Columbus, OH – The third and final session of the 2026 U.S. Trotting Association Board of Directors Meeting in Columbus, OH concluded with the Rules Committee followed by the Closing Session on Sunday (March 8).
In that Closing Session, the submitted committee reports from Registration, Racing, Finance, and Rules as well as the 2026 budget were all approved.
In what has become an annual ritual, President Russell Williams commenced his closing remarks telling the directors, “This is the best meeting we’ve ever had.
“We have a little more work to do between meetings than usual, and I’ll be reaching out to the directors to be involved with that,” added Williams.
He informed the directors that some important financial decisions were on the horizon including consideration of a $900,000 investment in SNP testing that was discussed during the meetings and additional investment in IT.
“We always have carefully analyzed the next step that we land on,” said Williams. “We’re going to have to make some big changes in the IT area that may need to add staff. Be aware that these things are coming.”
Before the closing session, the Rules Committee met to discuss rule change proposals, which already had been discussed by other committees.
During the meetings, the following rule changes were presented to the respective committees. The committees considered and acted upon the proposals as follows:
Proposal 1 – Resigning membership while under investigation
Racing – accepted
Rules – accepted
Proposal 2 – Horse race fatalities reported to USTA
Racing – tabled
Rules – tabled
Proposal 3 – Shoes off / shoes on
Racing – accepted as amended, 6.15 approved, 7.02 tabled
Rules – accepted as amended, 6.15 approved, 7.02 rejected
Proposal 4 – Sponsor Dein Spriggs requested withdrawal of the proposal and asked that President Williams establish a committee to evaluate Standardbred retirement and aftercare.
Registration – tabled
Racing – tabled
Rules – tabled
Proposal 5 – Start caps for 2- and 3-year-olds
Racing – rejected
Rules – rejected
Proposal 6 – Deposit for appeals
Racing – accepted
Rules – accepted
Proposal 7 – Stallion cap of 160 mares
Registration – rejected
Rules – rejected
Proposal 8 – Standardbred as embryo transfer recipient mare
Registration – rejected
Rules – rejected
Proposal 9 – Executive committee composition (Bylaw)
Racing – accepted as amended
Rules – accepted as amended
The location and dates for the 2027 Annual Meeting will be announced at a later date.
At 10:08 a.m., Chairman Joe Faraldo adjourned the meeting.