GENERAL RACING AND COMPETITION RULES
In these terms and conditions:
“Community Racing" means the concept of the general public and other interested people being able to participate in pigeon racing;
“Community Loft Member" means the person from the general public or other interested persons participating by paying entry fees in the pigeon racing;
“Current Race" means placing an entry fee on a pigeon in the various races and divisions in an event that is currently in progress, these events are identified on our Website;
"Official Starting Time" is that time stated by on the Website for the relevant race or event;
"Entry Fee" means the individual Fee paid being monetary denomination e.g. $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100 for a pigeon listed for a particular race or event on a particular date as listed on the Website for the relevant event;
"Division" means the Division of which refers to the race/s or event is being held e.g. Division 1 Race 1, Division 2 Race 3 etc.;
"Member" means the person or individual who has registered on the website and confirms they hold authority to join as a member as per the current terms and conditions and lease a pigeon in the racing events, which maybe varied from time to time without notice, hosted by The Australian Pigeon Centre (TAPC);
"Pigeons” refers to the pigeons in the events and the pigeons are owned by The Australian Pigeon Centre;
- INTRODUCTION
1.1 We pride ourselves on our customer service and our commitment to operating our business fairly and in a responsible way. All transactions and entry fees with us are covered by our rules.
1.2 You must exercise your own judgement in choosing which pigeon and which division and race to pay your entry fee/s . You acknowledge that, in paying your entry fee, you are not relying on any statement of any of our employees relating to the subject matter of the race. The terms of your entry fee/s cannot be varied at any time. We reserve the right to refuse part or all of a members Entry Fees.
1.3 These General Racing Rules cover all races conducted by TAPC races and events.
1.4 All pigeons remain the property of TAPC at all material times.
1.5 Community Loft Member's only lease a Pigeon for a particular race by paying an entry fee for a particular nominated denomination fee. Five (5) Minutes after the race is declared finished/closed the lease is terminated by consent and agreement of the Member. Ownership of the Pigeon reverts back to the Australian Pigeon Centre unless the bird is held under a Stable lodging agreement.
1.6 All the Thoroughbred Racing Pigeons are housed at the same stables/lofts for the competition, they are all maintained and treated equally, thus being given the same food, water, medication/supplements, training, loft flying, accommodation/loft and due care. No individual Racing Pigeon is given any special treatment advantage over any other pigeon housed at the lofts.
2. RIGHT TO REFUSE AN ENTRY FEE
2.1 We reserve the right to decline, or limit, any entry fee that a member wished to pay.
2.2 No entry fee stands until such time as:
2.2.1.1 For entry fee placed via the internet website or app, you have confirmation via the check-out from the website or app.
2.2.1.2 You have received an invoice or receipt of payment confirmation after your entry fee is processed through our website or app. (If you are in doubt about whether or not an entry fee has been confirmed or not, you should check its status in the confirmation of payment from the app or website.)
3. CONDITIONS OF ENTRY FEE
3.1 Entry Fees can only be made via the internet through the website or phone app.
3.2 Entry Fees will generally be accepted up to the official starting time of an event, unless stated otherwise. An entry fee is deemed void (even if accepted) if it is submitted after the official starting time of a race or event.
3.3 Only Entry Fees confirmed before the start of the race or event start time as listed on the website will be considered valid.
3.4 All events must be run on the scheduled day unless otherwise specified. For postponed the Entry fees are valid for a period of twenty four (24) hours from the original start time of the race or event. If for any reason a race or event is abandoned, all entry fees shall be deemed void and a refund of the Entry Fee shall be returned to the Member. A Member may choose to nominate their refunded entry fees to be held and used for another race or event with a request made in writing to the TAPC.
3.5 We reserve the right to resettle an event where an error has occurred with the resulting process or the results declared. Where the resettlement is carried out 24 hours or more after the initial settlement, customers will be notified by email.
3.6 If an entry fee is void at any time, affected prizes will be recalculated excluding that entry fee. E.g. if there are ten (10) pigeons in the race and one (1) becomes void, the prize money is calculated on the remaining nine (9) entries fully paid.
3.6 The winner of race or an event shall be determined on the date of the race or event’s conclusion in accordance with the race or event’s rules and regulations. We shall not recognise postponed, suspended races, protests or overturned decisions for prize money purposes.
3.7 If a race or event is abandoned before a result has been achieved, prizes on the race or event outcome will be void, unless an official result is declared. Entry fees paid by members will be held on behalf of the member and allocated towards the next available event date with the member able to nominate a new pigeon/s.
3.8 Dead Heats and/or Draws. In the unlikely event in any race or event where there is a dead heat any entry fees placed on a drawn event shall be resulted in accordance with dead heat rules:
3.9 Full prize money for first and 2nd positions will be added and will be divided by the number of the dead heat count. For example, $1 Entry Race (fully paid), Prize money = 1st 50%, 2nd 20% and 3rd 10%. In the unlikely event of 2 pigeons in a dead heat, therefore, 1st and 2nd Prize money will be added together giving 70% of prize money pool and split with the 2 dead heated pigeons, thus both pigeons receive 35% each.
3.10 Prize money for any race or event is calculated at 80% of the entry fees fully paid. Three (3) prizes will be awarded for each race. Positions prize money is paid is for 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
3.11 Prize money and payouts for a race or event is calculated at 80% of the entry fees fully paid and determined on the following formula for that race or event. 1st 50%, 2nd 20% and 3rd 10%. Payouts of Prize money will be the net amount after any bank fees (Domestic or International) are deducted from the Prizemoney.
