from the USTA Communications Department

Columbus, OH — The new USTA rule book is now available online. It can be found under the USTA or Horsemen/Regulatory tabs on the homepage of www.ustrotting.com or by clicking this link.

Following are some of the highlights of the new rules and bylaws in the 2017 USTA Rule Book:

• The bylaw pertaining to procedures and eligibility for election of directors representing racetracks specifies a variety of issues, including timing and eligibility of individuals for election.

• Track directors now will serve three-year terms, as opposed to the previous two-year standard.

• Districts 1 (Ohio) and 7 (Pennsylvania) each added one track director seat. Dave Bianconi (Northfield Park) and Kevin Decker (The Meadows) were elected to fill those positions, while Districts 2 (Michigan) and 5 (Illinois) each lost one seat.

• In races with dead heats where a point system is in place for eligibility to subsequent events, points and purses will now be divided and/or shared.

• The components of an official chart have been expanded to include trainer’s name, reason for a scratch, removal of hobbles from pacers, addition of hobbles to trotters, and designation of a second tier starting position.

• The requirement for specifying monetary allowances for age and gender in claiming races has been eliminated while the overall claiming price remains in place.

• Regulations regarding horses that go inside the pylons were amended to specify the number of pylons crossed that constitute a violation, the placing of horses that commit a pylon violation, and a delineation of escalating fines and suspensions for drivers who commit and repeat pylon violations.

• Drivers who believe their horse’s performance in a race has been compromised by another driver and wish to appeal the matter to their USTA District Board are no longer required to lodge the initial complaint before they dismount the sulky. They must still appeal to the District Board within 10 days of the decision or ruling they wish to appeal.

• For breeders, signature requirements for mare owners registering progeny have been simplified to remove that requirement when there is no change of ownership.

• Horses being registered as “Non-Standardbred” will no longer have the requirement to spay or neuter the horse before such registration is granted.

These changes will be reflected in the next update to the USTA’s Rule Book App, found on Apple’s iTunes, and Google Play stores, which can be found by searching “USTrotting.”