Here are some takeaways from the day's presentations and discussions, which included four segments focused on HISA, a keynote address from new National Thoroughbred Racing Associations president and CEO Tom Rooney, and a high-powered panel featuring the top executives of four major racetrack organizations: 1/ST Racing (The Stronach Group), Del Mar, Keeneland and the New York Racing Association.

HISA Drug Testing Will Be Phased In

Charles Scheeler, the chairman of HISA, outlined the progress the organization has made during a very compressed timeline from passage of the legislation in December 2020 until its mandated launch July 1. A board of directors and chairman was named in May 2021, interim staff including a CEO was hired in July, when meetings and collaboration with the presumed enforcement arm, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), began. In September, stakeholder talks started, along with meetings with current state regulators. HISA presented its draft of proposed safety regulations to the FTC on the eve of the Symposium. It requested and received a waiver from the FTC to delay submission of proposed anti-doping and medication policies for at least 10 days (until Dec. 16). Draft anti-doping/medication regulations shared with industry organizations were met with considerable feedback. The FTC will conduct public register review in January and February and the rules must be approved by March 1 – four months in advance of HISA's launch.

Scheeler said the final regulations approved “will not be perfect” or “written in stone.”

When HISA does begin operations on July 1, it will only conduct out-of-competition testing, leaving post-race testing and adjudication of any violations from those tests in the hands of the state racing commissions for the rest of the year. Scheeler said HISA would take over post-race testing on Jan. 1, 2023. HISA would adjudicate any violations detected from out-of-competition tests.

Scheeler said HISA also hopes to work with racing commissions when it begins post-race testing to use existing personnel for race-day blood and urine collections, adding that if something isn't broken HISA is not interested in fixing it.

Technology And Big Data Will Be Critical

Scheeler and Dr. Susan Stover, a HISA board member and chair of the Racetrack Safety Committee, spoke about the importance of technology and data to HISA's success. The “transformational database” referred to by Scheeler would include information on both covered persons and covered horses and provide trainers and owners an interface to report whenever a horse's location changes, an important component for out-of-competition testing.

Stover, whose breakthrough research at the University of California-Davis has led to greater understanding of injury prevention, said the opportunity to collect comprehensive data is extremely important for racing to reduce the rate of fatal or serious injuries and for the sport to maintain what she called its Social License to Operate (SLO) with the public.

Stover pointed out that the United States has in recent years reduced its rate of fatal injuries per thousand starts by 40% but still has a rate higher than in the United Kingdom, Australia/New Zealand and Hong Kong. “We have work to do,” she said.

Dr. Sue Stover (right) and Ann McGovern

Fatalities aren't the only concern to Stover, who said 3% of horses at the tracks are taken out of training each month, an attrition rate she estimated costs nearly $82 million to horse owners every month.

Some form of pre-existing condition was detected in almost 90% of fatally injured horses she has examined over the years, Stover said. Factors that led to increased risk included corticosteroid injections, recent lameness and abnormalities in pre-race exams. Stover said data collected on training intensity (speed works at longer distances) may help HISA develop best training practices, especially for horses coming off layoffs.

Racetrack accreditations by HISA will be phased in, with tracks currently accredited by the NTRA getting an interim three-year accreditation with HISA, provided they make good faith efforts in certain areas and adhere to data reporting requirements.

Ann McGovern, a racetrack safety committee member, said in response to a question from the audience that tracks that fail to be accredited will lose their ability to conduct interstate wagering.

HISA/USADA Price Tag Remains a Mystery

Scheeler said HISA was not yet in position to submit a budget for HISA operations, in part because it does not have a contract with USADA. Costs, he said, would also depend in part on how things are worked out with state racing commissions. “It will cost money,” Scheeler said, “but this is an investment.” He compared the industry's failure to advance safety and anti-doping programs to bridges and roads crumbling because of the lack of infrastructure investment. Some of that investment will be in what Scheeler described as a “powerful and rigorous investigation program” similar to the 5Stones Investigations unit hired by The Jockey Club that investigated many of the trainers, veterinarians and drug suppliers who were indicted on federal charges in March 2020.

In a separate panel, Ed Martin, president of the Association of Racing Commissioners International, said language in the bill that created HISA was flawed because it does not require state racing commissioners to help with funding. “They made a mistake with this bill,” said Martin. “They allowed the states to walk away.” Martin suggested that state budget directors will withdraw funding for horse racing regulations and drug testing once they find out they aren't required to help fund HISA.

