On May 26, 2020, the Registrar announced a number of Temporary Rule Amendments associated with the return to racing. These amendments were developed in consultation with industry representatives in order to support the safe and effective return to racing in Ontario.
In its continued support of these efforts and thanks in part to ongoing input from key stakeholders, the AGCO has made the following changes to the temporary Thoroughbred rule amendments:
Official Retention Time: 40 Minutes
A change to Thoroughbred Rule 15.03.04 was made to decrease the amount of time that Urine Inspectors have to obtain urine from a horse before they are required to contact an authorized individual to withdraw a blood sample.
The CPMA has advised that the official retention time before withdrawing a blood sample must be forty (40) minutes from the time of entry, to the retention area, and cannot be thirty (30) minutes as previously announced.
Please note that this required retention time applies to all breeds. However, the AGCO specifies the timeframe in the Thoroughbred rules only. As such, a change will only be reflected in the temporary Thoroughbred amendment as follows:
TB 15.03.04 If a Urine Inspector is unable to get a urine sample within forty (40) minutes two hours from the time the horse arrives at the retention barn, or with respect to the last race, forty (40) minutes one hour after the last race, the Chief Test Inspector shall contact a Commission Veterinarian, Official Veterinarian or Registered Veterinary Technician who will withdraw a blood sample. The Commission Veterinarian, Official Veterinarian or Registered Veterinary Technician shall draw the blood sample which shall be collected, packaged and sealed in the prescribed manner set down by the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency. The trainer or his/her representative shall witness the sample being taken and provide verbal confirmation to be denoted on the test card, which will be prima facie evidence that the sample has been properly collected. sign test card.
No One-Time Exemption for Horses Subject to Claiming
In response to a request from industry representatives, on May 26, 2020 the AGCO made a temporary amendment to claiming rules that permitted an owner or trainer to request a one-time exemption from their horse being claimed under certain circumstances.
Upon further review, these same representatives have retracted their request for this temporary amendment. Therefore, Thoroughbred rule 12.01.01 has been reinstated effective immediately.
For clarity, that rule has been restated below:
12.01.01 In claiming races, any horse is subject to be claimed for its entered price by any owner who:
a. Is the holder of an owner’s licence, in good standing from the Commission;
AND
b. Has started a horse in Ontario, either on his/her own behalf or in a multiple ownership during the racing season in which the claim is being made;
OR
c. Is eligible to claim under Rule 12.29.;
A claimed horse, regardless of ownership, must race only at tracks in Ontario for the next ninety days or until the end of the track’s meet where the horse was claimed, whichever of the two that occurs first. Exceptions will apply only by permission of the Stewards.