Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 19, September 20, 2024
A. Definitions.
(1) In this regulation, the following terms
have the same meanings as provided in Regulation .53 of this chapter.
(2) Terms Defined.
(a) "Advisory Committee";
(b) "Breeder";
(c) "Owner"; and
(d) "USTA".
B. Eligibility for Participation. For a horse
to be eligible to participate in a race that is a part of the Sires Stakes
Program for 4 and 5-Year-Olds, the horse shall:
(1) Have been nominated as a yearling to the
Sire Stakes Program; and
(2) Be
registered with the Advisory Committee Administrator by February 15 as a
4-year-old or a 5- year- old to race that year.
C. Sustaining Fees.
(1) Except as provided in §C(2) of this
regulation, the following sustaining fees are required by the following dates
for the maintenance of a horse's eligibility:
(a) A sustaining fee as a 4-year-old, $120
and a completed sustaining form by February 15 of that year; or
(b) A sustaining fee as a 5-year-old, $120
and a completed sustaining form by February 15 of that year.
(2) If the March 15 2-year-old
payment and the February 15 3-year-old payment were made, no sustaining fee is
due.
(3) Except as provided under
§C(2) of this regulation, a horse shall be disqualified from participation
in any races during the current year sponsored by this Program if there is a
failure to make a timely payment of a fee under this section.
D. Time and Method of Payment.
(1) To be timely, the appropriate fee shall
be:
(a) Delivered to the Advisory Committee
Administrator by the designated due date; or
(b) Mailed bearing a postmark which is on or
before the due date.
(2)
If the due date for a payment falls on a weekend or a holiday observed in this
State, the payment shall be timely if:
(a)
Delivered to the Advisory Committee Administrator by the next business day;
or
(b) Mailed bearing a postmark
which is not later than the next business day.
(3) Exceptions may not be made to the
requirements of this section.
E. Declaration Fee.
(1) A declaration fee, as prescribed in this
regulation, is required to be made by the post time for the race into which the
horse is declared.
(2) The
declaration fee is $100.
F. The owner of the horse is responsible for
the declaration fee, and, if the owner of the horse is not the declarer of the
horse, the person making the declaration is also responsible for the
declaration fee.
G. Eligibility to
Start.
(1) A horse, otherwise eligible to
participate in this program, may not be declared in to start unless the horse
has at least one satisfactory charted performance line at the time set for
declaring in.
(2) A satisfactory
charted performance line is a performance line:
(a) Credited to a horse after the horse
starts from behind a starting gate in a qualifying or purse race within 45 days
of the Sires Stakes Program for 4 and 5 Year-Olds race in which the horse is to
participate; and
(b) Which shows
that the horse has completed the race without a break, other than a break
caused by interference or broken equipment, at, or within, the following times
according to the horse's age and gait:
(i)
For events conducted on a 5/8 mile track:
| Age and Gait |
Time |
| 4 and 5-year-old pace |
2:06 |
| 4 and5-year-old trot |
2:08 |
(ii)
For events conducted on a 1/2 mile track:
| Age and Gait |
Time |
| 4 and 5-year-old pace |
2:07 |
| 4 and5-year-old trot |
2:09 |
H. Use of Fees.
(1) All sustaining fees, less administrative
costs, shall be added to the purse monies for this program.
(2) All declaration fees shall be added to
the purse of the event for which the fees were paid.
I. Types of Races.
(1) Provisions may be made for the running of
the following races at a distance of 1 mile, to be known as the Sires Stakes
Program for 4 and 5-Year-Olds, which shall be open only to those horses
eligible to participate in the Sires Stakes Program for 4 and 5-Year-Olds:
(a) 4- and 5-year-old pace for colts and
fillies; and
(b) 4- and 5-year-old
trot for colts and fillies.
(2) Upon the recommendation of the Advisory
Committee, the races provided for in §I(1)(a) and (b) of this regulation
may be separated into races for colts only and fillies only.
J. If more horses are declared to
start in an event than can fit on the starting gate, the licensee holding the
event shall split the event and divide the purse equally, except the
declaration fees shall be allocated based on the number of horses in each
division.
K. The various age, sex,
and gait divisions established under §I of this regulation may, from time
to time, be eliminated by the Commission upon the recommendation of the
Advisory Committee.
L. Each age,
sex, and gait division, depending upon the availability of funds, may not be
raced more than three times per year.
M. The purse amounts and the number of times
per year each race is offered for the races authorized under §I of this
regulation shall be determined by the Advisory Committee and approved by the
Commission.
N. Breeder Awards.
(1) 10 percent Breeder Award, based upon the
amount of the purse distributed, shall be divided between the dam and sire of a
horse, if the horse:
(a) Receives purse
monies from a race provided for under §I of this regulation; and
(b) Meets the applicable eligibility
requirements set forth for registration in the Foaled Stakes Program under
Regulation .43 of this chapter, or in the Sire Stakes Program under Regulation
.53 of this chapter.
(2)
Of the 10 percent awarded under §N(1) of this regulation:
(a) 8 percent shall be awarded to the dam of
the horse; and
(b) 2 percent shall
be awarded to the sire of the horse.
(3) The awards, as apportioned under
§N(2) of this regulation, shall be paid to the:
(a) Individual or entity who was the owner of
record with the USTA of the dam and sire at the time the horse was bred;
or
(b) Lessee of the horse, rather
than the owner, if the:
(i) Dam or the sire,
respectively, was leased at the time the breeding took place; and
(ii) Lease was on record with the USTA at
that time.
O. Post positions for all races shall be
determined by lot.
P. Gait.
(1) A horse's gait shall be specified and
accompany each sustaining fee.
(2)
A change of a horse's specified gait may be made at the time the horse is
declared into a race.
(3) Any
payments made before a change in the specified gait of a horse shall be
credited to the races for the gait originally specified.
Q. Time.
(1) The time for starters to declare into a
Sires Stakes Program for 4 and 5-Year-Olds race shall be the same as the time
established by the race track for declaring into an overnight race.
(2) If the race track schedules the time for
drawing into an overnight race more than 5 days before the running of the
races, a Sires Stakes Program for 4 and 5-Year-Olds race may not be drawn with
these races, but shall be drawn at a time that is not more than 5 days before
the scheduled running of the race.
R. Purse Distribution.
(1) The purse in each race shall be divided
in the following manner:
(a) 50 percent, 25
percent, 12 percent, 8 percent, and 5 percent to the first five finishers,
respectively, if five or more horses finish;
(b) 50 percent, 25 percent, 15 percent, and
10 percent to the first four finishers, respectively, if only four horses
finish;
(c) 55 percent, 30 percent,
and 15 percent to the first three finishers, respectively, if only three horses
finish;
(d) 65 percent and 35
percent to the first two finishers, respectively, if only two horses finish;
or
(e) 65 percent to the finisher
and 35 percent remains with the gait, if only one horse finishes.
(2) Unless the Commission
eliminates the races for one of the gaits in accordance with §K of this
regulation, the purse monies shall be divided equally between races for
trotters and races for pacers.
S. With the advice of the Advisory Committee,
the Commission may allow the entire Sires Stakes Program for 4 and 5-Year-Olds
races to be held at any race track in Maryland.
