Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 75-8.005 - Purses and Florida Owners' Awards, Horse Racing
(1) For the purpose of interpreting this
rule, the following definitions shall apply:
(a) "Purse" means the cash portion of the
prize for which a race is contested.
(b) "Purse Pool" means the aggregate of all
amounts set aside for the purpose of purse payments, including:
1. Those sums required to be paid as purses
pursuant to Chapter 550, F.S.;
2.
Those additional, optional sums authorized to be paid as purses by Chapter 550,
F.S., and which a horseracing permitholder elects to pay or is required to pay
upon reaching specific statutory conditions or thresholds or optional sums paid
by contract;
3. Any interest earned
on an underpaid purse account.
(c) "Florida Owners' Awards" means those sums
awarded in accordance with the eligibility criteria established in Section
550.2625(6)(a) and
(b), F.S.
(d) "Florida Owners' Awards Pool" means the
aggregate of the sums set aside for payment of Florida Owners' Awards,
including:
1. Those sums which a thoroughbred
racing permitholder is required to pay as Florida Owners' Awards by Chapter
550, F.S.;
2. Those additional,
optional sums a thoroughbred permitholder is authorized and elects to pay as
Florida Owners' Awards by Chapter 550, F.S.; and
3. Any interest earned on an underpaid
Florida Owners' Awards account.
(e) "Horsemen Association" means the
organization representing a majority of the thoroughbred racehorse owners and
trainers.
(f) "Sweepstakes" or
"Stakes" means the sums paid as purses on a sweepstakes race and which sum is
partially or totally comprised by funds contributed by the competitors in
and/or the sponsors of the race.
(g) "Transfer of purse pool money" means:
1. Sums deductible from a horseracing
permitholder's purse pool and due or remitted to another permitholder to be
used for the payment of purses by the receiving permitholder pursuant to
Chapter 550, F.S.;
2. Sums
deductible from a horseracing permitholder's purse pool and required to be used
by the permitholder toward the payment of insurance benefits for backside
employees pursuant to Chapter 550, F.S.;
3. Sums deductible from a harness racing
permitholder's purse pool and due or remitted to intertrack wagering guests and
which become part of the guests' commission pursuant to Chapter 550, F.S.;
or
4. Sums deductible from a
thoroughbred purse pool which are due or remitted to the horsemen's association
pursuant to Chapter 550, F.S.
(2) Each horseracing permitholder shall
segregate the respective amounts due the purse pool into separate accounting
entries. For those permitholders maintaining purse pool accounting on a cash
basis, the amounts due to the purse pool from interstate simulcasting shall not
be deemed accrued to the purse pool until payment in clear funds is received
from the appropriate guest or host track. Amounts received after the close of
the meet shall be applied toward payments in the subsequent meet. Reports
reflecting the status of purse money should have disclosure notes on any
amounts receivable. Permitholders maintaining accounting on an accrual basis
shall credit the purse pool with the amounts due from simulcasts upon
completion of the simulcast performance.
(3) A cumulative purse underpayment occurs
where the aggregate of the purses paid during the meet is less than the
aggregate available in the purse pool, as adjusted for statutorily required
transfers.
Any underpayment of statutory required purses shall be deposited within 10 days of the end of the meet into a separate interest bearing account. The underpayment plus all interest generated shall be used to increase purses awarded over the course of the permitholder's next meet.
(4)
(a) A cumulative purse overpayment occurs
where the aggregate of purses paid during the meet is greater than the
aggregate available in the purse pool, as adjusted for statutorily required
transfers. Unless otherwise indicated in the contract between the horsemen's
association and the permitholder, the permitholder may carry forward the amount
overpaid and recoup the overpayment over the course of the next meet or future
meets.
(b) The statutory purses due
in a current meet shall not be reduced by deducting overpayments from a prior
meet or meets or from the current meet.