Therapeutic Medication List Still Being Developed

A group that included Adolpho Birch, HISA board member and chair of the Anti-Doping and Medication Control Committee, reviewed how medication violations will be adjudicated, separating primary (most serious) and secondary (therapeutic) drug positives.

Jeff Cook, general counsel for USADA, said a goal will be to adjudicate cases more quickly: four weeks when doping violations for secondary medications are challenged and eight weeks for primary drugs. A national stewards panel will adjudicate the secondary cases with an arbitrator used for the more serious violations. Cases can also be appealed to an FTC administrative law judge.

Two notable changes from the current process are that split samples would not go to a lab of the trainer's choosing and public disclosure of complaints may come as soon as the trainer is notified.

Birch, general counsel for the Tennessee Titans, served previously as the NFL's top anti-doping officials and helped draft the league's drug policies. Birch said the NFL was struggling with controlling the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs, with some players dying from drugs and others feeling the need to cheat to compete. “If we didn't change,” he said, “the sport was going to suffer irreparably.”

Dr. Tessa Muir, USADA's director of equine science, said the HISA Anti-Doping and Medication Control Committee is still in the process of drafting a therapeutic medication list and screening limits for those drugs.

Mr. Rooney Goes Back To Washington

In his keynote address – his first as NTRA president and CEO – former Florida Congressman Tom Rooney said his mission will be to represent the horse industry in Washington, D.C., where he served five terms in the House of Representatives, from 2009-'19.

Rooney succeeds Alex Waldrop, who served as NTRA chief executive for 15 years. Waldrop was honored on Tuesday by the Race Track Industry Program with the Clay Puett Award for outstanding contributions to the industry.

From a family that owns the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers and has been involved in Thoroughbred, Standardbred and Greyhound racing, Rooney brings a solid resume to the position. As a former member of Congress, he understands how important it is to have an industry representative in the nation's capital.

That's never more important than today, he said, referencing high profile events like the sudden death of Medina Spirit, the first-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, and the fact that “our opponents have not gone away and they never, ever will go away.”

Incoming NTRA president and CEO Tom Rooney

Rooney's family owns the Palm Beach Kennel Club in Florida, where Greyhound racing was recently eliminated in a state-wide vote.

Rooney said he will work to support a smooth transition to HISA, help racing benefit from sports betting and maintain favorable tax benefits for horse owners.

The post Takeaways From Tucson: HISA Talk Dominates Global Symposium On Racing appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Earlier this week, in consultation with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, led by CEO Travis Tygart and Dr. Tessa Muir, USADA's director of equine science, HISA published a draft set of definitions, medication protocols and a list of prohibited medications.

The public has an opportunity to comment and offer feedback on those proposed rules before they go to the Federal Trade Commission next month for a second round of public comment and eventual approval by the FTC.

It's clear, from the proposed rules and comments by Tygart and Muir in a series of media interviews, that racing is in for some significant changes.

Gone will be the good old boy community of racing commissioners with conflicts of interest involving some of the people they are regulating. It is hoped the cavalcade of attorneys appealing fines, suspensions and disqualifications on behalf of trainers will grind to a halt as well, with strict, understandable and loophole-free regulations in place when the transition to the Authority occurs next July.

But first, some caveats.

USADA has yet to sign a contract with the Authority as the enforcement agency for when HISA goes into effect. Tygart and Muir have been instrumental in meeting with HISA committees and staff in developing the rules, and Tygart said USADA is ready to become the enforcement agency IF the final regulations approved by the FTC are “good rules that we can stand by.”

In other words, Tygart is not going to risk USADA's brand or his own good name on a mission if it is hijacked by people who are successful in watering down the rules.

There are also the lawsuits by horsemen's organizations in opposition to the federal legislation that created the Authority. These have yet to be resolved in court. Tygart calls them obstructionists who hope to delay implementation and cause the Authority to burn through limited financial resources.

“We fully anticipate those groups or individuals who have always been opposed to a new uniform policy being in place and independent, robust enforcement of those policies, that they're going to continue to try and obstruct it at every turn,” Tygart said.

If the legal challenges are defeated and USADA becomes the enforcement agency, this will be a different, cleaner game played on a more level field.

For starters, no medications will be permitted by statute for 48 hours prior to race day. A robust out-of-competition testing program will be phased in with “whereabouts” requirements for all horses registered with the Authority. That means if horses are removed from a racetrack stable area, a trainer must notify the Authority where that horse is going so that out of competition testing can be conducted. Violations of the whereabouts rule will be dealt with severely.

