Do I get my money back?

[njcurveball]

I am curious what happens when a horse is claimed out of a race it tests positive? I pretty much expect the answer is "tough $hit!". But what if the horse dies during the race? I think the rule is that once the gate opens the horse is yours.

I haven't checked to see if this horse ran back. I hope the new owners have made some money off it!

Article below courtesy of the Blood Horse

Trainer Mitchell Faces Procaine Hearing

Date Posted: September 14, 2008
Last Updated: September 14, 2008

Trainer Mike Mitchell has an Oct. 11 hearing with stewards at Santa Anita Park on a complaint filed against him by the California Horse Racing Board charging medication violations for the use of procaine on one of his horses.

The local anesthetic was found in an amount that exceeded the allowable legal threshold in a test sample taken from a horse in Mitchell's care that raced at Del Mar on Aug. 3, a CHRB statement said. The finding was made by the Maddy Laboratory at the University of California-Davis, and confirmed by Truesdail Laboratories. The horse, Scat Thief, finished third in the seventh race.

According to the CHRB, procaine is found in procaine penicillin G, a commonly administered antibiotic. For this reason, procaine is a Class 3 violation rather than a Class 2 transgression, as are most other anesthetics.

[DanG]

I am curious what happens when a horse is claimed out of a race it tests positive? I pretty much expect the answer is "tough $hit!". But what if the horse dies during the race? I think the rule is that once the gate opens the horse is yours.

Tough to say Jim, it sounds like it would be settled by the amount you’re willing to spend on attorney fees.

On the positive front: California on a whole is making serious strides on the “medication” front imo. Most who play there full time say the wild 'jump ups are less frequent and the number of serious ‘move-up trainers has been reduced. (Although not eliminated of course as the name you sighted is a “person of interest” :p as the crime shows say)

What a novelty…actually progress in our industry! :eek:

[tomcat]

Suppose you spent big money at a 2yr old in training auction only to discover the horse you bought was on drugs?
Or suppose you bid big money on a horse that various physical problems, and you discovered that it could run?

Remember the old adage "buyer beware".??

No wonder we have courts, lawyers, etc.

[Mayo]

The rule in most all states is the claim for a horse has to be in the claim box with the money on deposit 10 minutes before post. If there are multiple claims in for the same horse (which is very common) then they do a shake (draw) from the claim box and the name drawn wins the claim. Some tracks do this before the race and some other jurisdictions do it after the race.

One thing is common among all jusridictions is once the gate opens the horse is the property of the person who claimed it. If the horse drops dead or gets injured during the race that is tough luck on the new owner. If the horse wins the race or finishes in the prize money, that money is the property of the previous owner. It the horse wins and is later found to have a bad drug test then that is on the old trainer who entered the horse in the race. The new owner and trainer are not liable.

One other item that has occurred is if a horse is entered in a race and has claims in for it, the horse must race in that race. If it gate scratches or is for some reason declared a non-starter then the claims are void.

As a previous owner (with the emphasis on previous) for 10 years I have personally experienced most all of the above situations. So as Tomcat previously stated "BUYER BEWARE" is ever so true when comes to the claiming game. Also, remember most owners do not sell a good horse via the claim box unless it is injured or the owner is in dire financial trouble and needs quick cash. If the latter happens, most all of the backside will know it and there will be multiple claims in for the horse.

Hope this helps

Mayo