(5) In thoroughbred racing, if Chapter 550,
F.S., requires payment of Florida Owners' Awards or the permitholder elects to
pay such awards, the permitholder upon receipt shall segregate the respective
amounts due the Florida Owners' Awards pool into separate accounting
entries.
(6) In thoroughbred
racing, the sums required to be paid as Florida Owners' Awards shall be paid to
the owners of Florida bred horses in accordance with Section
550.2625(2)(a) and
(b), F.S. Any eligibility criterium added by
the permitholder must be previously disclosed in the conditions book and the
daily racing program.
(a) If all the funds
due as Florida Owners' Awards are not paid out during the meet, the remaining
amount shall be carried forward to the permitholder's subsequent meet. All
funds carried forward shall be deposited in an interest bearing account within
10 days after the close of the meet. The principal and interest generated shall
be used to pay owners' awards in the permitholder's subsequent meet.
(b) An overpayment occurs where the aggregate
of the awards paid exceed the amount available in the Florida Owners' Awards
pool. Unless otherwise indicated in the contract between the horsemen's
association and the permitholder, the permitholder may carry forward the amount
overpaid and recoup the overpayment over the course of the next meet or future
meets.
(7) The
horseracing permitholder shall maintain a separate account for purses and a
separate account for Florida Owners' Awards. The separate interest bearing
accounts maintained by the permitholder for purses and owners awards shall pay
interest in an amount equivalent to current market rates for similar amounts
competitive with financial institutions within the immediate geographical area
of the permitholder.
(8) The purse
for each race and the Florida Owners' Awards, where applicable, shall be
disclosed in the conditions book and the daily racing program. Each
permitholder shall also disclose the distribution formula for each race's
purse: for example, 60% to the first finisher, 20% to the second finisher, 15%
to the third finisher, and the remaining 5% divided equally among all other
finishers. Where the permitholder elects to have only one distribution formula
applicable throughout the performance, the uniform application shall be
disclosed.
(a) Where the purse is announced as
a minimum guaranteed or as "purse added, " the permitholder shall disclose to
the division the source of any additional amounts and, if applicable, the total
to be added to the announced purse.
(b) The announced purses and awards shall be
considered contractually binding on both the permitholder and the contestants
in the race.
(c) The conditions
book and the daily racing program shall disclose the fees to be collected for
races in which nomination, entry and starting fees are applicable. If the total
collected cannot be included in the racing program, such information will be
provided daily to the pari-mutel wagering specialist on
site.
(9) If, prior to
the payment of any purse or award, any event is known to occur or alleged to
have occurred that may result in disqualification of a horse from a race, the
payment of the purse or award on that horse shall be delayed until a final
determination regarding the alleged violation is made by the Steward or
Division Director.
(a) In the event that a
purse or award payment is made and subsequently the horse is disqualified by
the Steward or Division Director, the recipient of the sums shall return the
money to the permitholder for redistribution.
(b) All funds held pursuant to subsection
(9), shall be held in escrow by the permitholder pending a final determination
and distribution.
(10)
Each horseracing permitholder shall provide to the pari-mutuel wagering
specialist on site a daily Purse and Florida Owners' Award summary for each
race, with the following minimum information:
(a) Total purse paid;
(b) Total derived from fees paid by category;
and
(c) Where applicable, Florida
Owners' Awards paid.
A copy of a permitholder's daily purses paid report which includes the above information shall be sufficient to meet this requirement.
(11)
Each horseracing permitholder shall file a purse report within 30 days after
the close of each meet reflecting:
(a) Sums
contributed and interest accrued to the purse pool between the last day of the
previous meet and the first day of the meet being reported. Any balance brought
forward (underpayment or overpayment) from the previous meet shall be
indicated;
(b) Sums contributed and
interest accrued to the purse pool during the meet period;
(c) All outflows for purse payments. This
includes:
1. The total purse paid and, where
applicable, the total Florida Owners' Award paid the sum of which shall equal
to the sum of the elements of subparagraphs 2., 3., 4., and 5.,
below;
2. The amounts for entry,
nomination and starting fees included as part of the purses paid;
3. The amount included as part of the purses
paid which was contributed by sponsors to the race;
4. Other contractual amounts paid which are
in addition to the statutory requirements;
5. The net amount paid which is derived from
statutory requirements; and
(d) Amount of under or overpayments as
derived from values in paragraphs (a) through (c), above;
(e) Where cash basis accounting is used, in a
footnote or attached list, any amounts due to the permitholder derived from
simulcasting which have not been received or have not cleared and therefore
will be included in the next report; and
(f) Transfers of purse
money.
