Jockey Club committee recommends change to voided-claims policy

A committee of The Jockey Club has revised its recommended guidance on voided-claims policy to allow for the practice if a horse is placed on the veterinarian’s list within one hour of a race.

The revised recommendation from the Thoroughbred Safety Committee grew out of findings from the decade-long effort to collect data on racing injuries through the Equine Injury Database. Those findings have suggested that racing jurisdictions with voided-claim policies show statistically significant lower rates of fatalities, The Jockey Club said.

The committee had earlier recommended that a claim should be able to be voided within a half-hour of the horse crossing the finish line “if the horse does not return to the designated unsaddling area.” The new recommendation allows for a voided claim if, “within one hour of the race, the racing or official veterinarian determines the horse will be placed on the veterinarian’s list as bled, unsound, or lame.”

The committee’s recommendations are typically reviewed by a number of regulatory organizations that forward potential revisions to rules to racing jurisdictions.

Most major racing jurisdictions have adopted rules allowing for voided claims under certain circumstances. The rules are thought to deter trainers from entering horses with pre-existing conditions in claiming races.