Licence Application System FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Welcome to the Horse Racing Alberta Online Application FAQ page. This section is designed to provide answers to frequently asked questions about navigating and utilizing the Horse Racing Alberta Online Application system. If you require further assistance or cannot find the information you are seeking, please contact our Licensing Clerk, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at 587-416-5455 during office hours.

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The Rules Governing Horse Racing in Alberta, Alberta Horse Racing Rules, Chapter 2: Licensing Rules, Part 2 Racing Participants: Designation and Licensing, Division 4 Jockeys and Apprentice Jockey's Licensees, is AMENDED as follows:

86 t Suspension or revocation of jockey's licenses

(4) If a jockey is suspended for what the stewards board considers to be a minor infraction the jockeys may ride in stakes races if their engagement slips are properly completed, have been filed with the racing secretary no later than the closing of nomination for a particular stakes race. Slips must be first call, signed by both parties and state the horses's name. The jockey may ride in the stakes race under the following conditions:

(a)   A day in which the suspended jockey participates in one stakes race counts as a suspension day;

(b)   A day in which a suspended jockey participates in more than one stakes race does not count as a suspension day, and the suspension is extended one day for each date on which the jockey participates in more than one stakes race.

Rule 86 t (4) previously stated: If a jockey is suspended for what the stewards board considers to be a minor infraction, and the jockey has engagement slips, properly completed, on file with the racing secretary's office at leaset 7 days before a stake race, the jockey may ride in the stakes race under the following conditions.

Dated at the City of Edmonton
in the Province of Alberta this
3rd day of May, 2014

Doug Fenske
Manager of Racing Supervision and Security
 

Download the original pdf version here

Penalty Guidelines Used for Equine Drug and TCO₂ Offences

Effective May 15, 2022

Application of the Guidelines

• The Guidelines and the assessment of the penalty are intended to have retrospective effect. That is to say, Horse Racing Alberta and/or its representatives will consider offences that occurred prior to January 1, 2004 for the purposes of assessing a penalty as a second or subsequent offence under these Guidelines. These revised Guidelines do not have the effect of “wiping the slate clean” for offences before January 1, 2004.
• The suggested penalties (suspension and fines) are for minimum penalties only. Suspensions of longer duration could be assessed.
• Horse Racing Alberta and/or its representatives may exercise discretion in interpreting the Guidelines and assessing penalties, but will consider all prior offences, in and outside of Alberta, involving any drug, medication, bicarbonate (TCO₂) or any other substance prohibited by rule or law. Although all prior offences may be considered in determining the appropriate penalty, the penalties for second and subsequent offences suggested in these Guidelines are based on:

1. The assumption that the previous offence(s) being considered were in the same class of drug and
2. The date of conviction or ruling for the previous offence(s) occurred within the last 3 years.

• For second or subsequent offences which occurred within the last 3 years but in a different class of drug, Horse Racing Alberta and/or its representatives will exercise discretion in assessing the penalty by considering the following:

1. The number and class(es) of all previous offences,
2. The time frame between offences, and
3. Any mitigating circumstances

• For the purposes of these guidelines a positive sample for EPO or any other blood or gene doping agent, synthetic or otherwise, shall be considered a Class 1 offence.
• For the purpose of these Guidelines, a TCO₂ offence is considered a Class 3 drug. A second or subsequent offence involving a TCO₂ positive test shall result in the maximum penalty being levied based upon the Guidelines.
• For the purpose of these guidelines, a positive sample for anabolic steroids shall be considered a Class 4 offence.
• In the event of multiple offences of the same substance occurring to different horses of the same trainer, any subsequent positive sample detected prior to the confirmation of the initial positive sample may be treated as a multiple offence, but the penalty may be:

  A)   treated as a first offence or
  B)   a second or subsequent offence

• Suspension periods are full suspensions as described in the Rules of Racing.
• Regardless of the penalty imposed, the horse in question will be disqualified and the purse money redistributed.
• “Class” of drugs is based upon the Uniform Classification Guidelines for Foreign Substances, published by the Association of Racing Commissioners International.

Doug Fenske

Manager of Racing Supervision & Security
Horse Racing Alberta

Download updated 2022 pdf document here