Sanctioning Strategy
Making IRR a Sanctioned Racing Discipline
A deliberate, multi-phase strategy to bring IRR inside the regulated pari-mutuel framework — legally, commercially, and permanently.
The Sanctioning Strategy
From Tradition to Regulated Sport
Indian Relay Racing has been contested for generations across Horse Nation homelands. What it has never had is formal recognition within the pari-mutuel regulatory system — the legal and commercial infrastructure that governs every major racing discipline in the United States.
Horse Nations Racing Group exists to change that. Our strategy is not to reinvent the sport — it is to build the regulatory, organizational, and commercial scaffolding that earns IRR its rightful place alongside Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse, and Standardbred racing.
The path is deliberate and sequential: establish the governing body, engage the regulators, secure the first sanctioning authorization, and expand from there.
Regulatory Precedent
It Has Been Done Before
IRR is not the first non-traditional discipline to seek pari-mutuel sanctioning. Racing commissions have previously authorized disciplines including Standardbred trotters, Quarter Horses, Arabian racing, Paint horse racing, and mule racing — each requiring a governing body, a rulebook, and a demonstrated commitment to safety and integrity. HNIRC is built to meet every standard those precedents established.
Sanctioned from the 1940s
Quarter Horse Racing
Origins
Quarter Horse racing traces its roots to colonial America, where settlers raced horses over short straight tracks — typically a quarter mile — in frontier towns and rural communities. The sport was deeply embedded in Western and Southern culture long before it had any formal regulatory structure.
The Sanctioning Path
The American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) was founded in 1940, providing the organizational backbone needed to pursue formal sanctioning. State racing commissions, beginning with Texas and California, began licensing Quarter Horse meets through the late 1940s and into the 1950s. The key arguments: an existing passionate audience, a distinct breed registry, and a racing format that complemented rather than competed with Thoroughbred programs.
Growth After Sanctioning
Once sanctioned, Quarter Horse racing grew rapidly. Tracks that added Quarter Horse programs saw new audiences — Western-oriented fans who had little connection to Thoroughbred racing. Purse money grew from modest regional stakes into major national events. The All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs, first run in 1959, became one of the richest horse races in the world.
Handle Growth
Key Lesson for Regulators
A distinct breed, a passionate regional audience, and an organized governing body were sufficient to earn sanctioning. The format's difference from Thoroughbred racing was a feature, not an obstacle.
Formally sanctioned mid-20th century
Harness Racing
Origins
Harness racing — where horses pull a two-wheeled sulky at a trot or pace — has roots in 18th-century America. Informal match races on public roads were common throughout the 1800s. The United States Trotting Association (USTA) was founded in 1939 to bring structure to a sport that had operated largely outside formal regulation.
The Sanctioning Path
Harness racing pursued sanctioning state by state through the 1940s and 1950s, making the case that its distinct format, existing fan base, and organized governance structure warranted pari-mutuel licensing. New York's Roosevelt Raceway and Yonkers Raceway became major venues. The argument to regulators was straightforward: this is a different product with a different audience — expanding the market, not cannibalizing it.
Growth After Sanctioning
Harness racing became a major commercial sport through the 1960s and 1970s. Night racing made it accessible to working-class audiences who couldn't attend afternoon Thoroughbred programs. The Hambletonian, Harness racing's most prestigious event, grew into a nationally recognized race. At its peak, Harness racing generated billions in annual handle.
Handle Growth
Key Lesson for Regulators
A completely different racing format — not even a gallop — earned full pari-mutuel sanctioning by demonstrating audience demand and organizational credibility. Format novelty was never a disqualifier.
Sanctioned from the 1970s–1980s
Arabian Horse Racing
Origins
Arabian horses are among the oldest and most culturally significant breeds in the world, with racing traditions stretching back thousands of years across the Middle East and North Africa. In the United States, Arabian racing developed as a niche discipline within the broader horse racing community, with organized competition beginning in earnest in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Sanctioning Path
The Arabian Jockey Club and the International Arabian Racing Association worked through the 1970s to secure pari-mutuel sanctioning in key states. California, which has historically been receptive to new racing disciplines, was an early adopter. The sanctioning argument emphasized the breed's distinct characteristics, an existing organized community, and the opportunity to attract new audiences — particularly those with cultural or heritage connections to Arabian horses.
Growth After Sanctioning
Arabian racing grew steadily following sanctioning, establishing a circuit of stakes races and developing a dedicated fan base. While smaller in scale than Quarter Horse or Harness racing, it demonstrated that a culturally distinct discipline with an organized governing body could sustain a viable pari-mutuel program. The sport has been particularly strong in California, Texas, and the Southwest.
Handle Growth
Key Lesson for Regulators
Even a relatively niche discipline with a culturally specific audience earned and sustained pari-mutuel sanctioning. Cultural heritage and breed distinctiveness were assets in the regulatory argument, not liabilities.
The Quarter Horse Precedent
Quarter Horse racing: From Formation to Pari-mutuel in Seven Years
AQHA's own history is especially significant: the organization was formally established in 1940, and it identifies 1947 at Hollywood Park (now Ruidoso Downs), New Mexico, as the first pari-mutuel Quarter Horse race — roughly seven years after AQHA's formation.
