Industry Notice: Understanding your standardbred traceability obligations

Tuesday 6 May, 2025

Strong traceability practices are essential to ensuring animal welfare and the sustainability of the racing industry.

All harness racing owners and trainers are required to understand and fulfil their traceability obligations under the Rules of Racing.

Under the Harness Racing Australia rules, if a horse dies while it is registered and in the care of a licensed trainer, you must notify the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission (QRIC) immediately.

Please also note your obligations under the rules in the following circumstances:

  • In all other cases, when a horse dies while in the care of a licensed trainer, they must notify QRIC within 24 hours.
  • Owners and trainers must notify QRIC within 7 days of the decision to retire a horse, not commence racing a horse, or if a horse has been retained for breeding purposes.

Acting Chief Harness Steward Norm Torpey said participants also must not dispose of a horse carcass in either circumstance without the permission of QRIC Stewards.

“Compliance with these rules is crucial to ensuring the long-term sustainability of and maintaining public confidence in the Queensland racing industry,” Mr Torpey said.

“Compliance with traceability rules will also help you to prepare and protect your horses from disease outbreaks.”

“It’s imperative that licensees abide by these rules to ensure all standardbred horses throughout their lives, including after racing, can be traced.”

Owners and trainers identified as non-compliant will be referred to the QRIC Stewards for further investigation and penalty.

Penalties for non-compliance include monetary fines and suspension from participation in racing activities in Queensland.

It is incumbent on all trainers and owners to inform the QRIC Stewards of these matters in accordance with the Rules of Racing.

We encourage you to ensure that your horse’s status and location are correct in order to be compliant with the Rules of Racing.

How to change a horse’s status or location:

If your horse’s records are incorrect, owners and trainers can lodge the notification form found at https://www.harness.org.au/hra/form-R25A-deregistration-death-form.pdf:

If you require more information about your retirement and death notification obligations, please contact welfare@qric.qld.gov.au.