Eligibility

Rules and Regulations Governing the Nomination and Election of Candidates to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame

 

Article One – Nominating Committee

  1. At the pleasure of the Board of Directors there shall exist a Nominating Committee, whose function it shall be to receive information, study and vote on nominated people and horses, and to make such nominations to the Election Committee. It shall also be its function to assist in every way possible with the presentation of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame to the Canadian public.
  2. Appointments to the Nominating Committee shall be by the Board of Directors on an annual basis, but they shall be made with the object of securing the maximum continuity of composition of the Committee. Whenever possible, members of the Nominating Committee shall be selected on the basis of their knowledge of the history, tradition and skills of horse racing in Canada and they shall be persons whose prestige, judgment and integrity are most likely to ensure the fair and impartial assessment of the qualities of the candidates submitted for their consideration and to ensure the maintenance of a high standard of excellence in the selections made by them.
  3. There shall be two Nominating Committees, one for each breed.
  4. The maximum number of members for each Nominating Committee shall be ‘eight’.
  5. Each Committee member, including the Chair, shall have one vote on each ballot in the nomination proceedings.
  6. The Chair of the Nominating Committee shall be appointed by the Board of Directors from amongst the Committee members and the Committee shall appoint a Secretary who need not be a Committee member.
  7. A quorum shall consist of ‘five’ members. On voting for nominees, ballots submitted through the mail, online form, or fax be accepted.
  8. The Nominating Committee shall meet once a year to review candidates for nomination.
  9. Any public nomination made by the closing date specified for nominations must be received by either the Chair of the Nomination Committee or the Managing Director of the Hall of Fame on the standardized nomination form available on the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame’s website or by contacting admin@canadianhorseracinghalloffame.com and shall be restricted to 400 words or 2000 characters.

Article Two – Nomination of Candidates

  1. No member of the Nominating Committee shall make more than ‘three’ nominations for each election proceeding.
  2. Nominations shall only be made on the official CHRHF nomination form and be filed with the Chair of the Nominating Committee not less than ‘thirty days’ prior to the date fixed for the election, except under such extraordinary circumstances as may be determined by the Election Committee.
  3. Nominations shall contain the fullest possible data concerning the record and the merits of each candidate nominated.
  4. All public nominations submitted yearly on the official CHRHF nomination form will be presented to the appropriate Nomination Committee for review and those selected best by vote will be forwarded to the Election Committee for their consideration before any candidate is inducted as an Honoured Member.
  5. The Chair of the Committee shall, as soon as practicable and, in any event, not less than fifteen days before the date fixed for the election, send to each member of the Nominating Committee a copy of each nomination and recommendation received together with all supporting material.

Article Three – Classification of Inductees

  1. There shall be ‘eight’ categories of inductees in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame from any era:
    (a) MALE HORSES ‘Canadian-bred’, or horses ‘foreign-bred’ who have had a significant influence on Canadian racing or who have had an exceptional influence on Canadian horse breeding as sires and the bulk of whose career has occurred in the twenty (20) years preceding nomination.
    (b) FEMALE HORSES ‘Canadian-bred’, or horses ‘foreign-bred’ who have had a significant influence on Canadian racing or who have had an exceptional influence on Canadian horse breeding as broodmares and the bulk of whose career has occurred in the twenty (20) years preceding nomination.
    (c) JOCKEYS, DRIVERS, TRAINERS: Jockeys, Drivers, Trainers are persons who meet the eligibility requirements of Article Four — Sections 4 & 5 respectively of these Rules & Regulations.
    (d) BUILDERS: Are persons who include, but not limited to, Breeders, Owners, and others, who meet eligibility requirements of Article Four of these Rules & Regulations.
    (e) VETERAN PEOPLE:  (Jockey, Trainer or Driver)/VETERAN HORSES:  whether alive or deceased, whose careers concluded at least twenty-one (21) years but less than fifty (50) prior to the year in which they are nominated.
    (f) COMMUNICATORS: Communicators are people, whether alive or deceased, who have told the story of Canadian racing through print or visual media over a significant period of time. This will include but is not limited to writers, broadcasters, photographers, announcers and others, who meet eligibility requirements of Article Four of these Rules & Regulations.
  2. In this Article, “horses” shall mean either standardbred or thoroughbred.
  3. All current categories for eligibility be considered each year by the Nomination Committees to select at its discretion the four or five best categories for each breed to forward to the Election Committees.  NOTE:  It has been agreed that in 2022 and 2023, four categories will be selected for each breed.
  4. Three candidates shall be nominated each year, in each of the five categories, by the Nominating Committee. In the event, the Nomination Committee selects four categories, one of the categories will be selected to have two inductees. In this case, there will be six names nominated in this category.  NOTE:  For the purposes of 2022 and 2023 this rule will be waived to ensure four categories per breed are recognized.
  5. Inductees into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame may be referred to as “Honoured Members” of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, but such inductees shall not be entitled to any of the rights or privileges of a “member” of the Corporation within the meaning of the Canada Corporations Act.
  6. Any candidate, in any given year be eligible for nomination breed-specific only. Any issues will be resolved by the full Advisory Committee.

