Rules Governing Horse Racing in Arkansas, 23 CAR pt. 357 (Winnings, 23 CAR § 357-601 et seq.)
Department of Finance and Administration · Arkansas Racing Commission
- Status
- Reviewed by ALC
- Citation
- 23 CAR pt. 357
- Comment deadline
- Oct 7, 2025
- Public hearing
- Oct 8, 2025
- ALC review
- Nov 20, 2025 · item C.4.a · ALC Administrative Rules
- Effective
- —
The proposed amendment to 23 CAR §357-611(c)(1) would amend the existing Arkansas Racing Commission (ARC) first waiver claiming rule to change the required layoff time from 60 to 120 days to be able to declare a horse ineligible to be claimed in the horse’s first race back after a layoff. This would align the Arkansas rule with the rule in other jurisdictions operating under federal HISA guidelines and avoid confusion with a conflicting rule. This would further better follow the intent of the rule to only allow owners of horses that have been off for an extended period of time to qualify for the claiming waiver, especially in light of the fact there is a second waiver possibly available in the horse’s second race back after a layoff. The proposed amendment to 23 CAR §357-611(u) would repeal the claiming preference rule so a horse owner would no longer be awarded a claiming preference (in future claiming shakes/draws) if the owner’s horse is claimed. The existing claiming preference rule has resulted in larger operations with many horses participating in claiming races ending up with numerous claiming preferences, while smaller operations with fewer horses being claimed end up with only a few or none, possibly resulting in some unfairness in the claiming process. The claiming preference was enacted several years ago and was not a part of traditional horse racing claiming rules. Accordingly, the proposed rule would repeal the claiming preference and basically revert to the more traditional claiming rule before the claiming preference was enacted.
A public hearing was held on October 8, 2025, and public comment period expired October 7, 2025. The agency indicated that it received no public comment.
Experimental. Compiled from public records; inaccuracies may occur. Verify with official sources.