As a rule that does not require a RFA, RAFA or JIS, this rule will be initially reviewed in the calendar year 2024, which is no later than the 5th year after the year in which this rule is being adopted.

The Commission received a public comment from a writer of online commentary about horse racing. The commentator opposed the proposal. He asserted that the current rule, which stemmed from the recommendations of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s 2012 New York Task Force on Racehorse Health and Safety, better protects horse safety. He stated that the proposal reflects a transactional approach that balances economic considerations with equine and human safety and questioned the criteria by which the Commission’s equine medical director would determine whether to permit any deviation from the general ratio rule.

The Commission shares the commentator’s concerns about equine safety and does not intend to permit deviations from the general rule that continues to apply (i.e., that the minimum price in a claiming race shall not be less than 50 percent of the value of the purse for the race) unless the racetrack has implemented appropriate protective measures for the subject races.

The Commission notes that there have been significant improvements to the regulatory racing environment for Thoroughbred horses in New York since the emergency adoption of the purse/price ratio rule in May 2012. Among these are improvements to the claiming rule to reduce an incentive to attempt to transfer an unsound horse to an unsuspecting claimant, as the rule now voids a claim if the horse dies before leaving the track and permits a claimant to void the claim for one hour after any race in which the horse is vanned from the track. There also have been improvements to the safe regulation of equine drug use, by banning the use of certain drugs within time periods that otherwise risk having a horse race while its ability to sense pain is impaired; requiring disclosure of recent corticosteroid joint injections; lengthening the time periods before a race in which corticosteroid joint injections may be administered; and making other improvements to equine drug regulation.

The Commission monitors all races and intends to further monitor the impact of the rule change and, if necessary, consider the circumstances under which the rule is applied, to promote the equine safety.