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    • Criteria for Consideration
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• Graded Stakes Races

Criteria for Consideration for Grading

To aid the Committee in determining which races should be considered for grading, the Committee has adopted the following crite¬ria for screening American races:

Purse requirement – A race is not considered for grading unless it is scheduled to have a total purse value (excluding state-bred supplements) of at least $75,0000 for eligibile, ungraded, $100,000 for Grade III, $150,000 for Grade II, and $250,000 for Grade I.

Drug testing – A race is not considered for grading unless the testing performed on the samples collected from the horses selected from the race meets or exceeds the guidelines in the committee’s drug testing protocol.

Longevity – Races are not graded unless they have had two previous runnings under fundamentally the same conditions, for the same division of horses, and meeting the minimum purse requirements.

Restricted races – Races may be ineligible for grading if conditions for competing in them include restrictive provisions relative to which horses may enter, other than by sex or age. A race is regarded as a restricted race if (1) any of its conditions for entry would tend to exclude better horses while allowing par¬ticipation by lesser horses, or (2) the race contains any preference clauses that are based on criteria other than the quality of horses unless such preference applies only in determining the preference of horse deemed to be of equal quality (i.e. horses assigned equal weight in a high-weights preferred race).

Invitational races – Not all invitational races carry all the strict definitions of stakes race entry fees, but are eligible for grading if the added or guaranteed money meets the minimum purse requirements and the race satisfies all other criteria.

Changes in conditions by racetrack management – If a graded or eligible race is altered materially in age, sex, eligibility, racetrack location, or purse, or is substantially changed on the calendar, this will prompt a review and may result in a change in grade. (If it is regarded as a new race, it must be run two years before it can be considered for grading.) If a race is not run for two or more years, it is ineligible for grading. If a race is scheduled to be moved from dirt to turf or vice versa, or if its distance is altered (a) by more than one-quarter mile, or (b) from sprint distance (less than one mile) to route distance (one mile or greater) or vice versa, it will be considered a new race and is ineligible for grading until run twice under the new conditions. However, the Committee will review any such change and may decide to restore a race’s eligibility. Stakes races that are eligible for grading must appear in the track's published stakes book. “Overnight” races are not eligible for grading.

Forced changes in track surface and splitting of races – A race which has been given a grade is not penalized for that running if it is split into divisions (unless the total purse for all divisions is less than 150% of the original purse). If turf course conditions prompt its being changed to a non-grass course after the close of nominations, the race is automatically downgraded by one grade level for that running only; however, the Committee will review the race within five (5) days of its running and may restore its prior grade for that running.