At its upcoming Quarter Horse and Mixed-breed meeting, Remington Park will have new integrity policies in place.
Remington President Scott Wells said the track will use suspension lists provided by major racing organizations to prevent suspended horsemen from participating.
"We are committed to ensuring that the racing programs we conduct reflect the highest standards of safety and integrity," Wells said. "Toward that end, any horsemen on the suspended list from either the American Quarter Horse Association or The Jockey Club will not be allotted stalls, nor allowed to participate in any way at Remington Park."
Accordingly, the Remington Park racing office staff will not knowingly accept entries from any horsemen who are either on the suspended lists or who have unresolved positive test issues on Class 1 or Class 2 substances that have been confirmed in split sample testing (or which are uncontested) but not yet adjudicated by the ruling authority.
According to Wells, horsemen fitting these descriptions will not be permitted access to any part of Remington Park. In order for any horse to receive a preference date, that horse's registration papers must be filed in the racing office in a timely manner by a trainer in good standing.
In an additional effort to ensure the highest degree of safety for the horses and their jockeys, Remington Park, in cooperation with the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission, will be implementing a pre-race examination program. All horses entered in races at Remington will be subject to pre-race inspection at the discretion of the stewards or the official state veterinarian. All finalists for Futurity or Derby races will be examined as will all (Quarter Horse grade I) race participants, plus the horses from additional overnight races on each program.
The procedure for identifying the overnight races that will be subject to inspection for each racing program will be to randomly draw specific races which will be subject to examination. These races will be identified by the stewards at the conclusion of the draw for each racing program. The race numbers will be listed on the overnight so those horsemen will have adequate time to ensure their arrival at the track not less than four hours prior to the first post of that day's or evening's program. Officials may identify and select, at their discretion, additional horses and will notify the trainers of those horses to present them for examination.
"Remington Park is committed to having the finest meet in the nation, both in terms of purse money and the quality of racing we present for our fans," Wells said, "and we are very appreciative of the leadership of the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission in implementing these new policies. We are also grateful to the OQHRA and the AQHA as we all work together to ensure that Oklahoma's horse racing meets the highest possible standards."
