Delaware stiffens stable rule

The Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission will begin enforcing a longtime rule on its books that prohibits a horse from running out of a suspended trainer's stable, the executive director of the commission said Wednesday.

John Wayne, the executive director, said that the commission decided to tell its stewards to enforce the rule as it was written because of concerns about the public's image of horse racing. Stewards in Delaware have previously allowed horses to run under an assistant trainer's name while the trainer is under suspension.

Under the new interpretation, an owner will have to sign an affidavit swearing that the horse's new trainer is not in any way "financially related" to the suspended trainer, Wayne said, in order to enter a horse in a race.

The order to reinterpret the rule follows the adoption of a similar rule by the Indiana Horse Racing Commission earlier this month.

The Delaware commission also approved a rule calling for a 10-year suspension and $5,000 fine for any trainer whose horse tests positive for blood-doping drugs, beginning April 10, opening day of the Delaware Park meet.