Virginia Law

The responsibility for claiming the weight penalties and weight allowances shall rest with the trainer. The following provisions shall apply to penalties and allowances:

1. Penalties are obligatory;

2. Allowances are optional as to all of the allowance or any part thereof;

3. Allowances must be claimed at the time of entry and cannot be waived after the closing of entries, except by permission of the stewards;

4. A horse shall start with only the allowance of weight to which it is entitled at the time of starting, regardless of the allowance it was entitled to at the time of entry;

5. Horses incurring penalties for a race shall not be entitled to any allowances, with the exception of age, sex or apprentice, for that race;

6. An apprentice allowance may be claimed only in overnight races and cannot be claimed in a stakes or handicap race;

7. Horses not entitled to the first allowance in a race shall not be entitled to any subsequent allowance specified in the conditions;

8. Allowances are not cumulative, unless specified in the conditions of the race;

9. Failure to claim an allowance is not cause for disqualifying the horse;

10. A claim of an allowance to which a horse is not entitled shall not disqualify the horse unless the incorrect weight is carried by the horse in the race;

11. A protest that a claim of an allowance is incorrect must be made in writing and submitted to the stewards at least one hour before post time;

12. No horse shall incur a penalty or be barred from any race for having finished second or lower in any race;

13. No horse shall be given a weight allowance for failure to finish second or lower in any race;

14. No horse shall receive an allowance for not winning in one or more races, but maiden allowances and allowances to horses that have not won a race within a specified period or a race of a specified value are permissible;

15. Penalties incurred and allowances due in jump races shall not apply to races on the flat and vice versa;

16. No horse shall incur a penalty for a placing from which it was subsequently disqualified, but a horse earning a placing through the disqualification shall incur the penalty for that placement;

17. When a race is under appeal, the horse that finished first and any other horse, which may be moved into first place, shall be liable for all penalties attached to the winner until there has been a final determination;

18. Any error discovered in the assignment of any penalty or claim of any allowance may be corrected, with the permission of the stewards, until 45 minutes prior to post time;

19. In determining eligibility, allowances and penalties, the reports, records and statistics as published in the Daily Racing Form and its monthly chart books or any similar publication shall be considered official; and

20. In all races, except handicaps and races where the conditions expressly state otherwise, two-year-old fillies are allowed three pounds and fillies and mares three years old and upward are allowed five pounds before September 1 and three pounds thereafter.