3 Del. Admin. Code § 1001-13.0

Current through Register Vol. 28, No. 5, November 1, 2024

Section 1001-13.0 - Claiming Races

13.1 Owners Entitled: In claiming races, any horse, unless declared ineligible under Rule 13.18 may be claimed for its entered price by any Owner in good standing, providing Owner designates a Trainer licensed by the Commission who will represent Owner 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, handicap, or nomination required 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.

Revised: 7/16/86

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 Procedure for Claim:

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.

Revised: 8/15/95

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 A claim shall be voided if a horse is a starter as determined by the Commission, and the horse:

13.12.3.1 Dies on the racetrack;

13.12.3.2 Suffers an injury which requires euthanasia of the horse as determined by the Commission Veterinarian while the horse is still on the racetrack;

13.12.3.3 Is vanned off the racetrack at the direction of the Commission Veterinarian; or

13.12.3.4 Is observed by the Commission Veterinarian to be lame or unsound while still on the racetrack and as such the Commission Veterinarian places that horse on the Vets List.

13.13 Prohibited Practices:

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 Claim Embraces Horse's Prior Engagements: The engagements of a claimed horse pass automatically with the horse to the claimant.

13.17 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.

13.18 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 120 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.

3 Del. Admin. Code § 1001-13.0

1 DE Reg. 713 (12/01/97)
2 DE Reg. 373 (09/01/98)
2 DE Reg. 2043 (05/01/99)
5 DE Reg. 849 (10/01/01)
5 DE Reg. 1710 (03/01/02)
6 DE Reg. 1205 (03/01/03)
7 DE Reg. 316 (09/01/03)
7 DE Reg. 1540 (05/01/04)
11 DE Reg. 1373 (04/01/08)
11 DE Reg. 1624 (06/01/08)
12 DE Reg. 201 (08/01/08)
19 DE Reg. 1010 (5/1/2016)
24 DE Reg. 47 (7/1/2020)
25 DE Reg. 507 (11/1/2021)
26 DE Reg. 45 (7/1/2022)
26 DE Reg. 938 (5/1/2023)
27 DE Reg. 860 (5/1/2024) (Final)