New York State Racing and Wagering Board renews voided claim rule

The New York State Racing and Wagering Board on Tuesday voted to renew a rule allowing any claim of a horse that is vanned off the track to be voided at the claimant’s discretion.

The rule, which was first passed as an emergency regulation last October, was set to expire unless the board renewed the rule. The vote on Tuesday will allow the rule to remain in effect for an additional 60 days, until a formal rule-making process has concluded, officials for the board said.

Last year, the board passed a handful of new rules governing claiming races, including a rule limiting purses in claiming races to 1.6 times the claiming price and another rule automatically voiding a claim of a horse that dies during a race. In contrast with the rule allowing a claimant to void a claim of a vanned-off horse, those rules have already been formally adopted.

The board adopted the rules in response to a spate of breakdowns at Aqueduct last winter, in which 17 horses running in claiming races died.