2027 HERITAGE PLACE FUTURITY, DERBY AND OAKS RACE CONDITIONS:
The nominator, owner, and owner’s agents and representative understand that Heritage Place, Racetrack or the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission (OHRC) may implement safety or animal welfare protocols or controls over pre-race activities, testing, surveillance, and on-grounds activities (“Protocols”) and agree to be bound by such Protocols. If Heritage Place deems it necessary for additional assistance in maintaining the integrity of this race all expenses for such assistance may be deducted from the gross purse.
Any prohibited medication positives will result in loss of eligibility to participate in trials or final as determined by the OHRC or OHRC Stewards. If pre-race examination or substance testing prior to or following a race is refused by owner or trainer of eligible horse and results in the horse being ineligible to participate, there will be no refund of payments. Eligible participants will be required to comply with all hair testing requirements included in these conditions.
1. ELIGIBLE HORSES: Quarter Horses, born in 2024 for Derby & Oaks or 2025 for Futurity, who are registered with American Quarter Horse Association, and which are owned or nominated by owners who agree to the conditions of this race(s) as follows, are eligible to enter the race. An owner may nominate as many horses as desired. If one or more nominations are withdrawn prior to the running of the trials, it is the owner’s responsibility to specify which horses are being withdrawn and which horses are to remain eligible when making payments. A copy of the registration certificate must be provided by the owner/nominator at time of nomination for the Derby and Oaks and no later than March 15 for the Futurity.
2. PAYMENTS: Except as provided herein, the failure to make all payments on or before the designated dates will result in a termination of the nomination and all prior nominating and sustaining payments will be forfeited. All payments must be postmarked no later than the due date and should be sent by registered or certified mail. The sender’s receipt must be date stamped by the United States Postal Service and presented as proof of mailing if date discrepancies occur. Postage metered dates will not be accepted if payments are not received by the due date. United States Postal Service date stamped metered mail will constitute evidence of mailing if dated, mailed, and stamped on or before due date. Any payments received more than ten days after the due date will not be accepted. Returned checks constitute no payment. All payments are non-refundable. Credit card payments will be subject to a 3.5% convenience fee.
3. LATE NOMINATIONS: Late nominations will be accepted through February 15, 2027. See Late Nomination deadlines and amounts on the respective Race flyer.
4. SUPPLEMENTARY NOMINATIONS: Supplementary nominations for eligible horses will be permitted prior to trial entry on payment of $25,000 Futurity, $12,500 Derby and Oaks by cashier’s check or other immediately available funds.
5. SUBSTANCE TESTING: As a condition for participation in this race, all horses nominated to the Heritage Place administered Futurity, Derby or Oaks (the “Races) will be subject to substance testing by the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission. Every entry for the trials associated with the Races must have a negative hair test for prohibited substances in accordance with the same pre-entry hair test requirements implemented by Racetrack. Additionally, the top 30 qualifiers for the Futurity and top 15 qualifiers for the Derby & Oaks, based on trial times, will be required to provide a negative hair test for prohibited substances, after the trials and before entry date for the final for such Races, in accordance with the same pre-entry hair test requirements implemented by Racetrack. A positive report for any prohibited substance or failure to present a horse(s) for testing at the published date and time will result in loss of eligibility to participate in trials or final of such Races. If a horse is declared ineligible for any reason, before entries close for the final or juvenile, the next fastest horse from the same day of trials as the ineligible horse will be moved up. If a qualifier to the Futurity, Derby or Oaks final dies or becomes injured and otherwise eligible to enter the final, that horse will receive last place money (this does not apply to a juvenile). Test results will be reported to the host track officials and notification of positives will be sent to the trainer of the nominated horse.
By submitting a signed nomination form for this race, by or on behalf of the owner of the nominated horse, the owner’s agents and representatives, and the owner’s heirs and assigns (including any future owner of the nominated horse) agrees to be subject to and abide by the results of the initial (commonly referred to as the “sample A test”) hair testing of the nominated horse and voluntarily and irrevocably waives the following:
a.) Any and all rights to have a secondary or split sample tested,
b.) Any and all rights to a hearing (whether formal, informal, by written submission or in-person) to contest the results of the initial test or the resulting denial of entry in the race, whether a trial race or final race,
c.) Any and all rights to contest, under any circumstances or grounds, the results of the initial test or the resulting denial of entry in the race, whether a trial race or final race,
d.) Any and all rights to challenge the results of the initial test or resulting denial of entry in the race, whether a trial race or final race, directly or indirectly, before any court or other tribunal; and
e.) By their entry into the race, all participants irrevocably waive any legal claim they might have against Heritage Place and/or OQHRA and Racetrack, its officers, executive committee members, or its employees arising from or related to the hair testing which is the subject of this paragraph.
A report of the result of an unofficial test submitted as a requirement of eligibility for entry is not admissible for any purpose in any OHRC proceeding arising from a positive report of an official test administered by OHRC.
Should any owner of a nominated horse, the owner’s agents and/or representatives, and the owner’s heirs and/or assigns file any action in a court of law or other tribunal contesting the Race Administrator and/or Racetrack’s decision to exclude a horse from the race despite their express waiver of the right to pursue such action, and the owner fails to obtain a final, appealable order in his or her favor, the owner shall pay the reasonable attorney fees of the Race Administrator and/or Racetrack incurred in defending any such action.
