19619. (a) Since the purpose of this chapter is to encourage agriculture and the breeding of horses in this state, a California Standardbred Sires Stakes Program is hereby established for standardbred horses bred in the State of California.
(b) Horses eligible to race in the California Standardbred Sires Stakes Program shall be the offspring of a registered California standardbred stallion standing in California during an entire breeding season, or the offspring of a registered standardbred stallion standing in Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, or Wisconsin, or the Province of Alberta, Canada.
(c) (1) Responsibility for the California Standardbred Sires Stakes Program is with the board. Administration of the California Standardbred Sires Stakes Program is the responsibility of the California Standardbred Sires Stakes Committee. The committee shall consist of five members and one alternate selected from and by the California Harness Horsemen’s Association.
(2) Administrative expenses of the committee in any given year shall not exceed 4 percent of that year’s income to the California Standardbred Sires Stakes Program, and all expenses shall be approved by the board.
(d) The board may do all that is necessary to ensure that the California Standardbred Sires Stakes Program is appropriately administered and shall prepare, issue, and adopt rules and regulations providing for all of the following:
(1) Classes and divisions of races, eligibility of horses and owners therefor, and prizes and awards to be awarded.
(2) Nominating, sustaining, and entry fees for horses and races.
(3) Registration and certification of California stallions, mares bred to those stallions, and foals produced thereby.
(4) Any other matter that is considered to be necessary and appropriate for the proper administration and implementation of the California Standardbred Sires Stakes Program.
(e) The funds for the California Standardbred Sires Stakes Program made available pursuant to Section 19491.7 and the nominating, sustaining, and entry fees provided for in this section shall be deposited with the California Standardbred Sires Stakes Committee. The committee shall distribute the funds deposited with it in accordance with this section for the purposes of the program in the manner approved by the board.
(f) Pursuant to Section 19491.7, the breakage used to fund the California Standardbred Sires Stakes Program and to increase purses shall be divided in accordance with the following criteria:
California Standardbred
Sires Stakes Program
Purses
1977 ........................
10%
90%
1978 ........................
20%
80%
1979 ........................
25%
75%
1980 ........................
50%
50%
January 1 to June 30, 1981 ........................
75%
25%
July 1, 1981, and thereafter ........................
100%
0%
(g) An amount equal to 10 percent of the total purses raced for in the California sires stakes races shall be awarded to the standardbred breeders of the horses that earned purse money in the California standardbred sires stakes races in proportion to the amount of purse money earned by each horse.
(h) An amount equal to 2 percent of the total purses raced for in the California sires stakes races shall be awarded to the owners of the registered California standardbred stallions that sired horses that earned purse money in the California standardbred sires stakes races in proportion to the amount of purse money earned by each horse so sired.
(i) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), the board may establish a series of races for two-year-old and three-year-old fillies that are wholly owned by a California resident on the first day of January of the year that they become two years old and are wholly owned by a California resident on the day of the race.
(j) The balance of the remaining funds, including nominating, sustaining, and entry fees, and after the expenditures described in subdivisions (e), (g), (h), and (i) have been made, shall be allocated to purses for races comprising the California Standardbred Sires Stakes Program.
(k) The schedule of races that shall comprise the California Standardbred Sires Stakes Program during each year shall be set by the board in accordance with the following criteria:
(1) California standardbred sires stakes races shall be scheduled for two-year-old or three-year-old trotters and two-year-old and three-year-old pacers at the discretion of the California Standardbred Sires Stakes Committee, except that no two-year-old races shall be held before the first day of June of any year. Races for four-year-old or aged trotters and four-year-old or aged pacers may also be scheduled.
(2) Base purses for each set of races conducted during any given year at any race meeting shall be determined by the committee.
(3) In each division of each race in the California standardbred sires stakes races, the purse shall be divided in the following manner:
1st ........................
50%
2nd ........................
25%
3rd ........................
12%
4th ........................
8%
5th ........................
5%
(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 561, Sec. 9. (AB 1516) Effective January 1, 2018.)