Virginia Law

The licensee shall appoint a qualified person to act as racing secretary for the race meeting. The racing secretary shall be responsible for the conduct of the racing office and all of the licensee's employees who are assigned to the racing office. The racing secretary, and his assistant, if one is appointed, shall also be responsible for the programming of races during the race meeting and all of the duties pertaining to the programming of races. Among the duties of the racing secretary are:

1. Recruiting the highest possible quality of horses for the race meeting and assigning stall space to horses. The racing secretary shall submit the procedures and stall application forms to achieve a quality horse population no later than 60 days before the opening of the race meeting;

2. Receiving and keeping safe, with the assistance of the clerk of the course, registration or eligibility certificates of horses stabled within the enclosure or horses to be entered into races, and returning upon request the certificates to the horse owner or his representative;

3. Publishing at least 30 days prior to the opening of the race meeting and at intervals thereafter acceptable to the commission a condition book or sheet that sets forth the conditions and eligibility for horses to be entered into races for the meeting and distributing the book or sheet among owners, trainers and the commission;

4. Supervising the taking of entries for each day's races, verifying the eligibility, the accuracy of the information submitted with the entry and the weights claimed for the horses, where appropriate;

5. Coupling of entries for wagering purposes, as provided for in these regulations, and assigning horses to the mutuel field for wagering purposes in a manner approved by the stewards;

6. Maintaining a list of horses which were entered but denied an opportunity to race because they were excluded from a race programmed in the condition book or sheet either by overfilling or failure to fill the race. The racing secretary shall submit to the commission for approval, at least 30 days prior to the opening of the race meeting, a detailed description of the manner in which preference will be allocated to those horses excluded;

7. Posting a list of entries or an overnight sheet in a conspicuous location in the racing secretary's office, upon the closing of entries each day, and making available copies of the list of entries or overnight sheet to other racing officials, commission personnel, horsemen, members of the media and the public;

8. Maintaining, with the assistance of the clerk of the course, a permanent record of all stakes, entrance moneys and arrears paid or due, and depositing the moneys in an escrow account as provided in 11VAC10-20;

9. Publishing, with the assistance of the program director, a daily racing program accurately containing all of the information that is deemed appropriate to the type of racing being offered and any other information the commission may deem appropriate;

10. Assigning weights to be carried by each horse in a handicap race, and when weights are not specified by the conditions of the race, the scale of weights of either The Jockey Club or the National Steeplechase Association shall apply, as they are appropriate;

11. Keeping, with the assistance of the clerk of the course, permanent records of the results of each race of the meeting, and updating the registration or eligibility certificate with information deemed appropriate by the commission or the appropriate breed registry;

12. Informing the horsemen's bookkeeper of the results of each race as well as the amounts of purse moneys due and the parties to whom the purse moneys are due and, in general, supervising the account;

13. Posting a list in a conspicuous place in the racing secretary's office of those horses that have been nerved and those horses that have been gelded or spayed;

14. Maintaining, with the assistance of the stall superintendent, a list of the horses stabled within the enclosure, and maintaining a record of arrival and departure of all horses stabled within the enclosure;

15. Supervising the claims clerk in determining the eligibility of owners to claim other horses at the race meeting and whether sufficient funds exist in the horsemen's account or proper funding is available to make a valid claim; and

16. Withdrawing, cancelling or changing any race which has not closed. In the event the cancelled race is a stakes race, all subscriptions and fees paid in connection with the race shall be refunded.