Why the Quarter Horse Precedent Matters for IRR
Quarter Horse racing did not need to become Thoroughbred racing. It established its own breed organization, racing rules, distances, participants, records and competitive structure, and regulators ultimately permitted pari-mutuel wagering on those races. IRR is arguably further along organizationally than a completely new racing concept would be. HNIRC already has an established competition, teams, horses, rules, race formats, championships and governing structure. The regulatory question is therefore less about creating a sport and more about whether an existing form of horse racing can be conducted under a state's pari-mutuel regulatory framework.
Kentucky's Evolving Framework
Kentucky: A State That Expanded Its Regulatory Scope
Kentucky provides an especially interesting precedent. Its regulations historically expressly stated that the commission had authority to regulate the conditions under which 'quarter horse, appaloosa and Arabian racing and pari-mutuel wagering thereon' were conducted. Current Kentucky regulations use broader language, stating that the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation has authority to regulate conditions under which horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering are conducted.
The Kentucky Racing Commission was created in 1906 specifically to regulate 'the racing of running horses,' and the state subsequently incorporated other forms of horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering into its regulatory framework.
Indian Relay Racing Meets Every Standard
Measured against the criteria that earned sanctioning for Quarter Horse, Harness, and Arabian racing, Indian Relay Racing is not merely comparable — it is compelling. The sport has what every successful sanctioning petition has required: a passionate and loyal audience, a distinct and visually spectacular format, an organized governing body, and deep cultural roots that create authentic storytelling and media value.
Organized Governing Body
AQHA (1940), USTA (1939), Arabian Jockey Club
NHIRC — Native Horse Indian Relay Racing Circuit, representing 30+ tribal nations
Distinct Racing Format
Quarter mile sprints, trotting/pacing sulkies, purebred Arabian gallops
Bareback relay racing — three horses, three riders, live horse exchanges mid-race
Existing Passionate Audience
Regional fan bases with cultural ties to the discipline
Tribal communities across the American West; growing national media attention
Cultural & Heritage Significance
Western frontier tradition, working-class trotting culture, Arabian heritage
500+ years of Indigenous tradition; living cultural practice of 30+ tribal nations
Commercial Viability
Demonstrated handle growth post-sanctioning in all three disciplines
20+ annual sanctioned events; sponsorship revenue; growing broadcast interest
A Proven Pathway — Not a New One
Seven-Year Precedent
The American Quarter Horse Association was organized in 1940, and within approximately seven years Quarter Horses were competing in pari-mutuel racing. That precedent supports an important argument for HNIRC: the American pari-mutuel system has historically accommodated additional forms of horse racing rather than remaining limited to Thoroughbreds.
Not Years
For the IRR project, the more important question may therefore be: How long could it realistically take HNIRC to obtain authorization from the first state racing commission today? Based on the regulatory route available, that could potentially be measured in many months rather than years if existing statutory authority is broad enough and no legislative amendment is required.
Existing Structure Is the Argument
HNIRC already has an established competition, teams, horses, rules, race formats, championships and governing structure. The regulatory question is therefore less about creating a sport and more about whether an existing form of horse racing can be conducted under a state's pari-mutuel regulatory framework.
Establish the Governing Authority
Sanctioning begins with credibility. HNIRC — the Horse Nations Indian Relay Council — serves as the official governing body for IRR, setting uniform rules of competition, safety standards, horse welfare protocols, and eligibility requirements. Without a recognized governing body, no racing commission will consider sanctioning. HNIRC provides that foundation.
Engage Racing Commissions Directly
Racing commissions do not sanction disciplines they have not reviewed. Our approach is direct engagement — presenting IRR's governing structure, safety record, and commercial potential to commission staff and board members in target jurisdictions, beginning with Kentucky. We leverage existing relationships with industry regulators and draw on the precedent of other non-traditional disciplines that have successfully navigated this process.
Secure the First Sanctioning Authorization
The first sanctioning authorization is the critical milestone. Once a single major commission — particularly Kentucky — formally recognizes IRR as a sanctioned racing discipline, the path to other state commissions accelerates dramatically. Commissions routinely look to peer jurisdictions when evaluating novel disciplines. Kentucky's approval becomes the template every subsequent state can follow.
Expand Sanctioning Across Western States
With Kentucky authorization in hand, HNIRC and HNRG pursue sanctioning in the western states where Horse Nations are located — Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, South Dakota, North Dakota, and others. Each state commission receives the Kentucky precedent, HNIRC's governing documentation, and evidence from the inaugural meet. The expansion is sequential and state-by-state, building a national sanctioning footprint.
Launch the National Championship
The culmination of the sanctioning strategy is a nationally recognized championship event staged in Central Kentucky — the capital of American horse racing. The National IRR Championship brings together the top teams from across the Horse Nations, generates major wagering handle, attracts national media, and establishes IRR as a permanent fixture in the American racing calendar.
“The regulatory path is clear. The governing body is in place. The strategy is to execute — one commission, one authorization, one state at a time.”
— Horse Nations Racing Group
See the Full Timeline
The When page details the phase-by-phase sanctioning timetable from 2025 through 2028 and beyond.
View the Timeline