Thoroughbred 'Out-of-State Breeder's Awards' Emergency Rule Approved

On March 23rd, Indiana Breeder & Owner Protection, Inc. (IBOP) filed a petition with the Indiana Horse Racing Commission (IHRC) to clarify the thoroughbred 'out-of-state breeder's awards' administrative rule. That email petition can be seen at the bottom of this post. Our concern was that the out-dated language used in the rule would prevent the breeder of a two-year old that wins out-of-state from being eligible for the award. IBOP saw this as an unintended consequence of the IHRC's decision to have breed specific racing at our two Indiana tracks. When the agenda for the IHRC's April 5th meeting was made public, our petition was not on the agenda which prompted another less-formal request to encourage the IHRC to consider changing the rule. That email is also copied below.

We are pleased to report that the IHRC did include an emergency rule as part of the New Business portion of their April 5th meeting. The new rule will now read "prior to July 1st of the race meet" instead of "prior to the beginning of the Hoosier Park race meet." While we don't know exactly when two-year old thoroughbred racing will begin at Indiana Downs in 2013, the modification to the out-of-state breeder's award rule provides some specific guidance to eligibility where none existed before.

Unfortunately, neither of the two-year olds running at Keeneland on April 5th made it the winner's circle, but that was never the point.

Here's the April 2, 2013 email to IHRC General Counsel Lea Ellingwood:

"Lea, we're concerned that our petition regarding '71 IAC 13.5-3-3 Out-of-state breeder's awards' is not on the agenda for this up-coming meeting. In years past, the IHRC staff could rely on the interpretation of "the beginning of the Hoosier Park race meet" as meaning the thoroughbred race meet at Hoosier Park because there was one. Given that "the beginning of the Hoosier Park race meet" is today, the only meet at Hoosier Park, doesn't this rule now state that the exception for two-year olds racing out-of-state ends today? There is no other Hoosier Park race meet that establishes a different and/or specific date.

To my knowledge, there hasn't yet been a two-year old thoroughbred race run in this country. This will change coincidently on April 5th, but not in Indiana. There are actually 2 two-year old fillies entered in race 4 at Keeneland on the 5th in a $52,000 maiden special weight race. In simply reviewing the work-outs on one day (Saturday March 30th) at Keeneland and their training track, I counted six Indiana-bred two-year olds with enough of a work pattern to indicate that the intent is to start them very soon. In 2012, five Indiana-bred two-year olds won races out-of-state prior to the beginning of the Hoosier Park meet on August 1, 2012, including a stakes race. The earliest winner was April 12, 2012 at Keeneland in a $52,000 race.

If you see there is some other way to interpret this rule and its affect on the thoroughbred out-of-state breeder's award, we'd really like to understand that interpretation so we can let people know. If there isn't another way to interpret this rule, until its changed, it seems to mean that no breeder of an Indiana-bred two-year old winning (after today) is eligible for the out-of-state award. The two-year old exception in this rule was put in place to account for the fact that there are usually no two-year old thoroughbred races scheduled in Indiana until August. Inaction on this rule has an unintended implication to those breeders participating in the thoroughbred program with two-year old runners.

Thanks,


Jim"

Here's the March 23, 2013 email to IHRC Executive Director Joe Gorajec, General Counsel Lea Ellingwood, Assistant Executive Director Deana Pitman, and Director of Racing & Breed Development Jessica Barnes:

"Pursuant to '71 IAC 2-12-1 Procedures,' Indiana Breeder & Owner Protection, Inc. (IBOP) is requesting that the Indiana Horse Racing Commission (IHRC) consider an amendment to '71 IAC 13.5-3-3 Out-of-state breeder's awards.' IBOP would appreciate this request be considered as an agenda item at the next regularly scheduled IHRC meeting. Please consider this correspondence as our petition for the IHRC to amend 71 IAC 13.5-3-3, which is a thoroughbred-only administrative rule, by replacing the reference to "the beginning of the Hoosier Park race meet" with a specific date. Obviously, with all flat racing taking place at Indiana Downs, there is no Hoosier Park race meet for thoroughbreds.

The out-of-state breeder award is a significant portion of the value proposition of Indiana's thoroughbred breed development program and encourages the breeding of high quality race horses. Prior to the current version of the 71 IAC 13.5-3-3 (copied below) which was adopted in 2009, this particular administrative rule did include a date of July 1st. The language was changed to "the beginning of the Hoosier Park race meet" to better coordinate with the timing of when two-year old restricted racing was expected to begin in Indiana each year. With all thoroughbred racing taking place at Indiana Downs, the timing of the beginning of two-year old racing season isn't as clear as in the past. We feel that any specific date inserted into this administrative rule should coordinate approximately with the expected beginning of the two-year old racing schedule.


Thank You,


Jim Hartman
IBOP Vice-President


71 IAC 13.5-3-3 Out-of-state breeder's awards
Authority: IC 4-31-3-9
Affected: IC 4-31

Sec. 3. An out-of-state breeder's award is the award paid to the breeder of a registered Indiana bred which wins a flat race in another state or Canada. The amount of the award is ten percent (10%) of the winner's share of the purse for any race when entered for a claiming price of greater than or equal to ten thousand dollars ($10,000). This award is applicable only when there is no live thoroughbred race meet in progress in Indiana (except for stake races and for two-year-olds winning out of state prior to the beginning of the Hoosier Park race meet). Awards will be paid by the commission. Out-of-state breeder's awards shall be limited to a single race award not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000). (Indiana Horse Racing Commission; 71 IAC 13.5-3-3; emergency rule filed Jun 22, 2000, 3:05 p.m.: 23 IR 2787; readopted filed Oct 30, 2001, 11:50 a.m.: 25 IR 899; emergency rule filed Jan 28, 2003, 2:20 p.m.: 26 IR 1952; emergency rule filed Jan 21, 2004, 2:30 p.m.: 27 IR 1922; emergency rule filed May 10, 2005, 3:20 p.m.: 28 IR 2751; emergency rule filed Jun 10, 2009, 12:45 p.m.: 20090617-IR-071090464ERA, eff May 29, 2009 [IC 4-22-2-37.1 establishes the effectiveness of an emergency rule upon filing with the Publisher. LSA Document #09-464(E) was filed with the Publisher June 10, 2009.])"