(12) Each
horseracing permitholder shall file a Florida Owners' Award report within 30
days of the close of each meet reflecting:
(a)
Sums contributed and interest accrued to the Florida Owners' Award pool between
the last day of the previous meet and the first day of the meet being reported.
Any balance brought forward (underpayment or overpayment) from the previous
meet shall be indicated;
(b) Sums
contributed and interest accrued to the Florida Owners' Award pool during the
meet period;
(c) All outflows from
the Florida Owners' Award Pool; and
(d) Amount of under or overpayment as derived
from values in paragraphs (a) through (c), above.
(13) For conducting purse audits, the
division shall require accounting records that are used to verify purse
payouts, for example, contributions to the purse pool derived from live handle,
intertrack wagering, and simulcast wagering; amounts distributed from the purse
pool; and transfers to any breeders' or owners' awards program.
(a) Supporting schedules for contributions to
the purse pool which are derived from interstate broadcasting shall be
included. Permitholders may submit schedules designed by the permitholder's
accounting personnel provided that all the information needed is
included.
(b) The permitholder
shall include disclosure notes to the report any time a permitholder has items
included in the reports which are not explained within the content of the
documents or where a permitholder wishes to make a contribution to the purse
pool which is in excess of the statutory requirements.
(14) The frequency of the remittances to the
horsemens' association shall be as agreed upon by contract. If not addressed in
the contract, the remittances shall be at intervals not greater than a week.
The sworn statement required by Section
550.2614(2),
F.S., must be presented to the permitholder and a copy of the sworn statement
must be filed with the Division.
(15) The purse and Florida Owners' Award
report and all accounting records pertaining to the purse pool and Florida
Owners' Award accounts shall be subject to audit under the provisions of
Sections 550.2625(2)(d)
and 550.125(2),
F.S. For the purpose of the audit, accounting records shall include contracts
between the horsemen's association and the permitholder and contracts with
guests and hosts when these are needed to make determinations regarding amounts
contributed to or transfers from the purse pool.
(16) If an audit or investigation by the
division reveals that a horseracing permitholder failed to timely pay the
amounts due the horsemen's association under Section
550.2614, F.S., or fail to pay
the amounts due for purses or Florida Owners' Awards as required pursuant to
Chapter 550, F.S., the division shall initiate administrative disciplinary
action.
(17) A horseracing
permitholder at its option may pay additional purses, or make additional
contributions to the purse pool or Florida Owners' Awards pool, or make
additional payments to a horsemen's association, in excess of the amounts
required or authorized by Chapter 550, F.S. In no event may a contract or
agreement or unilateral action by a permitholder, waive the requirements of
this rule or of Chapter 550, F.S. Any contractual clause, agreement or
unilateral action by a permitholder which is found to be contrary to the
requirements in chapter 550, F.S., or the provisions of this rule shall be
considered void.
(18) Where a race
is canceled, no purses will be due; however, any funds contributed by the
owners of the horses toward the payment of a sweepstakes or enhancement of the
purse on the canceled race, shall be refunded to the contributors.
(19) If a race is declared "no contest, no
race or null" by the Steward, the permitholder may still pay purses on such
race. The status of the wagered money on such null races will have no bearing
on the decision regarding the payment of purses. If a decision not to pay the
purse is made, any contributions by the competitors engaged in the race shall
be refunded to the contributors.
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