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The Bloodstock Industry Code of Practice
Introduction
The Code of Practice sets out the principles which apply to all sales of bloodstock
and sales of stallion shares and nominations, be they private sales or sales at public
auction. The intention is to ensure that sales of bloodstock in Britain not only comply
with the law, but operate to the highest standards of integrity and transparency, and
safeguard the interests of vendors, consignors, bloodstock agents, owners, trainers
and the sales companies.
Definitions
- "Agent"; means any trainer, consignor, bloodstock agent, racing or stud manager
or other person or entity who represents a Principal in the sale or purchase of
bloodstock, stallion shares and nominations, whether the Agent is paid by way of
retainer, commission or other forms of remuneration, or has ongoing financial
arrangements (for example the payment of management or training fees), or not.
- “Principal” means a person or entity who appoints an Agent to act as agent on
his behalf in the sale or purchase of bloodstock, stallion shares and nominations
as in the definition above.
For clarification, words importing the masculine gender
shall include the feminine.
Code
1. An Agent owes a duty to his Principal to act at all times in accordance with his
Principal’s best interests.
2. An Agent shall not place himself in a position where personal interests conflict
with the duty to his Principal. In particular, an Agent shall not use his position
to benefit from a secret payment or secret profit, which means any payment
or benefit in kind received by an Agent that is not disclosed to his Principal.
3. When an Agent acts as a vendor or part-vendor and sells or intends to sell
any horse in which he has an interest to a Principal, or intended Principal, the
Agent must disclose to his Principal, before completion, the full extent of that
ownership or interest and the benefit to be derived from that transaction.
4. If an Agent acts for more than one Principal in a transaction (which might be
both the vendor and purchaser), the Agent can only do so if he has first
disclosed this fact, before completion, to all his Principals, and obtained their
consent.
5. An Agent must notify his Principal, wherever possible in advance, when a
conflict of interest could arise, such as transactions involving third parties with
whom he has a retainer, transactions where he is aware he will benefit from a
third party, or transactions concerning horses which he has previously
purchased or been involved with.
6. An Agent shall disclose to his Principal and, if required, account to his
Principal for any Luck Money paid to him by or on behalf of a vendor. “Luck
Money” means any financial payment or payment in kind made by or on
behalf of a vendor to a Purchaser or his Agent, after the sale of a horse has
been concluded. The practice of giving and receiving Luck Money shall be
entirely voluntary, transparent and should be disclosed to all appropriate
parties by the recipient. A vendor has no obligation whatsoever to pay Luck
Money and the non-payment of such should not prejudice any further
business activity.
7. If an Agent receives an offer to purchase a horse he must relay that offer in
its entirety to his Principal and respond in accordance with the Principal’s
instructions.
8. A vendor must not offer any secret payment or secret profit to any person
whom he believes to be an Agent acting for a prospective purchaser.
Dispute Resolution
9. Any dispute arising out of an alleged breach of the Code of Practice should
be reported by a complainant to one of the following trade bodies or to the
appropriate Sale Company in the first instance:
Federation of Bloodstock Agents: Geoffrey Howson (01451 860428)
National Trainers Federation: Rupert Arnold (01488 71719)
Racehorse Owners Association: Dena Arstall (020 7408 0903)
Thoroughbred Breeders Association: Louise Kemble (01638 661321)
Doncaster Bloodstock Sales: Henry Beeby (01450 372222)
Tattersalls: Martin Mitchell (01638 665931)
A complainant shall provide written evidence of the alleged breach of the
Code to the relevant trade body or the Sale Company in support of the
allegation. The Sale Company or the trade body will conduct its own
investigation and may seek to mediate, or may advise the complainant of
their right to pursue the complaint through the courts.
The commencement of a mediation will not prevent the parties commencing
court proceedings.
Dispute Resolution
10. If the British Horseracing Authority is satisfied there has been a breach of this
Code of Practice, it is likely to consider this to be contrary to the integrity,
proper conduct or good reputation of horse racing, and the persons involved,
whether bound by the Rules of Racing, or not, may be banned from British
racecourses and other licensed premises and will also not be permitted to
conduct business with licensed individuals.
This Code of Practice has been drawn up and published by the
following organisations:
The British Horseracing Authority
Doncaster Bloodstock Sales Ltd
Federation of Bloodstock Agents
National Trainers Federation
Racehorse Owners Association
Tattersalls Ltd
Thoroughbred Breeders Association
Download the code
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