So will positive tests for prohibited substances that are now dealt with in many states with a slap on the wrist. For example, primary substances – those that should not be in a horse's system at any time – found in post-race or out-of-competition samples may result in suspensions of up to two years. Included in that group are anabolic steroids, blood-doping agents and clenbuterol.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories would fall under secondary substance rules that can be met with a 30-day suspension and fine. However, trainers who pick up four of those violations over a five-year period may be suspended up to two years.

And any positive drug test will result in automatic disqualification of that horse from a race.

“For the integrity of racing from the results standpoint, the disqualification of the horse is automatic,” said Muir. “We would take into consideration any mitigating circumstances, with respect to the fine or suspension.”

The days of Bute overages being looked upon as minor violations akin to a parking ticket will be over. Trainers who have been willing to take an edge or have sloppy medication oversight will need to clean up their acts.

A key element of HISA's anti-doping program will be intelligence and investigations that result in “non-analytical” cases where the evidence is something other than a positive drug test.

“The Navarro indictment showed that they were using things they know or believe not to be detectable by current testing methods,” Tygart said. “So if you say you have to have a positive test to be held accountable, you've just given a license to people to go use things there aren't tests for, because science is limited to a certain extent.”

Tygart and Muir both believe whistleblowers will be an important part of the program and said USADA has been receiving tips on wrongdoing for several years since the agency was first mentioned as part of the federal legislation. The draft regulations include language protecting whistleblowers and charging anyone who intimidates a whistleblower.

“The principle there is it takes a community of people who benefit from having good rules that protect their rights,” Tygart said. “Hopefully they will trust whoever the enforcement agency is. If it's us, we will work hard to gain that trust like we have in our human sports to bring forward information and then act appropriately based on that information.”

Long delays in the resolution of cases is another problem the current system has permitted through appeals to the commission and the civil courts. Under HISA, all “covered persons” (including trainers) will need to register with the Authority and in so doing agree to the rules, including an arbitration process that Tygart said has worked well with human athletes. USADA enforces medication rules for Olympic athletes and UFC fighters, among others.

“There are so many loopholes in how the current system works and (trainers and their attorneys) can win,” Tygart said. “Part of this process is to shut the legal, technical loopholes that people can exploit. My guess is a lot of the defense counsels out there who have made a living out of trying those cases are going to be frustrated because they are not going to win many cases, as they shouldn't. Justice should be served, and we don't look at that as a win or a loss.”

As such, under the proposed rules, if a trainer and USADA do not come to a mutual agreement on a resolution and sanctions for any violations, the case goes to an impartial arbitrator or independent steward panel, to determine an outcome.

“We resolve 95% or more of our cases in the human program (without going to arbitration),” Tygart said. “That's historically true because people know that if you break the rule, we're going to be fair in the ultimate consequence and take into consideration the individual facts to get to a fair outcome. People recognize that if you do something wrong, the best thing that you can do, honestly, is to take responsibility for it and not waste your time or their time to get to the inevitable. … People are willing to forgive and move on. What people don't like is those who make excuses or continue to lie or try to cover up their doping, and I think that principle will play very well here because the rules are not going to allow people to exploit them in the way they are currently being exploited.”

Tygart added, “When you sign up to be a 'covered person,' you agree to the rules of the game. If you don't like the rules, you don't have to play.”

Racing has needed a new sheriff for some time. It may finally have found one.

That's my view from the eighth pole

The post View From the Eighth Pole: A New Sheriff In Town? appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

To date, there are many questions and relatively few answers.

But two recent interviews with Dr. Tessa Muir, director of equine science for the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), offer a glimpse into a possible future for the sport.

The suggestions Muir makes, while understandably qualifying that it is far too early to assess USADA's exact role with HISA given the lack of a contract between the two and no rule base in place just yet, are concurrently exciting and ground-breaking for American racing.

While there is much to be determined, one thing is certain: if Muir's early suggestions are close to the reality of USADA's likely involvement as HISA's enforcement agent, American racing is due for seismic changes, even if those are not fully in place by July 2022 when HISA is due to launch.

The Thoroughbred Daily News published the first piece on Aug. 29. Dan Ross posed several thoughtful questions to Muir about USADA's role, a focus on adopting a transparent approach to testing and results, and how their execution of anti-doping measures in human sports might translate to racing.

