Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association
13.1.1 In claiming races, any horse, unless declared ineligible under Rule 13.20, is subject to claim for its entered price by any Owner in good standing, and who has started a horse at the race meeting at which the claim is made.
13.1.2 An Owner may claim out of the race in which he first starts a horse.
13.1.3 A new Owner, i.e., an individual, partnership, corporation or any other authorized racing interest who has not held an Owner’s license in any racing jurisdiction during the prior year, is eligible to claim by obtaining an “Open Claiming License” from the Commission.
13.1.4 In order to obtain an open claiming license and file an open claim, an individual must comply with the following procedures:
13.1.4.1 Depositing an amount no less than the minimum claiming price of the intended claim at that meet with the Horsemen’s Bookkeeper. Such amount shall remain on account until a claim is in fact made. In the event of withdrawal of such fund, any license issued hereunder shall be automatically revoked and terminated.
13.1.4.2 Securing an Owner or authorized racing interest license by the Commission. Such license will be conditioned upon the making of a claim and shall be revoked if no such claim is, in fact, made within thirty (30) racing days after issuance or if the deposit above required is withdrawn prior to completion of a claim.
13.1.4.3 Naming a Trainer licensed by the Commission who will represent him once said claim is made.
13.2 Claim by Agent: A claim may be made by an authorized agent, but an agent may claim only for the account of those for whom he is authorized and registered as agent and the name of the authorized agent, as well as the name of the Owner for whom the claim is being made, shall appear on the claim slip.
13.3 Claiming Own Horse Prohibited: No person shall claim his own horse or cause his own horse to be claimed, directly or indirectly, for his own account. No claimed horse shall remain in the same stable or under the care or management of the Owner or Trainer from whom claimed.
13.4 Limits on claims: No person shall claim more than one horse from any one race. No authorized agent, although representing several Owners, shall submit more than one claim for any race. When a stable consists of horses owned by more than one person, trained by the same Trainer, not more than one claim may be entered on behalf of such stable in any one race. An Owner who races in a partnership may not claim except in the interest of the partnership, unless he has also started a horse in his own individual interest. An owner who races in a partnership may claim in his or her individual interest if the individual has started a horse in the partnership. The individual must also have an account with the horsemen’s bookkeeper that is separate from the partnership account.
13.5 Twenty Day Prohibition — Sale of Claimed Horse: A claimed horse shall not run for twenty days after being claimed in a race in which the determining eligibility price is less than twenty-five percent more than the price for which the horse was claimed. The day claimed shall not count but the following calendar day shall be the first day, and the horse shall be entitled to enter whenever necessary so that it may start on the twenty-first calendar day following the claim. This provision shall not apply to starter handicaps, allowance and starter allowance races.
13.6 Thirty Day Prohibition — Sale of Claimed Horse: No horse claimed in a claiming race shall be sold or transferred, wholly or in part, to anyone within thirty (30) days after the day it was claimed, except in another claiming race. A horse claimed by an Owner that has started a horse at the current meet and by a Trainer that is currently stabled on the grounds of the Association, shall not be permitted to run in another racing jurisdiction for the period of sixty (60) days, beginning the day after the claim was made, or until the end of the current meet, whichever comes first. A horse that is claimed by an Owner that has started a horse at the current meet by a Trainer that is not currently stabled on the grounds of the Association shall not be permitted to race elsewhere until the close of the meeting which it was claimed. The Stewards shall have the authority to waive this rule upon application, so as to allow a claimed horse to race in a stakes race. The Stewards may also permit a horse claimed in a steeplechase or hurdle race to race elsewhere in a steeplechase or hurdle race after the close of the steeplechase program, if such a program ends before the close of the meeting at which it is claimed.
13.7 Form of Claim: Each claim shall be made in writing on a form and in an envelope supplied by Licensee. Both form and envelope must be filled out completely and must be accurate in every detail.
13.8.1 Claims must be deposited in the claim box at least ten (10) minutes before post time of the race from which the claim is being made. No money or its equivalent shall be put in the claim box. For a claim to be valid, the claimant must have, at the time of filing the claim, a credit balance in his account with the Horsemen’s Bookkeeper of not less than the amount of the claim.
13.8.2 Officials and employees of the association shall not provide any information as to filing of claims until after the race has been run except as is necessary for processing of the claim.
