NYRA institues new entry, safety protocols

The New York Racing Association will institute a number of new entry and safety protocol changes at the upcoming Belmont Park spring/summer meet that begins June 3.

The NYRA has altered the waiver-claiming rule to allow a trainer to designate a horse exempt from being claimed if it has not started since March 16, 2020, as long as its entered for a price equal to or greater than it last started. Previously, the waiver-claiming rule was in effect for horses who hadn’t started in 180 days or longer.

A trainer must declare the horse exempt from being claimed at time of entry and the waiver rule can only be applied for the horse’s first start.

Second, in all overnight races, no same trainer entry will be allowed to draw into the body of a race to the exclusion of a different trainer entrant. At time of entry, a trainer must designate a “different owner first choice” and “a different owner second choice.”

Stakes races are excluded from this rule. A different owner second entry (DO2) is preferred over a same owner second entry (SO2).

There will be new rules for horses coming off layoffs.

Horses that have not started in more than 180 days, but fewer than 365 days, will be placed on the veterinarian’s list and must be examined by a NYRA vet prior to racing. Horses that have not started in more than 365 days are automatically placed on the vet’s list and must satisfy the same requirements as others placed on a vet’s list for soundness issues, including a blood test and a work in front of a vet.

A horse making its first career start in its 4-year-old season after Feb. 1 will automatically be placed on the vet’s list and must satisfy the same requirements as other horses placed on the vet’s list for soundness issues.

According to a NYRA release, these new protocols have been put in place to ensure trainers/owners are equitably represented in the entries due to the lengthy suspension of live racing on the NYRA circuit due to the coronavirus pandemic.

◗ Training at Belmont will return to seven days a week starting May 31. Training had been shut down on Sundays since March 29.