WHEREAS after meeting with industry stakeholders and responding to requests to consider revising the current rules and Directives with respect to urging and specifically that use of the whip be limited to wrist action only;
AND WHEREAS this rule will enhance the health and safety of horses and participants, and the integrity of racing;
AND WHEREAS on May 3, 2019 the AGCO released Standardbred Directive No. 3 – 2019 – Revision to Urging Provisions;
TAKE NOTICE the AGCO wishes to clarify that the Penalty Guidelines and assessment of the penalty are intended to have a retrospective effect;
AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that the Registrar rescinds Standardbred Directive No. 3
– 2019 – Revision to Urging Provisions and hereby orders the Rules of Standardbred Racing be amended effective immediately:
…
22.23.03 At any time while on the grounds of an Association, it is a violation of the Rules for a driver, or the person in control of the horse, to use the whip to hit or make contact with the horse as follows:
…
22.23.05 Violation of any of the provisions in Rule 22.23.01 to 22.23.04 may result in any of the following penalties: To raise their hand(s) above their head;
Further particulars in respect to the penalties are provided in Standardbred Directive No. 1 – 2020, which also provides principles which serve as a guide for interpretation. The Directive may be modified from time to time by the Registrar.
PENALTY GUIDELINES RULE 22.23
Any violation of Rule 22.23, to include subsections 22.23.01, 22.23.02, 22.23.03 and
22.23.04 is a violation and covered by this penalty structure.
VIOLATION – Inappropriate urging of the horse
1st violation |
|
---|---|
Minimum Fine |
$200 |
Minimum Driving Suspension |
3 days |
Other Penalty |
Mandatory meeting with the Judges for the purposes of providing training on the Rules |
2nd violation within one year of the 1st violation |
|
---|---|
Minimum Fine |
$300 |
Minimum Driving Suspension |
5 days |
Other Penalty |
Mandatory meeting with the Judges for the purposes of providing training on the Rules |
3rd violation within one year of the 1st violation |
|
---|---|
Minimum Fine |
$500 |
Minimum Driving Suspension |
15 days |
Other Penalty |
Mandatory meeting with the Judges for the purposes of providing training on the Rules |
4th violation within one year of the 1st violation |
|
---|---|
Minimum Fine |
|
Minimum Driving Suspension |
Immediate Suspension |
Other Penalty |
Referral to the Director |
VIOLATION – Cutting or Welting the horse
1st violation |
|
---|---|
Minimum Fine |
$300 |
Minimum Driving Suspension |
10 days |
Other Penalty |
Mandatory meeting with the Judges for the purposes of providing training on the Rules |
2nd violation within one year of the 1st violation |
|
---|---|
Minimum Fine |
$500 |
Minimum Driving Suspension |
15 days |
Other Penalty |
Mandatory meeting with the Judges for the purposes of providing training on the Rules |
3rd violation within one year of the 1st violation |
|
---|---|
Minimum Fine |
|
Minimum Driving Suspension |
Immediate suspension |
Other Penalty |
Referral to the Director |
Races with a purse of $100,000 and over |
---|
For any violation that takes place in a race where the purse is $100,000 or more, the penalty shall be a minimum fine of 20% of the driver’s earnings for placings 1st through 5th and shall be a minimum fine equivalent to 20% of the driver’s earnings for 5th place for placings 6th and on. If in the opinion of the Judges, the violation was egregious, a driving suspension may be issued. While discretion is available to the Judges, the driving suspension should be calculated at 1 day driving suspension fo each $200,000 of total purse money for the race. |
For a violation where a driver has driven with both lines in one hand and struck the horse with the whip, the Judges shall place the horse last. |
Placing of a horse may be considered by the Judges where the misuse of the whip caused interference with another horse or, in the opinion of the Judges, there has been a flagrant disregard for these rules. |
Application of the Guidelines will take into consideration the following:
This Policy was established to provide more description of what constitutes a violation under the Rules regarding inappropriate urging of the horse in Ontario racing:
Indiscriminate action means unrestrained or careless activity without regard for safety or care.
For the purposes of Rule 22.23.01 (a), the following are examples of indiscriminate action but do not constitute an exhaustive list:
Excessive action means unreasonable quantity or degree.
For the purposes of Rule 22.23.01 (b), the following are examples of excessive action with respect to inappropriate urging of the horse but does not constitute an exhaustive list:
Aggressive action means inhumane, severe or brutal activity.
For the purposes of Rule 22.23.01 (c), the following are examples of aggressive action but do not constitute an exhaustive list:
Loose lining means the indiscriminate action of carelessly lengthening the lines while driving so as to allow the loopy shaking of the lines (i.e. butterfly action).
Meaningful Position (22.23.02) means the horse has a reasonable opportunity to finish in an advantageous position. Examples of meaningful include, but are not limited to, maintaining qualifying times, receiving points towards future races or earning purse monies.
Confines of the wheels (22.23.03c) means that any part of the whip cannot move outside of a line which runs parallel to the horse from a point prescribed by the outside of the race bike wheel.
Under a process established by the Executive Director in the fall of 2008 to gather industry input on the appropriate use of the whip in horse racing, it was recognized that the use of the whip is a necessary tool in racing.
The following principles were agreed to and serve as a guide for all decision making on rule development:
The outcome of the industry discussion has led to the formation of rules regarding the appropriate methods for urging a horse in racing and changes to driving styles to require a hand in each line for the entire race.
Loose lining: It was stressed by the participants that this change to driving style should not lead to the practice of “loose lining”, which means the indiscriminate action of carelessly lengthening the lines while driving so as to allow the loopy shaking of the lines (butterfly action). It was agreed that these would be the type of actions counter to the intent of the rule changes and would present an undesirable product to the wagering public.
BY THE ORDER OF THE REGISTRAR
Jean Major
Registrar