13.9 Stewards’ Duties: The Stewards, or their designated representatives, shall open the claim envelopes for each race as soon as the horses leave the paddock en route to the post. They shall thereafter check with the Horsemen’s Bookkeeper to ascertain whether the proper credit balance has been established with the Licensee and with the Racing Secretary as to whether the claimant has claiming privileges at Licensee’s meeting.
13.10 Conflicting claims: If more than one valid claim is filed for the same horse, title to the horse shall be determined by lot under the supervision of the Stewards or their designated representative.
13.11 Delivery of Claimed Horse: Any horse that has been claimed shall, after the race has been run, be taken to the paddock for delivery to the claimant, who must present written authorization for the claim from the Racing Secretary. No person shall refuse to deliver to the person legally entitled thereto a horse claimed out of a claiming race and, until delivery is made, the horse in question shall be disqualified from further racing.
13.12 Nature and Effect of a Claim:
13.12.1 Claims are irrevocable except as otherwise provided for in these Rules. Title to a claimed horse shall be vested in the successful claimant from the time the said horse is a starter and said claimant shall then become the Owner of the horse, whether it be alive or dead, sound or unsound, or injured, during the race or after it. A claimed horse shall run in the interest of and for the account of the Owner from whom claimed.
13.12.2 A post-race test may be taken from any horse claimed out of a claiming race. The trainer of the horse at the time of entry for the race from which the horse was claimed shall be responsible for the claimed horse until the post-race sample is collected. Any claimed horse not otherwise selected for testing by the stewards shall be tested if requested by the claimant at the time the claim form is submitted in accordance with these Rules. The successful claimant shall have the right to void the claim should the forensic analysis be positive for any prohibited substance, an illegal level of a permitted medication, or if a blood sample exhibits a positive response to the Erythropoietin (EPO) antibody test.
13.12.3 In the event a horse dies during a claiming race or is euthanized on the racetrack during a claiming race, any claim on that horse will be declared void.
13.13.1 No person shall offer or enter into an agreement to claim or not to claim or to attempt to prevent another person from claiming any horse in a claiming race. No person shall attempt, by intimidation, to prevent anyone from running a horse in any claiming race. No Owner or Trainer shall make an agreement with another Owner or Trainer for the protection of each other’s horses in a claiming race.
13.13.2 A person shall not claim a horse in which the person has a financial or beneficial interest as an owner or trainer.
13.13.3 A person shall not cause another person to claim a horse for the purpose of obtaining or retaining an undisclosed financial or beneficial interest in the horse.
13.13.4 A person shall not claim a horse or enter into any agreement to have a horse claimed on behalf of an ineligible person.
13.14 Invalidation of Claim: Claims which are not made in keeping with the Rules shall be void. The Stewards may, at any time in their discretion, require any person filing a claim to furnish an affidavit in writing that he is claiming in accordance with these Rules. The Stewards shall be the judges of the validity of the claim and, if they feel that a “starter” was nominated for the purpose of making its Owner eligible to claim, they may invalidate the claim.
13.15 Necessity to Record Lien: Any person holding a lien of any kind against a horse entered in a claiming race must record the same with the Racing Secretary and/or Horsemen’s Bookkeeper at least thirty (30) minutes before post time for that race. If none is so recorded, it shall be conclusively assumed, for claiming purposes, that none exists.
13.16 Claiming Privileges — Eliminated Stable: If a person’s stable shall be eliminated with thirty (30) racing days or less remaining in the current racing season, and such person is unable to replace the horse(s) lost via a claim by the end of the racing season, such person may apply to the Stewards for an additional thirty (30) racing days of eligibility to claim in the new race meeting as long as the person owns no other horses at the start of the next race meeting. Should a stable at a meeting be eliminated by sale or removal from the grounds, the right to claim is void. After claiming a horse under the conditions of this Rule, the Owner shall be required to reinstate his eligibility to claim pursuant to these Rules before being eligible to make another claim.
13.17 Claim Embraces Horse’s Prior Engagements: The engagements of a claimed horse pass automatically with the horse to the claimant.
13.18 Caveat Emptor: Notwithstanding any designation of sex or age appearing on the racing program or in any racing publication, the claimant of a horse shall be solely responsible for determining the age or sex of the horse claimed.
13.19 Racing Claimed Horse: Repealed
13.20 Option to Declare Horse Ineligible to be Claimed: At the time of entry into a claiming race, the owner may opt to declare a horse ineligible to be claimed provided that the horse has been laid-off and has not started for a minimum of 180 days since its last race and is entered for a claiming price equal to or greater that the claiming price of the horses last start.