Turf Club publish important New Rules on the Laying of Horses
The Turf Club today has published a number of important new rules dealing with the laying of horses on betting exchanges or otherwise and on the subject of information, not in the public domain, which is used for the purposes of laying such horses. The rules significantly increase the powers of the Turf Club to investigate possible rule breaches and set out in greater detail what is prohibited.
As a result of the changes there will be prohibitions on anyone involved with the horse, in any way, to convey knowledge or information pertaining to the horses’ condition or wellbeing (which may negatively affect its likely performance or participation in any race and which is not in the public domain), where such person knows or ought reasonably to have known that such knowledge may be used to lay that horse to lose.
It will also be a breach of rules for anyone involved in horseracing to obtain and use such knowledge for the purposes of laying a horse.
Finally it will be a breach of rule for any person involved in horseracing who has knowledge of an intended breach of Rule 212(a) (Non Trier Rule) to lay such a horse to lose.
The Turf Club accepts that, in the context of an investigation, the issue of the provision of telephone records is a sensitive issue for some within the sport. The new rules specifically address this and provides a safeguard whereby every individual case will be reviewed independently before a request is made for telephone records.
Commenting on the introduction of the new rules, Turf Club Senior Steward, John McStay said that “one of the biggest threats to the integrity of racing comes from the laying of horses to lose on betting exchanges and it is imperative that we have comprehensive rules in place to deal with any breaches. The Turf Club has consulted widely with the various representative bodies and while they may not be supportive of all the elements of what is included, they all recognise the potential threats to the integrity of racing from the laying of horses on the exchanges. They accept the need for strong rules to deal with the issue and the potential for effective action to be taken for the benefit of racing as a whole”.
Editors Note:
1. The Turf Club will be holding a number of information seminars for industry participants to explain the importance of the rules and deal with any queries. The first of these seminars will take place on Tuesday 7th June at 2.30pm at the Turf Club, The Curragh, Co. Kildare. Attendance at this seminar is open to all industry participants. As places are limited, reservations to attend should be made in advance by contacting Michelle Byrne at 045-445600 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
2. A copy of all the relevant rules are attached .