MAINE, April 18 - Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry

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Date: April 18, 2023

Start Time:

Location: Room 101, Deering Building, 90 Blossom Lane, Augusta, Maine OR Microsoft Teams

Meeting description/purpose:

Proposed Rulemaking for Chapter 1, Administration; Chapter 3, Officials and Track Personnel

Principal Reason(s) or Purpose for Proposing these Rules:

Chapter 1

• Definitions, Sec. 1. Adding and modifying definitions for Commission Veterinarian, Licensed Agricultural Fair, Trainer of Record, and Racing Officials.
• Rules of Construction, Sec. 2. Adding Situations not addressed by a Rule, which proposes that the Commission will reference the USTA rule book when MHRC rules do not address any situation.
• State Steward, Sec 4. Providing that the State Steward shall act as the Presiding judge at all races.
• Sulky Approval, Sec 9. Changing this section to the current USTA Sulky requirements.
• Judge Licensing Requirements, Sec. 10. Gives requirements for Associate Judge and Presiding Judge licensure and requires continuing education to stay current with that license.
• General Provisions, Sec. 13. Changes registration certificate to electronic eligibility.
• Eligibility To Race in Maine, Sec. 14. Allows horses 15 Years old eligible to race under certain conditions.
• Licensing a Commission Veterinarian, Sec 17. Requires all veterinarians to hold a valid MSHRC license to be considered a Commission Veterinarian and under the umbrella of the Commission.
• Postmortem Examination, Sec. 20. Gives the power to the Commission Veterinarian and the State Steward to decide whether a horse that has expired at a racetrack needs a postmortem examination.

Chapter 3

• Officials employed by associations, Sec 2. Removes Patrol Judge and adds Starter/Patrol Judge for this is one person. Presiding Judge is removed from this list as the State Steward will act as the Presiding Judge at race meets.
• Official's restrictions, Sec 4. Changes restrictions on officials to a specific race, and not an entire race day when there is a conflict of interest.
• Judge's Duties, Sec. 5. Adds Commission Veterinarian, Race Secretary, and Starter/Patrol Judge to the list of positions under the supervision of the Presiding Judge. It also eliminates 10-day Gate security and Patrol Judge.

Language has been added for an Associate Judge to act as the Presiding Judge if for any reason the Presiding Judge is unable to perform his duties.

• Track Conditions, Sec. 5. Allows a participant who wishes not to race on a questionable surface to be excused by the Presiding Judge.
• Presiding Judge and Associate Judges. Sec. 5. Changes the language for a No Contest to focus more on safety and extraordinary circumstances.
• Duties of the Race Secretary, Sec. 6. Makes the Race Secretary accountable to the Presiding Judge for his performance.
• Starter/Patrol Judge, Sec. 8. Changes Starting Judge to Starter/Patrol Judge and adds the responsibilities of the Patrol Judge to this section.
• Horse Identifier, Sec. 10. Adds language requiring the person to read a microchip to identify a horse and requires identifying horses prior to entering the track for the post parade.

Gate Security, Sec. 17. Adds language that requires persons seeking admission to the paddock present a valid license when necessary.

The proposed changes above will promote and ensure the efficiency and integrity of racing meets.

The proposed changes will be beneficial to the Harness Racing Industry by means of using the United States Trotting Association rules and changing language in the MSHRC rules to make the existing rules more definite for both the participants, as well as the officials. The changes are to keep current with the more modern technology that is available such as microchipping and freeze branding. The proposed rules also give definition to official's positions and added responsibilities.

Public Comment Hearing

On May 16, 2023, at 9:00 A.M. in Room 101 of the Deering Building, 90 Blossom Lane, Augusta, Maine, and via video conference.

OR

Send comments to Shane Bacon, shane.bacon@maine.gov.

Public Comment Deadline: May 30, 2023 at 5PM.

Related documents (if any):
Note: Some documents are provided in Microsoft Word format (MS Word). Download the free Word Viewer if you do not have Microsoft Word on your computer. Rich Text Format (RTF) documents may be viewed in any word processing software.

Chapter 1 with Proposed Rulemaking Changes (PDF)

Chapter 3 with Proposed Rulemaking Changes (PDF)

For further information, contact:

Name: Carol Gauthier

Phone: (207) 287-3221