Columbus, OH — On Tuesday (Dec. 1), Chairperson Sam Lilly and Directors Casey Leonard, James J. Reynolds and Jim Miller hosted the annual USTA District 5 meeting.  For the first time ever, all USTA District Meetings are being held virtually online this year.

The meeting included opening messages from USTA Executive Vice President and CEO Mike Tanner and USTA President Russell Williams. The agenda included a discussion of and voting on 17 rule change proposals.

Following are the results on the 2021 rule change proposals from District 5:

Rule Change Proposal-Result
Proposal #1 (Yearling price in program) — Rejected
Proposal #2 (Prohibit seeding of any divisions) — Approved
Proposal #3 (Showing the number of claims on a horse) — Rejected
Proposal #4 (List of claimants; reason claim lost) — Rejected
Proposal #5 (Electronic draw details) — Rejected
Proposal #6 (Publish entry sheets online) — Approved
Proposal #7 (Electronic draw guidelines) — Rejected
Proposal #8 (Driver choices prior to draw) — Rejected
Proposal #9 (Position of handholds) — Rejected
Proposal #10 (Hobbles – accurate program information) — Tied
Proposal #11 (Nerved horses reporting) — Approved
Proposal #12 (Gelding/spaying of horse reporting) — Approved
Proposal #13 (Increase horse name – 18 to 20 spaces) — Rejected
Proposal #14 (Outside source approval of horse names) — Rejected
Proposal #15 (Ownership percentages recording) — Rejected
Proposal #16 (Syndicate member requirements) — Approved
Proposal #17 (Sulky change submission requirement) — Approved

Following the vote on the rule change proposals, Director Jim Miller discussed the construction being done at Hawthorne Race Course to add alternative gaming and the positive handle numbers during the second half of the 2020 harness meet.  Director Jim Reynolds was complimentary of the new online format of this district meeting. Chairperson Sam Lilly complimented the decisions of the USTA Executive Committee during the pandemic and expressed concern about the financial situation facing racing in Illinois during 2021.

The meeting commenced at 2 p.m. and was adjourned by Chairperson Sam Lilly at 3:03 p.m.

For the schedule of remaining USTA District Meetings, click here.