810 KAR 4:090 - Owners

RELATES TO: KRS 230.215, 230.260, 230.290, 230.310, 230.320

NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 230.215(2) authorizes the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to promulgate administrative regulations prescribing conditions under which horse racing shall be conducted in Kentucky. KRS 230.310 requires any person who desires to participate in racing in Kentucky as an owner to apply to the commission for a license, and authorizes the commission to promulgate administrative regulations pertaining to licensing. KRS 230.320 authorizes the commission to promulgate administrative regulations under which any license may be denied, suspended, or revoked, and under which any licensee or other person participating in Kentucky horse racing may be assessed an administrative fine or required to forfeit or return a purse. The function of this administrative regulation is to outline the requirements for owners to participate in horse racing in Kentucky.

Section 1. Owner's License Required. A horse shall not be raced in this state unless the owner or each of the part owners, except as established in Section 4 of this administrative regulation, has been granted a current owner's license or temporary license by the commission.

Section 2. Owner's License Limitations.

(1) A licensed owner or trainer may personally serve as a farrier or jockey for horses he or she owns or are registered as in his or her care, if he or she has received from the stewards a certification of the licensee's fitness as a competent farrier or jockey.

(2) A licensed owner shall:

(a) Own or have under lease a horse eligible to race and be prepared to prove same upon call of the stewards; and

(b) Not engage in an activity directly or indirectly involving the racing performance of horses owned by others.

(3)

(a) Except as established in paragraph (b), a licensed owner shall be at least eighteen (18) years old.

(b) The commission may grant an owner's license to a person less than eighteen (18) years of age who is a son or daughter of a licensed owner in this state, if the parent:

1. Holds an owner's license in this state; and

2. Files with the license application of the minor an agreement whereby the parent assumes responsibility for meeting all financial, contractual, or other obligations relating to racing of the applicant son or daughter

(4) The commission may deny, suspend, or revoke an owner's license for the spouse or any member of the immediate family or household of a person who is ineligible to hold an owner's license, unless there is a showing on the part of the applicant or licensed owner that his or her participation in racing as an owner shall in no way circumvent the intent of the administrative regulation by permitting a person, under the control or direction of a person ineligible for an owner's license, to serve in essence as a substitute for the ineligible person.

Section 3. Ownership Disclosure.

(1) Licensed owners and licensed trainers shall be jointly responsible for making a full disclosure of the entire ownership of each horse in their care.

(2) Disclosure under this section shall identify in writing all persons who directly, or indirectly through a lien, lease partnership, corporate stockholding, syndication, or other joint venture, hold any present or reversionary right, title, or interest in and to a horse, and those persons who by virtue of any form of interest may exercise control over or benefit from the racing of the horse. The degree and time of ownership held by each person shall also be designated.

(3) Disclosure under this section shall be made when registering each horse with the racing secretary upon arrival on association grounds or at time of entry, whichever event occurs first, and shall be revised immediately upon any subsequent change in the ownership.

(4) Disclosure under this section together with all written agreements, and affidavits setting out oral agreements, pertaining to the ownership of or rights to a horse, shall be filed with the stewards.

(5) All documents pertaining to the ownership or lease of a horse filed with the stewards shall be available for public inspection.

(6) The stewards may review the ownership of each horse entered to race. The stewards may determine the validity for racing purposes of all leases, transfers, and agreements pertaining to ownership of a horse and may call for adequate evidence of ownership at any time. The stewards may declare ineligible to race any horse, the ownership or control of which is in question.

Section 4. Joint Ownership.

(1) More than five (5) individual persons shall not be licensed as owners of a single horse.

(2) If more than five (5) individual persons own interests in a single horse, through a partnership, corporation, syndication, or other joint venture, then those individual persons shall designate a member of the partnership, corporation, syndicate, or joint venture to represent the entire ownership of and be responsible for the horse as the licensed owner.

(3) The commission may deny, suspend, or revoke the license of any owner whose ownership of a horse is qualified or limited in part by rights or interests in or to the horse being held or controlled by any other individual person or persons who would be ineligible to be licensed as an owner.