6. ENHANCED INTEGRITY AND ANIMAL WELFARE PROTOCOLS: In addition to the requirements set forth in Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission rules and these Race Conditions, any horse nominated to this race shall be subject to the following enhanced integrity protocols from nomination through completion of the final.
a. Out-of-Competition Testing. Blood, urine, hair, saliva, or any other biological sample may be collected at any time from nomination through completion of the final. Refusal to submit the requested sample shall result in immediate loss of eligibility and forfeiture of all nomination, sustaining, entry, and related fees.
b. Secured Detention or Observation Barn. Qualifiers may be required to be housed in a secured detention barn, observation barn, or similar facility designated by the Race Administrator or the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission. Security measures may include surveillance cameras, controlled access points, visitor logs, security personnel, stall monitoring, chain of custody procedures, and other integrity oversight measures deemed necessary to protect the integrity of the race. Participation in such security protocols shall be a condition of eligibility for the final.
c. Biological Monitoring. The Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission and/or the Race Administrator may establish baseline biological profiles or biological passports for nominated horses. Material deviations from a horse’s established biological profile, as determined by the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission, may result in additional testing, veterinary examination, surveillance, or investigation, temporary ineligibility, disqualification, or any other condition established by the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission or Board of Stewards.
d. Advanced Scientific Testing. Horses may be subject to gene-doping screening, blood manipulation screening, erythropoiesis stimulating agent (ESA) testing, erythropoietin (EPO) testing, and any other scientifically accepted testing methodology available at the time of testing.
e. Post-Trial Veterinary Monitoring. Qualifiers may be required to undergo blood testing, including but not limited to complete blood count (CBC), chemistry panel, muscle enzyme analysis, cardiac biomarker testing, endocrine testing, thyroid testing, electrocardiogram (ECG), Kardia monitoring, echocardiography, or other diagnostic testing deemed necessary by the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission. Horses exhibiting abnormal findings may be subject to additional testing, veterinary review, temporary ineligibility, or other conditions established by the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission or Board of Stewards.
f. Positive Findings. Any positive finding for a prohibited substance by any racing jurisdiction beginning at the time of original nomination payment through the running of the race may result in loss of eligibility, disqualification, forfeiture of purse monies, forfeiture of nomination and sustaining payments, forfeiture of awards, and any additional sanctions authorized by Oklahoma Law.
g. Return of Awards. As a condition of nomination, owners agree to return any trophy, buckle, blanket, or purse monies awarded in connection with the race, or reimburse the race administrator for the reasonable replacement cost thereof, in the event of a subsequent disqualification.
7. SUSPENDED OR INELIGIBLE PERSONS: No person who is suspended, excluded, denied privileges, or otherwise declared ineligible by the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission or any recognized racing jurisdiction may nominate a horse, make a sustaining payment, enter a horse, or otherwise act on behalf of a horse in connection with this race while such suspension, exclusion, denial of privileges, or ineligibility is in effect.
Any nomination, sustaining payment, or entry submitted by or through a suspended, excluded, denied, or ineligible person while such status is in effect shall be rejected and the horse shall be ineligible unless and until all race conditions have been satisfied by an eligible person within the applicable deadlines.
For purposes of this provision, eligibility shall be determined on the date the nomination, sustaining payment, or entry is submitted.
8. ENTRY: Entries in all races must be made through the entry box at Racetrack Racing Office by the closing time for entries in that race. Nominations to the race do not guarantee the availability of stalls at Racetrack Race Track for nominated horses.
9 TIME TRIALS: Racetrack and Heritage Place will determine if there are enough entries to conduct one or two days of trials based on possible number of entries for the trials. Horses shall qualify based on time and order of finish. If two days are required, the trials will be split by a “draw” and run on two separate days. Qualifiers will be determined by taking the 5 fastest times on each day of the trials for the finals. If the trials are all run in one day, then the 10 fastest times will be used to select the qualifiers for the final. Times will be determined only to the limit of the timer, the only exception is when two or more horses have the same exact time in the same trial heat. Then the order of finish shall also determine the preference in qualifying for the final. Except in the case of a disqualification, under no circumstances shall a horse qualify ahead of a horse that finished ahead of that horse in the official order of finish. Should a horse be disqualified for interference during the running of a time trial, it shall receive the time of the horse it is immediately placed behind plus one hundredth (1/100) of a second, or to the maximum accuracy of the electronic timing device. No adjustments shall be made in the times recorded in the time trials to account for head wind, tail wind, off-track, etc. In the event of a timer malfunction of a trial race, the stewards will use the technological aide of video frame by frame analysis to assign times to each participating horse in that trial. Every qualifier eligible to enter the final will be required to remain on the grounds and stabled in the barn area of the racetrack after the trials and until the running of the final.
a. TIES IN TIME TRIALS: If only one day of trials is conducted and a tie for the 10th fastest time occurs, qualifiers will be determined by lot as provided by the Racing Commission Rules of Racing (Pari-Mutuel). If two days of trials are conducted the five fastest qualifiers from each day will advance to the final. If a tie occurs for the 5th fastest time at the end of trials for that day, the final position will be determined by lot between all horses with that time. If a horse is withdrawn, scratched, or deemed ineligible for any reason after the time trials and before entry for the final (or juvenile, if applicable) only a horse that ran in the time trials on the same day is eligible to move into that specific horse’s position. A horse from the other day of time trials (if there were two days) is not eligible to move into that position. The final and each trial will consist of a field of no more than ten horses.