North American Model Thoroughbred Owners' and Breeders' Association

NAMTOBA Club Rules

General Rules

As of January 1st, 2005, dues are $2 per year. Please send them to Amanda Selby.

All horses must be registered to race and be eligible for Year-End Awards.

Registration rules are outlined on the NAMTOBA Registration page.
Horses must be submitted in the proper form to Jeaninne Bergeron, the Registrar.

1. All horses must be purebred Thoroughbreds.
2. Registration numbers must be present on racecards, or the horse will be scratched.
3. Limit of two horses per owner per race.
4. A race must have at least two starters to be held, with the exception of graded stakes races. A graded stakes race with only one horse will be considered a walkover and will only receive 1/2 the points for that race. All other races should be cancelled.
5. Stakes races w/one entrant will be run as a walkover (at 1/2 the points). Undercards w/only one entrant will either be cancelled or combined with another race.
6. Race holders reserve the right to remove a horse from a race that it is not suited for and eithr place it in the appropriate race if there is one on the schedule, or scratch it.
7. Race holders reserve the right to accept entries up to any day they choose, but generally entries should be in by race day at noon.
8. Race holders MUST post a list of entrants to the club Yahoogroups prior to running a meet.
9. Results are posted on the club Yahoogroups list, and uploaded to the group files section.
10. Allowances/maidens/non graded races may be split into divisions (A & B) IF there are OVER 5 entries in the race. Raceholdes may split allowances as they desire.
11. Horses racing without the proper quarantine time (14 days) will be disqualified from the race by the steward and will not be allowed to race the following week as penalty.
12. Horses bred in the Southern hemisphere will not be permitted to race until the age of three (3) by Northern hemisphere standards Ex. A horse foaled in Argentina in 2000 would not have been eligible to race in the United States in 2003.
13. Graded races (and Sire's Series Finals) cannot be split under any circumstances. Entry limit for graded races is 14 starters. Should entries exceed 14 in number, the horses with the highest lifetime earnings will be selected to run in the race.
14. Raceholders are limited to four (4) entries at their own meets. They may enter any race(s) they desire, but may enter no more than four (4) horses. Exceptions include the TT, TC, DWC, SS Final and BC.
15. There are penalties if a member disobeys the rules, with the worst being a six-month suspension from racing.

Racing Rules

1. Horses must be placed in an appropriate race based on experience, age and gender. A detailed progression chart is available in the member's guide, and must be followed. Stewards reserve the right to remove a horse placed in the inappropriate race.
2. Two year-old (2yo) racers do not begin racing until May of their two year-old (2yo) seasons, usually the weekend after the Kentucky Derby.
3. A horse may race no more than two (2) times per month and no more than fifteen (15) times per year.
4. No horse shall race two (2) weeks in a row.
5. Qualifications for club Year-End Awards (YEA) may be found on the YEA page.
6. There is a two (2) week quarantine (fourteen (14) total days between starts) for horses shipping between Europe and the U.S.
7. The Model Sire's Series races are considered non-graded (NG) stakes. The Sire's Series has a seperate racing schedule and a Final (similiar to the Breeder's Cup) in Novemeber each year. As of 2005, Sire's Series races are restricted to horses with model parents (sire and dam) only.
8. Southern Hemisphere racing is restricted to horses foaled in the Southern Hemisphere (South America, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, etc). Horses may be imported to the Northern Hemisphere for racing, providing there is a 6-month period between a last start (if applicable) in their native country and first start in the U.S. Northern Hemisphere-born horses may not race in the Southern Hemisphere.
   1. Horses must finish 1st or 2nd in a maiden/allowance/Class level to start in a lower/non-graded stakes.
   2. Horses must finish 1st or 2nd in a lower graded/non-graded stakes to start in a G1 race.
9. The breeding season in the Southern Hemisphere is essentially opposite to the Northern Hemisphere. August 1 is the registry birthday and shuttle stallions are allowed, that is stallions standing in the Northern Hemisphere may "shuttle" and stand the Southern Hemisphere season.
10. Restricted races such as the Triple Crown, Triple Tiara, and Breeders' Cup races are free with yearly memberships.
    1. The Triple Crown consists of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes. The Triple Tiara consists of the Mother Goose, CCA Oaks, and Alabama Stakes. The Breeders' Cup consists of nine (9) races.
    2. Entries are limited to two (2) horses per owner.
    3. Qualification is by placing (1st - 3rd) in a G1 or G2 race.
    4. If the field is larger than the 14 horse max, horses will be ranked by number of G1/G2 wins and money earned.
11. Dubai World Cup meet:
    • DWC entrants must be G1 winners.
    • All entrants on the DWC card must have a 4 week (28 total days between starts) "quarantine" before and after the race.

If you decide to leave NAMTOBA or stop racing, please distribute your racing stock via giveaway or sale. If you decide to leave the pedigree assignment or model horse hobby, please distribute your breeding stock. It is customary to offer stock bred by others back to the breeder or to offer it for sale/givaway to members of that club. NAMTOBA and pedigree assignment is a time-consuming hobby, and no one's time and effort should go to waste if one leaves.