Edmund Burns

A proposed change to claiming rules in New York would double the time that a claimed horse must refrain from racing outside the state, from 30 to 60 days. In addition, in an effort to make it easier to acquire Thoroughbreds via claims, another proposed change would extend time periods for owners to be eligible to claim horses. Those measures, plus several other tweaks to the "Who may make claim" rule 4038.1, were advanced by the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) at Thursday's monthly meeting. There was zero discussion...

Thoroughbreds in New York would be required to pass a health check 72 hours prior to a race or workout if a new rule proposed Monday by the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) gets adopted after passing a public commentary period and a final vote by the commission at a future meeting. The proposal that got put into the pipeline by unanimous voice vote after zero discussion among commissioners on Monday would require a trainer's attending veterinarian to conduct the 72-hour fitness exams. These health checks would be in...

The New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) advanced a Thoroughbred claiming rules proposal Monday that would address the voiding of claims and ineligible potential claimants, establish procedures for resolving challenges to claims, and outline a specific procedure for horse custody if the stewards discover a claimant had been ineligible. The proposal passed by unanimous voice vote with no discussion or debate among commissioners. The full text of the amended rules will now be published in the New York State Register. After a public commentary period, the NYSGC will reconvene to...

Sixteen months after a widely criticized rule forcing the pari-mutuel coupling of married jockeys cost an estimated $4.2 million in handle loss at Aqueduct Racetrack, the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) on Wednesday finally voted in a rule change that resolved a bureaucratic logjam by changing four words in a regulation that is about 50 years old. So after nearly a year and a half of the rule resulting in truncated field sizes, being widely bemoaned by the betting public, and being termed as sexist by critics because it...

The New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) uninimoulsy voted to adopt two Thoroughbred-related medication rule changes at its May 17 meeting, although the exact timetable for implementation was not discussed. Pending official adoption of the new rule, clenbuterol use in Thoroughbred racing will be regulated so it follows the model rule proposal of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC). "Clenbuterol, a drug that is ordinarily used in horses as a bronchodilator to treat horses with lower airway disease, also causes a horse's body to build more muscle and reduce...