3.11 Competition is based on the number of Pigeons competing in any one race or event. This total number of pigeons start from 10.
3.12 Multiple races or events may be conducted on any given race day. E.g. 10 races, with 10 pigeons competing, in Division 1. Therefore Division 1 has 100 pigeons competing in 10 races. These 100 pigeons maybe be offered to members in multiple Divisions.
3.13 Races or events will be identified by Division. A pigeon maybe offered for lease in a different Division or race to another member. Each Division is isolated from other Divisions. E.g. Division 1 has 10 races, Division 2 has 10 races using the same pigeons as the first Division.
3.14 A member may pay for entry fee denomination in any Division. A member may have the chance to enter the same pigeon in multiple divisions and increase the member’s prize money options by paying the additional entry fees into the other Divisions.
3.15 An Electronic Timing System (ETS) with ability to determine results down to 100th of a second will be used to determine the race results. All pigeons competing in the race or events will be identified by a Life Ring and issued a RFID Electronic Ring compatible with the ETS installed in the Loft. A RFID ring is attached to each pigeons leg, it is this RFID ring that determines the winner and positions, the scanning pad fixed at the loft entry point (Finish Line) determines the winner as the order of which the pigeons enter the loft across the scanning pad.
3.16 The starting point for any race or event will be determined by the TAPC. Distances for any race or event will be also determined by the TAPC.
3.17 The finish line will be a set fixture at the loft, where the pigeons normally enter (known as a trap). ETS scanning pads will be at that loft entrance and will not be moved other than for maintenance, repair or replacement. This location is determined by the TAPC.
3.18 All Pigeons competing in the races or events will be housed in the TAPC Lofts at the location determined by the TAPC. They will receive all the same food, water, treatments, medication, grit and supplements, training and due care to ensure that NO individual pigeon is given any advantage over the other loft pigeons.
3.19 If adverse weather affects the date of the race or event, the TAPC reserves the right to delay the start time of each event for 48 hours. All entry fees remain in play unless the races are called off or cancelled. In the event of cancellation entry fees can be refunded to the members or retained for the next race date scheduled at the discretion of the individual member.
3.18 All Pigeons competing in the races or events will be housed in the TAPC Lofts at the location determined by the TAPC.
3.19 All Pigeons competing in the races or events will be drawn from a bingo type barrel to determine the Division and Race the pigeon will be competing in, this will allow for random race selection for every race each week. All Pigeons in the loft eligible to compete will be allocated a ball number e.g. numbered 1 – 200. If ten (10) races are to be held for the day or event then the first number drawn will be allocated to race number 1 as entrant number 1. The second ball drawn will be allocated to race allocated to race number 2 as entrant number 1 and so forth until the first entrants are all drawn for the entrant number 1 position. The Barrel will continue and the draw will indicate the first number drawn will be allocated to race number 1 as entrant number 2 and so forth until each entrant position is filled and each race is filled.
3.20 All barrel determinations will take place at least 24 hours prior to any race for an event day. The draw for the next event will take place prior to 9pm the previous day.
3.21 The Barrel determination selection for races will be conducted at a public place to be notified in advance of the draw taking place. The location will be advertised on the website.
3.22 All Pigeons competing in the races or events will be transported to the point of release (starting point) by the official TAPC transport trailer. Releases (race starts) will be either videoed or witnessed by a third party to ensure transparency.
3.23 If there are multiple releases to be conducted then all races release times will be conducted 15 minutes apart after the release (start) of the 1st Race, unless the birds have not returned to the loft from the release, then the Management may hold the release of the next race on the day of the race. All the Races will be closed (finished) 5 minutes after the 3rd position prize has been confirmed.
3.24 The start time of the first race of the day will be determined by the TAPC, taking into account weather conditions and the safety and welfare of the pigeons.
3.25 All Pigeons competing in the races or events will be allocated race results as per their finishing ranking. These results will be available on the website to allow members to access their entries for any race or event.
3.26 All Pigeons competing in the races or events will be also be allocated points to the ACE Bird, this is allocated at the number of seconds in flying time, indicating the total amount of flying time for each individual pigeon. The individual ACE Bird gives the members the ability to also assess their entries on the individual pigeons completing the races the fastest.
3.27 The website will also provide details or links to weather and conditions of each race to enable the members to assess their potential entries based on past performances.
4. CANCELLATION OF AN ENTRY FEE
4.1 No entry fee may be cancelled, changed, or modified by you, in any way or form, once it is has been paid and confirmed/received and accepted by us. After confirmation of payment, there is no refund of entry fees paid if the member changes their mind or for any other reason.
4.2 In the case of an entry fee placed via the Internet site, the responsibility to verify that the entry fee details are correct prior to the submission of an entry fee resides with the member; it is recommended that members print a copy of their confirmation of payment for their own records.
4.3 In the event that an entry fee is put up in obvious error due to a human error by an employee, any customer entry fees entered to take advantage of such error will be void.
4.4 In the event of a system malfunction, all entry fees for that particular race or event are void.
4.5 We reserve the right to refuse any entry fee prior to its acceptance.
4.6 We shall keep a record of all final race or event results and related statistics for the protection of both the member and us in case of obvious mechanical or human error.
Last updated on: 10 January 2022