Section 5. Program Listing of Owners.

(1) Names of all persons licensed as owners of each horse shall be listed in the daily program.

(2) If space limitations preclude listing of first names, then at least two (2) initials shall precede surnames.

(3) Stable names, or corporate names, registered in other racing jurisdictions may be shown parenthetically if program space limitations permit.

(4) Lessees licensed as owners shall be designated on the program as lessees of each leased horse.

Section 6. Leases.

(1) A horse may be raced under lease with approval of the stewards, who may suspend or void approval at any time.

(2) A lease shall not be approved by the stewards for racing purposes unless:

(a) Lessee is licensed as an owner;

(b) Each of the signatures of the lessors and lessees on the lease agreement is subscribed and sworn to before a notary public;

(c) Term of the lease is no less than one (1) year, unless sooner terminated by claim or retirement of the horse;

(d) Conditions of the lease specify whether or not the horse can be entered in a race to be claimed. If agreeable to lessor that the horse may be entered in a claiming race, then the lease shall specify the minimum price for which the horse may be entered and the name of the payee of the claiming price;

(e) Conditions of the lease specify that upon claim of the horse, the lease shall terminate and all rights in and to the horse shall pass to claimant as a bona fide purchaser; and

(f) After reviewing the full ownership of the leased horse, and the interests of all persons involved in the lease and the term and conditions of the lease, the stewards in their discretion find that the lease:

1. Completely divests lessors or sublessors of further control or direction of the racing performance of the horse while under lease; and

2. The resultant program listing of lessee shall not mislead the betting public by reason of the absence in the program listing of the name of a person or persons possessing a beneficial interest in the leased horse.

Section 7. Thoroughbred Racing Colors.

(1) Thoroughbred owners shall be responsible for designing and providing individual racing colors, consisting of jackets and caps of distinctive color and pattern to be worn by jockeys during a race.

(2) The stewards may refuse to permit the use of racing colors that include advertising, or promotions, symbols or words, or that otherwise, in the opinion of the commission, are not in keeping with the traditions of the turf.

(3) A thoroughbred shall not be raced in racing colors other than those registered in the name of the horse's owner without special permission of the stewards. If an owner races two (2) or more horses in the same race, jackets shall be identical while caps may be varied in color or design.

(4) Owners and trainers shall be jointly responsible for the condition of racing colors, insuring that they are neat, clean, and in good repair, and that an adequate number of sets of racing colors are placed in the care of the clerk of scales.

(5) The clerk of scales and the valet serving a jockey shall be jointly responsible for having the correct jacket and cap on each rider upon leaving the jockey room for the paddock.

Section 8. Authorized Agent.

(1) A licensed owner may, as a principal, authorize any person, as an agent, to act on the owner's behalf in all matters pertaining to racing in this state and ownership of horses on association grounds.

(2) A licensed owner shall be jointly liable and responsible with his or her licensed authorized agent for all acts and omissions of the authorized agent in a racing matter.

Section 9. Suspension. A horse owned wholly or in part by an owner whose license has been suspended shall not be permitted to race during suspension.

Section 10. Partnerships.

(1) Partnerships that own or control a present or reversionary interest in a horse to be raced shall register with the commission.

(2) Partnership papers shall be filed with an owner's license application and shall set forth:

(a) The name and address of every person having an interest in the horse involved;

(b) The relative proportion of the interests;

(c) To whom winnings are payable;

(d) In whose name the horse shall run;

(e) With whom the power of entry and declaration rests;

(f) The terms of any contingency, lease, or any other arrangement; and

(g) The names of the horses involved.

(3) All partnership registrations shall be signed by the principal partner or by his authorized agent.

(4) Any alteration in a recorded partnership shall be reported in writing to the commission and signed by all the partners, or their authorized agent.

(5) All the parties in a partnership and each of them shall be jointly and severally liable for all stakes, fees, and other obligations.

Notes

810 KAR 4:090

45 Ky.R. 1936; 3123; eff. 5-31-2019.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 230.215(2), 230.310, 230.320(1)