“It's probably a little too early to delve into specifics. There are things we've discussed with the Authority. If you take USADA's example of what there is with human sports, you can search any individual athlete by name, and you can see how many times they've been tested within that breakdown.”

“You can also look to other racing jurisdictions where they already publish some of this data, such as in Racing Victoria. After the race day, they publish a report on what horses got tested, pre-race and post-race.”

Using the example of Melbourne Cup Day in 2020, blood was drawn from 38 horses before racing (to be analyzed after the race), urine was drawn from six more and post-race samples from every race winner, along with the second and third finishers in the big race.

As it stands in U.S. racing now, few stakeholders know which horses are tested, with the exception of race winners. A ledger of out-of-competition tests is not available. Muir gives the impression this will change under USADA's role in HISA.

“There's a need for transparency in competition–for race day and in the out-of-competition component. If you look at USADA's history, they've been huge advocates for transparency and for sharing testing data.

“If you look on their website, you can search for an individual athlete and see how many times they've been tested in a year or in a quarter, which I think is a really positive thing.”

“On the equine side, we definitely want to publish testing data. I think there's a balance–you want to publish and be transparent to the point it doesn't compromise the integrity of the independent testing program you've got in place.”

The status quo, however, has been far different.

In a recent court filing (see page 16 of the document), prosecutors from the Southern District of New York argued indicted Standardbred trainer Nick Surick entered horses in races where he believed post-race testing would not be done for substances which he used in his horses.

Natalie Voss from Paulick Report drew attention to transcripts in the recent filing which indicated the indicted trainers may have been tipped-off, regularly, by track security staff of possible searches.

Knowing which horses are tested, when and how often is a crucial step towards improving overall confidence in the sport.

Three days following the publication of Ross's Q&A with Muir, she outlined more of the possibilities in an interview with Ray Paulick, citing USADA's “whereabouts” program which requires human athletes to report their daily schedule, enabling doping control officers to locate them for out-of-competition testing.

This would revolutionize testing in American racing, and require tremendous administrative attention from trainers and their staffs. Muir's remarks on this topic, to Paulick, are below:

“The intent of the (federal law) is that horses are accessible at any time at any place from the point of their first workout until they retire from racing. In order to conduct that 'no-advance-notice' testing anywhere at any time, you need whereabouts information in order to find the horse.

“That really is a critical underpinning for prevention, deterrence and detection of misuse of substances. Whilst specifics of how that may look are currently not finalized, if you look at any good anti-doping program in the world, whereabouts is a really key component. And that requires locations, not just while horses are in training but when they are in other locations resting or pre-training.”

USADA's “Whereabouts Policy” details the degree of specificity required by human athletes to ensure they can be located for testing.

Athletes must submit accurate contact information, providing a full schedule including “each location where the Athlete will train, work or conduct any other regular activity (e.g. school), as well as the usual timeframes for such regular activities.” In addition, they must identify one hour each day between 5 A.M. and 11 P.M. “during which the Athlete will be available and accessible for Testing at a specific location.”

Complete details of every overnight location must be provided on a quarterly basis, delineated by day. Any amendments to these plans must also be filed. The Whereabouts Policy document notes:

“The athlete must provide sufficient information to enable a doping control officer to find the location, to gain access to the location, and to find the Athlete at the location. For example, declarations such as 'running in Rocky Mountain National Park' are insufficient.”

Failure to comply with USADA's entire “doping control process” for human athletes can lead to suspensions of up to four years “and other consequences.”

In 2013, track and field athlete Trey Downing was suspended for 18 months for failing to provide a sample at a doping control officer's request.

In December 2020, UFC athlete Yair Rodriguez was suspended for six months for violating the UFC's Anti-Doping Policy by accruing three “Whereabouts” failures in each of the first three quarters of 2020. According to the release of the sanction, “Rodriguez was eligible for a reduction in the period of ineligibility because his conduct did not raise suspicion that he was trying to avoid being available for testing.”

Introduction of such a policy across American racing is difficult to comprehend given the status quo and will leave HISA and USADA, not to mention trainers, with a mountain of administrative work to assure compliance over time.

The recently released transcripts of conversations from trainers Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis, as well as veterinarian Kristian Rhein and other indicted individuals highlight the importance of doping control agents having routine access to horses, and this includes knowing where all horses are supposed to be at all times. Navarro and Rhein both pled guilty in August and are due to be sentenced in December.

