Section 19617.9.

(a) The following definitions govern the construction of this section:

(1) "Breeder" means a person who is registered as the owner of the dam at the time the mare foals.

(2) "Eligible earnings" means the following:

(A) In the case of breeder premiums, the annual amount earned by a California-bred Appaloosa horse for finishing first or second.

(B) In the case of owners' awards, the annual amount earned by a California-bred Appaloosa horse for finishing first or second in qualifying races.

(C) In the case of stallion awards, the annual amount earned by Appaloosa foals of an eligible Appaloosa sire for finishing first or second.

(D) In order for earnings from a qualifying race to be considered as eligible earnings, an Appaloosa horse shall be registered as such with the official registering agency before the date entries were taken by the association for the qualifying race in which that horse earned purse money.

(E) In determining the purse earned in any race that is a stakes race, the amount earned shall be based solely on the added money, with no consideration given to other sources of the purse, such as nomination, entry, or starting fees, bonuses, and sponsor contributions, or any combination thereof.

(F) On or before February 1 of any year, the stallion owner shall advise the official registering agency of any and all purses earned during the preceding year to be considered in determining the amount of the stallion award to which the owner is entitled.

(3) "Eligible Appaloosa sire" means an Appaloosa stallion that was continuously present in this state from February 1 to July 15, inclusive, of the calendar year in which the qualifying race was conducted, and, if the sire left this state after July 15 of the calendar year in which the qualifying race was conducted, the sire returned to and was present in this state by February 1 of the following calendar year and thereafter remained until July 15 of that year. If a sire dies in this state and stood his last season at stud in this state, he shall thereafter continue to be considered an eligible Appaloosa sire. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an Appaloosa stallion shall be considered an eligible Appaloosa sire only if its owner has registered the stallion with the official registering agency for stallion awards on or before February 1 of the calendar year immediately following the calendar year for which the awards are being distributed.

(4) "Official registering agency" means the officially recognized organization representing Appaloosa horsemen designated by the board.

(5) "Owner" means the person who is registered with the paymaster of purses on the date the race was conducted as the owner of the California-bred Appaloosa horse earning purse money in that race.

(6) "Qualifying race" means all Appaloosa horseraces in this state for breeders and stallions; for owners' awards, a qualifying race must be equal to or above four thousand dollars ($4,000) claiming.

(7) "Stallion owner" means the person who is the owner of the eligible Appaloosa sire as of December 31 of the calendar year in which that sire's foals had eligible earnings or the person who owned the eligible Appaloosa sire on the date that the sire died.

(b) Any association conducting a race meeting that includes Appaloosa horseracing shall deposit with the official registering agency 0.2 of 1 percent of the total amount handled ontrack, and 0.4 of 1 percent of the total amount handled offtrack, in daily conventional and exotic parimutuel pools and a sum equal to 13.33 percent of those funds specified for purses in Section 19612.1, and the sums specified in Sections 19567 and 19617.5, resulting from Appaloosa horseracing. The deposits shall be made at the following intervals:

(1) For any meeting of 20 racing days or less, the requisite deposit shall be made not later than seven days immediately following the last day of that meeting.

(2) For any meeting of more than 20 racing days, the initial deposit shall be made not later than 27 racing days after the commencement of that meeting and every 20 racing days thereafter, with a final deposit made not later than seven days following the last day of that meeting. The initial deposit for that meeting shall be based upon the applicable amount handled during the first 20 racing days of the meeting and deposits thereafter shall be based upon the applicable amount handled during the ensuing periods of 20 racing days with the last deposit based upon the applicable amount handled from the end of the last 20-racing-day period for which a deposit has been made to the end of the meeting.

(c) After deducting a sum up to, but not to exceed, 10 percent of the total deposits made pursuant to subdivision (b) and the total deposits made pursuant to other provisions of this chapter, including Sections 19612.1 and 19612.2, to compensate the official registering agency for its administrative costs, the official registering agency shall distribute annually the balance of the deposits in the following manner:

(1) Sixty percent to the breeder fund from which breeder premiums are to be paid.

(2) Twenty-five percent to the owner fund from which owners' awards are to be paid.

(3) Fifteen percent to the stallion fund from which stallion awards are to be paid.

(d) The official registering agency shall make the following payments to the breeder, owner, and stallion owner to encourage agriculture and the breeding of high quality horses in this state:

(1) The breeder shall be paid a sum based on a prorated share of first and second place earnings.

(2) The owner shall be paid an owners' award, a sum based on a prorated share of first and second place earnings from qualified races by a California-bred Appaloosa horse.

(3) The stallion owner shall be paid a stallion award, a sum based on a prorated share of first and second place earnings from Appaloosa horses who placed first or second in one or more races at a fair meeting or a mixed breed meeting.

Stallion awards shall not be made to the owner of a sire that has been out of the state for breeding purposes during the calendar year. Stallion awards shall not be made for any race run outside the State of California.

(4) The breeder premium, and owners' and stallion awards shall be paid not later than March 31 of the calendar year immediately following the calendar year for which the awards or premiums were earned.

(e) If there are insufficient funds to make all of the distributions in this section, there shall be no assessments made against any association to fund the deficiencies.

(Amended by Stats. 1995, Ch. 6, Sec. 2. Effective May 23, 1995.)