Article Four – Eligibility for Election

  1. Any Canadian person or Canadian horse who has achieved outstanding success either in Canada or internationally or any person or horse who has made a defining contribution to Canadian racing will be considered for election to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
  2. Candidates nominated as Builders may be either active or inactive at the time of nomination.
  3. Candidates nominated as Jockeys or Drivers shall have been ‘retired’ for at least two consecutive calendar years, or if they are ‘still active’ must have obtained their driver’s or jockey’s license at least twenty years prior to the year in which they are considered for nomination and be in at least their 50th year.
  4. Candidates nominated as Trainers shall have been ‘retired’ for at least two consecutive calendar years; or, if they are ‘still active’ must have obtained their trainers’ or trainer/drivers’ license at least twenty years prior to the year in which they are considered for nomination and be in at least their 55th year.
  5. Notwithstanding the foregoing paragraph, a jockey, driver or trainer who dies or is killed or is incapacitated shall be eligible for immediate induction into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame by the Board of Directors.
  6. Members of the Board of Directors and/or Nominating Committee and/or Election Committee are eligible for election as “Honoured Members”.
  7. A candidate whose nomination has been considered by the Nominating Committee and who has not been elected into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame may be nominated again for induction at a future meeting of the Nominating Committee.
  8. At the discretion of the Nominating Committee and Election Committee of the relevant breed, entry to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame as an honoured member will not be considered for anyone who has engaged in misconduct considered to be detrimental to the best interests of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, its members, and the racing community in general.

Article Five – Election Committee

  1. At the pleasure of the Board of Directors, there shall exist an Election Committee whose function it shall be to elect Honoured Members to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. It shall also be its function to assist in every way possible with the presentation of the Canadian Racing Hall of Fame to the Canadian public.
  2. Appointments to the Election Committee shall be by the Board of Directors on an annual basis, but they shall be made with the object of securing the maximum continuity of composition of the Committee. Whenever possible, Members of the Election Committee shall be selected on the basis of their knowledge of the history, tradition and skills of horse racing in Canada and they shall be persons whose prestige, judgment and integrity are most likely to ensure the fair and impartial assessment of the qualities of the candidates submitted for their consideration and to assure the maintenance of a high standard of excellence in the selections made by them.
  3. There shall be two Election Committees, one for each breed.
  4. The maximum number of members of each Election Committee shall be ‘twenty’.
  5. The Chair of the Election Committee shall be appointed by the Board of Directors from amongst the Committee members and the Committee shall appoint a Secretary who need not be a Committee member.
  6. Each Committee member, including the Chair, shall receive one ballot for the election proceedings.

Article Six – Method of Election

  1. The election of candidates may take place ‘once’ in each year.
  2. The annual election proceedings shall, where practicable, be held each calendar.
  3. At the discretion of the Chair of the Election Committee each member of the Election Committee shall be sent the ballot and the required information on the candidates in a timely fashion as indicated by the proposed Hall of Fame guidelines for that year.
  4. For the purposes of balloting the following rules shall apply:
    (a) A secret ballot shall be used and there shall exist for each category the option for either a positive vote or a “no vote”.
    (b) The candidate who receives the most “yes” votes in each category be declared elected, unless the “no” vote leads the ballot.
    (c) Resolution of any balloting irregularities, including ties shall be the responsibility of the Advisory Board to establish a clear winner when a tie exists and to adjudicate any voting issues or procedural discrepancies.  This Advisory Board will consist of the President of the Hall of Fame, Vice-President of the  Hall of Fame and Chair of the Election Committee for each breed.  If the chair of the Election Committee is also a voting member of the Election Committee then the Chair shall appoint a designate, in advance of the election, to sit on the Advisory Board.
    (d) Any person whose name appears on the final election ballot and who is also an eligible member of the Election Committee shall abstain from casting a vote in that particular category only.

Article Seven – Recognition

  1. When a candidate is duly elected as an Honoured Member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, the name of such candidate shall be duly recognized by the President for official enrollment in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame and all necessary actions shall be taken for inclusions of the records, souvenirs and other mementos with respect to such elected candidate for display in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame at its permanent exhibit site.

Article Eight – Publication of Elections And Confidentiality

  1. The President of the Hall of Fame or, if he is unable to act, the Chair of the Election Committee or, if he is unable to act, any member of the Board of Directors specifically designated for such purpose, shall release the results of the election proceedings for general publication.
  2. No member of the Board of Directors or of the Election Committee shall disclose the results or other particulars of the balloting in advance of the official release provided for in the foregoing paragraph nor shall he disclose the vote of any member of the Election Committee at any time.

Article Nine – Removal of Inducted Member

  1. Any Honoured Member may be removed from the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame at the discretion of the Nominating Committee and Election Committee for misconduct considered to be detrimental to the best interests of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, its members, and the racing community in general. The Directors of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame or any member of the racing community or general public may make a recommendation for an Honoured Member to be removed from the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. The recommendation will be reviewed by the Nominating Committee of the relevant breed. If the vote to remove the Honoured Member is 75% or higher, the Nominating Committee of the relevant breed shall recommend the removal of the Honoured Member. If the vote is less than 75%, then the recommendation shall be dismissed. If a Nominating Committee removal recommendation is made, then the Election Committee shall review the recommendation. 15 of the 20 members of the Election Committee (75%) must agree to the removal of the Honoured Member from the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame for the Honoured Member to be removed. Should a subsequent application for appeal be filed, the decision of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame Advisory Board will be final.

Contacting the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame:

Mailing Address:
PO Box 297
Campbellville, ON L0P 1B0
Phone: (416) 417-9404
Email:  admin@horseracinghalloffame.com

 

Updated:   March 1, 2022