Ben Mosier | Horse Racing Free Tips

HIWU Set to Administer HISA Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program

Edited Press Release

The Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU), the independent enforcement agency of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's (HISA) Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, has reached arrangements with all state racing commissions and/or racetracks that will be conducting live racing on or soon after the implementation of the ADMC Program, which is anticipated to be Monday, Mar. 27, 2023. The laboratories that will be conducting testing under the Program have also been confirmed.

“HIWU appreciates the opportunity to engage with state racing commissions, racetracks, and laboratories in the implementation of a national, uniform ADMC program,” said Ben Mosier, executive director of HIWU. “We are confident that all our arrangements will facilitate uniform compliance with the ADMC Program to ensure its consistency and effectiveness.”

Once the ADMC Program takes effect, the following states and/or racetracks will continue to provide sample collection personnel services by utilizing their current staff, who will have been trained and certified by HIWU. Voluntary agreements have either been signed or will be signed before the first day of racing under the new ADMC Rules with the following entities:

Arkansas Racing Commission
California Horse Racing Board
Florida Gaming Control Commission, in cooperation with Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs
Kentucky Horse Racing Commission
Maryland Racing Commission
New York Racing Association (except Post-Race testing)
Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission
Will Rogers Downs

For the following states and/or racetracks, HIWU has either contracted directly with existing personnel or has hired its own sample collection personnel to implement the ADMC Program. There is therefore no signed voluntary agreement with the following entities:

Arizona Department of Gaming (Division of Racing)
Finger Lakes
Illinois Racing Board
New York Gaming Commission (Post-Race testing only)
Ohio State Racing Commission

HIWU is also engaging with state racing commissions and racetracks that are racing after mid-April and will announce those relationships prior to such time.

Laboratories must be accredited by the Racing Medication & Testing Consortium to be eligible to conduct testing as part of HISA's ADMC Program, and must meet additional criteria determined by HIWU. HIWU has entered into contracts with the following laboratories to analyze samples collected under the ADMC Program:

Analytical Toxicology Laboratory (Ohio Department of Agriculture)
Animal Forensic Toxicology Laboratory (University of Illinois-Chicago)
Industrial Laboratories
Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory (University of California, Davis)
Pennsylvania Equine Toxicology and Research Laboratory
University of Kentucky Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory

“For the first time, racing's labs will be harmonized and held to the same performance standards nationwide,” said Mosier. “Thoroughbred racehorses will be tested for the same substances at the same levels, regardless of where they are located or compete.”

Lab accreditation will eventually transition to the HISA Equine Analytical Laboratory standards, which will not take effect before 2024.

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HISA’s Anti-Doping And Medication Control Panel Members Revealed

Edited Press Release

The individuals who will comprise the Internal Adjudication Panel (IAP), which will hear Controlled Medication Rule Violation Cases under HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, were announced Friday by HISA and HIWU.

IAP members, who will serve for 4-year terms as independent contractors to both HISA and HIWU, were selected for their deep equine regulatory experience. State stewards will be prohibited from participating in cases originating in their state of employment. All members of the panel will receive training on HISA's adjudication processes under the ADMC Program before they can hear cases and must complete continuing education on an annual basis to maintain their eligibility to serve.

“We are excited by the group we have assembled to hear Controlled Medication Rule Violation cases, which we expect to be the most common types of cases under the ADMC Program,” said Ben Mosier, HIWU's executive director. “With their extensive and diverse experiences in equine regulation, we are confident that they will act fairly and consistently during the adjudication process.”

“The Internal Adjudication Panel will play a significant role in the enforcement of the ADMC Program given HISA's distinction between medication overages and doping violations for the first time in our sport,” said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus. “As such, I'm thrilled by the depth of knowledge and expertise each individual who has agreed to serve on the panel will bring to our adjudication processes, benefitting the entire racing community.”

The members of the IAP are as follows, with their “prohibited states” in relation to hearing cases included in parentheses where applicable:

Rick Abbott (PA)–chairs the Appeal and Review Committee of the National Steeplechase Association and was a member of the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission from 1996 to 2009.

Eddie Arroyo (IL)–served as the senior state steward representing the Illinois Racing Board for 32 years.

Lisa Blackstone-current vice president of the Arabian Horse Association, chair of the United States Equestrian Federation's (USEF) Ethics Committee, and co-chair of USEF's Hearing Committee.

Barbara Borden (KY)–appointed chief steward for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission in April 2012.

Patricia Bowman (IN)–currently a state steward with the Indiana Horse Racing Commission.

Lori Dinoto (OH)–works as a steward at both Mahoning Valley Race Course and Thistledown.

Connie Estes (NM)–deputy director of operations at the Texas Racing Commission and worked for the New Mexico Racing Commission as a state steward and for the Breeders' Cup as a safety steward.

Hilary Forde–director of HF Consult Sports Law and currently serves as a tribunal clerk for the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI).

John Herbuveaux (CA)–steward for the California Horse Racing Board since 1983.

Duncan Patterson (DE)–currently chairman of the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission, chairman of the Drug Testing Standards and Practices Committee for the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI), and a member of the Stewards Advisory Committee for the NSA.

Diane Pitts–currently on the board of directors for the USEF and was reelected to a second term as a member of the Tribunal of the FEI.

Erika Riedl–was a clerk for the Tribunal of the FEI and is a Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution-accredited mediator.

Kim Sawyer (CA)–accredited as a steward since 1999 and employed by the California Horse Racing Board since 2005.

