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Adopt Eligibility Rule For Maryland Majors Horses Racing for Purses Under ,500 Must Haye Been in Money BALTIMORE, Md., June 10. Adoption of a new eligibility rule which will affect horses racing at Laurel, Pimlico and Bowie, was announced today by the recently formed Maryland Racing Council. The rule, which will bemused this fall at the Maryland mile tracks, follows: "Any horse three years old and up running a race carrying a purse less than ,500, since July 1 prior to the opening of a meeting on any of the Maryland mile tracks, will be ineligible to be entered in any race at Bowie, Laurel or Pimlico, unless said horse has finished first, second or third in a race carrying a purse of ,500 or more since July 1 prior to the opening of any meeting at a Maryland mile track." The Maryland Racing Council is composed of representatives of Bowie, Laurel and Pimlico, the Maryland Breeders Association, the Maryland minor tracks association, the Horsemens Benevolent and Protective Association, and the American Trainers Association. The new eligibility rule was unanimously adopted after careful study by the various groups in the Council. Later the rule was also approved by the Maryland Racing Commission. The rule replaces the so-called ",000" rule which had been used in Maryland since 1951. This rule made horses ineligible after starting for a claiming price, of less than ,000. A spokesman for the Council said that the new rule was adopted in order to thin out the great amount of entries in the ,500 claiming races at the Maryland mile tracks, where at times this past spring a horse required six or more preference stars before getting a chance to race.
