All licensed and registered racing participants should take note of the following important provisions and requirements which apply as a consequence of the Vision Rights Agreement which exists between Racing SA and Racing.com.
The South Australian Racing Industry has a commercial arrangement with Racing.com for horse racing vision rights in South Australia.
Under this arrangement Racing.com have exclusive rights to SA thoroughbred racing vision, meaning that no other parties apart from Racing SA and Racing.com are permitted to film race meetings, jump outs or trials.
Participants, including Trainers and their staff (whether licensed/registered or otherwise) are reminded that filming and sharing any footage/audio is in breach of the vision rights agreement and they may be the subject of action taken against them.
Racing SA however recognises the practice of Trainers filming/interviewing participants for the purpose of providing feedback to their owners, which includes filming/interviewing of racing participants on track or in the mounting yard. In this regard, Racing SA Stewards advise that the following Official Direction applies;
Official Direction 06/2021
“Post-race interviews at race meetings, or post-trial interviews at trials and interviews at jump-outs and track work recorded by Trainers, or their staff on their behalf, for any purpose, including but not limited to, providing feedback and updates to the relevant owner/s of the horse concerned will be permitted on the strict proviso that the recorded material (footage and audio) is made available only to the owner/s on the following basis;
- The recorded material (footage and audio) is provided to the owner/s, with the qualification by the Trainer and/or his/her staff to the owner/s, that the material (footage and audio) is for their own viewing purposes only, and that it may not be posted and/or replayed on any social media or public forum/platform under any circumstances, and
- Further, and in addition to the proviso referred to above, the Trainer and/or his staff on his/her behalf, also undertakes that regardless whether the material (footage and audio) has been provided to the owner/s of the relevant horse, that the material (footage and audio) will not be posted and/or replayed on any social media or public forum/platform by them under any circumstances.”
Effective date and general comment;
This direction (06/2021) will be effective – Friday 20 August 2021. Racing SA Stewards further provide notice that any person who breaches this direction will be subject to a penalty. It should also be noted that nothing in this notice derogates from the powers of Stewards to either suspend or disqualify any person who breaches any of these directions.
Note: Australian Rules of Racing, AR232(b) states “A person must not fail or refuse to comply with an order, direction or requirement of the Stewards or an official”, and AR16(b)(ii) states “Without limiting any other PRA powers, a PRA has the following powers in relation to disciplining and/or penalising a person: to penalise any person who disobeys any reasonable direction of any official”.
Johan Petzer
General Manager Integrity/Chairman of Stewards
Racing SA
18 August 2021