Eric Smith (IN–a ROAP Level I-accredited flat racing steward and currently the senior state steward for the Indiana Horse Racing Commission.

Edward Weiss (CA)–has been a litigator in private practice, an assistant U.S. attorney, and general counsel of Ticketmaster.

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ORI Wraps Up Tucson Conference

Executive Director Ben Mosier brought representatives from his Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) to make the final presentation on Tuesday afternoon to members of the Organization of Racing Investigators (ORI) who held their annual conference in Tucson, Arizona this week.

In his introductory remarks, Mosier said, “Nobody knows more about the confusion over HISA they we do. We are prepared and ready, assuming Mar. 27 as a start date.”

Attendees heard from General Counsel Michelle Pujals, Head of Investigative Operations Shawn Loehr and Head of Intelligence and Strategy Shawn Richards, as each outlined a different segment of HIWU's program. A question and answer sessions covered topics including the contracting of outside investigators, how out of competition testing would be conducted and the current status of agreements with state racing commissions, which could directly affect the role played by members who serve on the frontlines at their respective tracks.

Besides the HIWU session, ORI examined a number of issues earlier in the day from ethics, the media, barn surveillance, proper licensing and employee retention. Participants came away from Tucson with a greater understanding of a myriad of best practices that they can immediately implement in their respective jurisdictions.

“This year's ORI meeting was our best yet,” said Chairman Juan Carlos Estrada of the Arizona Department of Gaming. “Not only because of the camaraderie, but we heard from some excellent speakers that gave our membership the opportunity to add to their skills, so we are already looking forward to next year.”

The 28th ORI Conference will be hosted by Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pennsylvania with dates forthcoming.

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At 1-Month Mark For Drug Control, HISA Braces Industry For Changes

Four weeks out from the anticipated effective date for the Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program (ADMC), the Authority overseeing the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) is stepping up its awareness campaign so industry participants can be properly prepared for a sweeping change in regulatory protocols.

“We are officially on the one-month countdown to what we are confident will be the launch of our ADMC program on Mar. 27,” Lisa Lazarus, the chief executive officer for the HISA Authority, said during a Monday video press conference.

“Everyone is sort of on the same page of wanting uniformity and wanting consistency,” Lazarus continued. “And we're excited for the chance to actually show the industry what that looks like. I think once we get past Mar. 27, we'll be able to convert some doubters into believers.”

Part of what Lazarus and Ben Mosier, the executive director for the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), are trying to get across to industry entities is that the looming ADMC implementation date is a very real deadline that they believe will not be affected by any current court action.

Mosier underscored that the ADMC launch is “what my team is focused on right now until somebody tells us otherwise.”

Added Lazarus: “One of the challenges for us, and why we are beating the drum as much as we possibly can, is to make sure stakeholders realize this is actually coming on Mar. 27. The moment the Federal Trade Commission [FTC] approves the [ADMC] regulations, they are effective.”

That date represents the last day of the FTC's 60-day review period for the ADMC rules, and Lazarus said “all indications” are that the FTC will greenlight them.

“The minute they approve them, state racing commissions are out of the drug-testing business, and we're the sole entity responsible in those states where HISA is operating,” Lazarus said.

Lazarus did note an exception: “The [federal] court in Louisiana has enjoined HISA from operating in Louisiana and West Virginia, so we will not be administering the ADMC program in those states, and yes, state regulations will continue to be in effect there.”

Lazarus also noted that the four federal lawsuits aiming to try to derail HISA were all initiated prior to the December 2022 rewrite of the HISA law that amended the act's operational language with the aim of quelling legal allegations of anti-constitutionality.

“I really don't think there is anything” in the courts that can stop the FTC's approval from happening, “which is why I'm so confident,” Lazarus said. “There is no pending legal action that is on the schedule to be resolved ahead of Mar. 27, [and] no party, no person, no entity has mounted any challenge to that [rewritten] law.”

Asked about immediate changes that horse owners and trainers might notice on Day 1 of implementation, Mosier noted several examples. One involved exactly who-HISA personnel or the existing track stewards-would be responsible for selecting horses for post-race testing.

“All testing is managed and directed by HIWU,” Mosier explained. “But what we're doing, and don't want to lose, is the ability for local personnel to inform testing selections. And what I mean by that is currently [in] the industry, the stewards [select horses for post-testing]. And we're not going to lose that ability. But we have to ensure that their selections are done in compliance with the rules, so we're working very closely with the stewards to make sure that they are educated and understand the rules and are essentially certified to now do this under our direction.”

Mosier continued: “We can also still hear information actively from veterinarians, or other personnel, on the ground [regarding factors] they see on the backstretch that typically flow up to the stewards on a daily basis.”

But, Mosier added, the flow of “nationwide intelligence” will also work in the other direction, meaning that local testing protocols might be triggered by information that flows downward from higher-up Authority entities, including from tips that come via HISA's whistleblower program.

Lazarus put it this way: “I think having a nationwide strategy that is intelligence-driven is going to be an opportunity for the industry to see how clean [or not]” the sport is.

Lazarus added that participants will experience “far higher levels of out-of-competition testing that the industry's ever seen, [instead of] almost-exclusive reliance on post-race testing to manage integrity.”

Mosier said when a horse is brought to a test barn, for example, the chain of custody will be paperless.

Mosier said horsemen can expect to have to electronically sign off on testing via an iPad (with instructions available in both English and Spanish), and that this system will assign unique markers that will accompany the specimen samples to the testing lab. Horsemen will then be electronically forwarded receipts from the test-barn process to streamline and provide proof of testing.

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