Powers and duties of the Commission
- Section 2 authorizes the Commission on Races to prescribe additional rules and regulations governing the operation of race-tracks and the conduct of horse-racing, subject to approval of the Secretary of the Interior and not inconsistent with the Act.
- Section 2 requires the Commission to enforce laws, rules, and regulations relating to horse-races.
- Section 2 requires the Commission to approve all rules and regulations issued by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office or any other entity affecting all horse-races held by them.
- Section 2 requires the Commission to require that race-tracks be properly constructed and maintained.
- Section 2 requires adequate sanitary accommodations in tracks, grandstands, stables, and other structures of racing clubs.
- Section 2 requires an equipped emergency clinic for the care and treatment of injuries and ailments of jockeys and track personnel.
- Section 2 directs the Commission to prohibit the use of improper devices, drugs, stimulants, or other means used to artificially enhance speed or materially harm horses.
- Section 2 grants supervision over race-track or racing club officials and employees and over all horse-races—whether connected with sweepstakes or otherwise—authorized to be held by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office or any other entity.
- Section 2 authorizes the Commission to exercise other powers and duties prescribed later by law or regulations.
Licensing requirement and license control
- Section 3 makes it unlawful for any person, race-track, racing club, or other entity to hold or conduct horse-racing with betting in any form unless duly licensed by the Commission on Races.
- Section 3 requires every license to specify:
- the person, race-track, racing club, or entity issued;
- the place, enclosure, or track where races will be held; and
- the days when races are permitted.
- Section 3 allows the Commission to suspend or revoke a license for any just cause.
Permitted racing days and reservations
- Section 4 allows private individuals and entities licensed by the Commission to hold horse races on Sundays not reserved under the Act.
- Section 4 allows races on twenty-four Saturdays as determined by the Commission.
- Section 4 permits races on legal holidays except Thursday and Friday of Holy Week, July fourth (commonly known as Independence Day), and December thirtieth (commonly known as Rizal Day).
- Section 4 reserves:
- the second Sunday and the first Saturday afternoon of each month for races held by the Philippine Anti-Tuberculosis Society;
- the fourth Sunday of February, April, June, August, October, and the third Sunday of December for races held by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office;
- the fourth Sunday of January, May, July, and September and the second Saturday afternoon of January, April, July, and October for races held by White Cross, Inc.;
- the fourth Sunday of March for the national race, the Grand Derby Race, held by the Philippine Anti-Tuberculosis Society.
- Section 4 reserves other Saturday afternoons for races authorized by the President for charitable, relief, or civic purposes.
Racing officials and staffing
- Section 5 prohibits any private individual or entity from employing a jockey, starter, weigher, or any other official performing duties directly connected with the running of races unless the person is duly licensed by the Commission on Races.
- Section 5 requires licenses for these officials to be obtained yearly.
- Section 5 allows withdrawal or revocation if the Commission has reason to believe the person is incompetent, guilty of dishonest or fraudulent practice, or has violated any law, rule, or regulation on horse-racing.
- Section 5 allows charitable, relief, or civic organizations authorized to hold races to employ their own personnel to manage the races.
- Section 7 requires every person, race-track, racing club, or other entity holding horse-racing to appoint official starters.
- Section 7 provides that the stewards of the day designate a starter from among those appointed by the club to officiate in each race.
- Section 8 requires at least three stewards on each racing day, who may act as judges of finish.
- Section 8 assigns stewards duties to:
- supervise race conduct and enforce applicable rules;
- determine win, place, and show horses and render decisions in the order horses crossed the tape;
- use photo-finish in closely contested events and enforce penalties for offending jockeys, trainers, horse owners, track employees, or other persons connected with the races;
- perform other duties prescribed by the Commission.
- Section 9 requires every race-holder to employ at least one handicapper, who must keep records of registered horses (including owner, color, height, and identification characteristics), classify horses into groups/classes, record prior race weight, and prepare race programs for approval before publication.
