 races
after 4 weeks and 1000 races run ,how have the handles been ,up ,down ,or the same?