The Indiana Horse Racing Commission has voted unanimously to endorse new rules that disallow a suspended trainer from transferring a horse to a spouse, immediate family member, or assistant trainer. The measures, part of the agency’s program to bolster integrity in racing, give the racing commission the power to deny licensure, place horses on the stewards’ list, or ask that they be stabled on the grounds.

The regulations ensure that trainer suspensions are meaningful and not cosmetic, said Joe Gorajec, the commission’s executive director. The betting public should be assured that a trainer is not involved with his or her stable while serving a suspension, he said.

If a trainer receives a suspension greater than 15 days, horses under his or her care must be transferred to another party that isn’t a spouse, member of the immediate family, assistant, employee, or household member of the trainer. Horses trained by a licensee fitting the above criteria can be ruled ineligible to compete in Indiana.

In addition, stewards can require that horses previously trained by a suspended trainer or owned by an individual employing a suspended trainer be stabled on the grounds