- Section 10 requires the Commission to appoint field inspectors for each racing day to detect anomalies/irregularities and fraudulent or dishonest acts during races, report immediately to the stewards of the day, and have compensation fixed by the Commission subject to Presidential approval.
- Section 11 requires the Commission to appoint auditing officers and checkers to verify accuracy of reports on totalizator receipts, wager totals, dividends, and other financial computations, and to report irregularities or erroneous computations to the Commission; their compensation is fixed by the Commission subject to Presidential approval.
Jockey rules, quartering, and entries
- Section 12 prohibits any person holding horse-racing from allowing a person to ride as jockey unless the person has qualifications prescribed by the Commission on Races.
- Section 12 authorizes the Commission to permit gentlemen or lady riders without license in special events.
- Section 13 requires that before the start of races each day, all registered jockeys for that day be quartered in an assigned enclosure apart from the public.
- Section 13 prohibits jockeys from communicating with any persons in the race-tracks except authorized officials/representatives of the race-holder or officials of the Commission.
- Section 13 allows jockeys to come out of the enclosure only at the time of riding and requires them to remain until after their last race of the day.
- Section 14 provides that when two or more horses belonging to the same owner, or trained/cared for in one stable, are entered in the same race, they constitute an “entry” and are paired in betting as one horse; if any wins, holders of “entry” tickets receive the dividends.
- Section 14 provides that no horse may participate unless it carries a number and tickets are offered for sale on it.
- Section 14 authorizes handicappers, at their discretion, to group two or more horses in a “field” when they belong to different owners or are trained/cared for in different stables; when a “field” wins, all holders of “field” tickets receive the dividends corresponding to the “field.”
Betting mechanics and daily-double races
- Section 15 fixes totalizator ticket face values for wager at PHP 1, PHP 2, or PHP 5, for win, place, or show.
- Section 15 provides that dividends are computed based on ticket face value.
- Section 15 requires payment of dividends after eliminating fractions of ten centavos (e.g., a dividend computed as PHP 10.98 pays PHP 10.90).
- Section 15 requires, if no ticket has been sold on a winning horse (win/place/show), dividends for that race go to holders of tickets sold on horses that finished dead heat, or on the horse that finished next to the horse on which no ticket was sold.
- Section 15 entitles the owner of the winning horse to the corresponding stake or prize.
- Section 16 allows daily-double events if authorized by the Commission on Races under its rules and regulations.
- Section 17 requires announcements before starting the first race of a daily-double event through loud-speakers of:
- names of jockeys mounting each horse;
- weights on each horse;
- number of tickets sold on each horse; and
- total number of tickets sold on the race.
- Section 17 requires the same announcement process before the second race, except it must announce the number of tickets sold on each horse of the second race coupled with the winning horse of the first race.
- Section 17 requires submission to the Commission’s auditors of ticket stubs and other required betting information for verification.
- Section 18 requires the Commission to determine the running time for the first daily-double race depending on each racing-day’s circumstances, and requires the race-holder to announce the time to the public through loud-speakers at the selection time of races constituting the daily-double event.
- Section 18 requires the second daily-double race to be run not later than 45 minutes after the first race.
- Section 18 permits daily-double ticket sales only after the Commission or authorized representatives announce to the public the two races constituting each daily-double event.
- Section 18 requires posting at conspicuous bulletin boards of:
- the number of tickets sold on each horse in both races, and
- the totals thereof;
and requires loud-speaker communication of the same.
- Section 18 requires proper announcement of the closing of ticket sales by ringing a bell, after which no more tickets may be sold.
Allocation of receipts and special funds
- Section 19 requires distribution of total wager funds or gross receipts from pari-mutuel tickets as follows:
- 87½% distributed as dividends among holders of win, place and show horses in regular races; and
- 12½% set aside as the commission of the race-holder, including amounts for authorized stakes or prizes for win/place/show horses and authorized bonuses for jockeys.
- Section 19 provides that daily-double gross receipts are apportioned similarly, except 87½% of daily-double gross receipts is distributed as dividends among holders of the winning combination—the two horses that won first place in