New notation for voided claims in PPs

Daily Racing Form has added a new notation to its past-performance lines indicating when a claim for a horse was voided, a more frequent occurrence over the past several years due to new rules in some jurisdictions.

In the event of a voided claim, a lower-case “v” followed by a dash will precede the claiming price in the conditions for the race in the running line. For example, if the claim was voided in a $25,000 race for 4-years-old and up, the condition would read, “4↑ Clm v-25000.”

The notation will indicate that a horse was claimed in the race for the price set by the race and the conditions, but that the claim was ultimately voided, with the horse returned to the previous trainer and owner.

The lower-case “v” will appear in the same location used to denote whether a horse was claimed, a notation that uses a lower-case “c.”

In almost all states, stewards can void claims for errors on paperwork relating to the claim. In addition, in the past several years, some major racing states, including California, Kentucky, Maryland, and New York, have adopted rules allowing for voided claims when a horse does not finish a race, is placed on the veterinarian’s list as a result of the race, or fails a post-race drug test. The rules also frequently allow for voided claims when a horse dies during the race.

In the first two months of new rules being put in place in California for voided claims early in 2013, 19 of 229 claims were voided. The rules have since been modified slightly.

Charts for the races in which a horse’s claim is voided will be amended to denote the stewards’ decision along with the recorded reason for the voided claim.