Black-type guidelines changed

The North American members of the Society of International Thoroughbred Auctioneers have ratified two changes to the guidelines for North American black-type races in 2006.

Starting next season, the auctioneers' group and the International Cataloguing Standards Committee will implement the following guidelines:

Races containing preference clauses based on criteria other than the quality of the horse in the race will be considered restricted races.

Entries in a race must be eligible for the purse money used to determine the minimum purse value for black type or listed status.

In announcing the changes, the two groups said that the changes "are being made to further maintain standards of integrity for black type in North America." The cataloging committee's North American members had recommended the changes.

The minimum purse value for North American races to be eligible for black type will remain $40,000 in 2006. That amount must be distributed on the day of the race.