In one of the wiretapped calls from June 5, 2019, Servis tells Rhein that testers, presumably from the New Jersey Racing Commission, were looking for Sunny Ridge at Monmouth Park on June 3, more than a week after he won the Salvator Mile (G3) there. Servis told Rhein that the horse was not there, but at Belmont. He then wonders incredulously why the testers took a sample from a juvenile that had not run well.

Standardbred trainer Nick Surick hid horses to evade out-of-competition testing, according to a recent filing in the case by prosecutors. Paulick Report posted the full filing and it can be accessed here (Surick evasion details are on page 17 of the document).

Whereabouts policies, and penalties assessed for failures to comply with them, increase the difficulty of evading detection.

A national voice leading a unified effort to educate horsemen on a single set of rules has not been a feature of the American racing landscape.

New rules and new procedures will require outreach the likes of which the American racing industry has not witnessed previously. USADA offers a series of documents which outline the polices and procedures of their anti-doping control programs – some for athletes, coaches, health care professionals – and include details of testing and results management, rights and responsibilities, whereabouts and whistleblower policies, investigations principles and more.

Dr. Muir told Ross “the education component of any anti-doping and medication program is a foundation to the success of the program. There's a variety of ways to actually deliver that information in an effective way. Something we'll be looking to is [to have] a level of education in place ahead of the first of July 2022.”

While acknowledging that nothing has been developed as of yet given the lack of rules, USADA's expertise in communicating policies and procedures is well-established.

Muir acknowledged USADA is cognizant of the need to produce materials in Spanish and that outreach efforts goes well beyond just trainers.

“There are a lot of parties beyond just the trainers and the grooms who touch these horses on a day-to-day basis, and therefore, we want to be in the best position possible to give people the tools to comply with the rules.

When HISA begins to operate, with USADA as its expected enforcement agent, there is no expectation that all of the elements of the programs Muir outlined are fully operational.

“Achieving what she calls a 'gold standard' program will not happen overnight,” wrote Ray Paulick. “Muir puts an 18- to 24-month timeline on that goal.”

Among the education efforts, Muir notes that participation from the industry, including via anonymous tip lines, will be needed to supplement formal efforts to maintain an improved sport. A USADA-administered tip line won't be racing's first – but it will be the first under a new, unified rule set, and one run by an organization with actual, nationwide control.

“The testing investigations comes under the responsibility of the enforcement agency (presumably USADA), but the tip lines and other things must have industry ownership,” Muir said. “When it comes to the responsibility for clean racing and preventing, deterring and detecting people who might be doing the wrong thing, it's the responsibility of the whole industry to call that out and prevent it and to stand up for clean racing.”

Undoubtedly, the question of cost comes into consideration.

A robust approach to anti-doping efforts in American racing will be more expensive under HISA than the present. But Muir told Ross that the current state-by-state approach has made it challenging to understand how much is spent at present on these efforts, making future cost projections all the more difficult.

“I think one of the challenges at the moment is that there's not any one currently accepted understanding of what the total cost and total amount currently being spent is. So, getting a handle on that is quite difficult to know: How is it going to be more expensive, and by how much?

“As the [HISA] chairman [Charles Scheeler] alluded to at the [Jockey Club] Round Table, he said publicly that they anticipate the costs are going to go up, and of course, that's to be expected for an enhanced and more effective program of the scale we're looking at here.

“It's a comparatively small investment–I'm not saying it's necessarily a small amount of money, not to belittle the amount–but a comparatively small investment in protecting the fairness of clean racing for all our horsemen and obviously the health and welfare of the horses and the longevity of the sport in the future.”

The post TIF Examines Changes Suggested By Horseracing Integrity And Safety Authority appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

For starters, for the first time, regulations related to medication, testing and enforcement will be uniform in every racing state. That's a tremendous achievement in itself.

Efforts to form uniform rules go back decades to the days of the National Association of State Racing Commissioners (predecessor of the Association of Racing Commissioners International).  There has been incremental progress, through development of model rules that only went into effect if individual state racing commissions and sometimes legislators bought into them. Too often they didn't adopt them as written.

The enabling legislation creating the Authority, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, overcomes those hurdles. The Authority is a non-governmental agency that will have federal oversight from the Federal Trade Commission, especially in its formative stage. Prior to July 2022, when the Authority is scheduled to be operational, the FTC will be required to accept, reject or amend the rules that the Authority is now developing to regulate medication and safety policies.

Dr. Tessa Muir, who joined the United States Anti-Doping Agency as head of its newly created equine program earlier this year, is part of the team developing those regulations. While USADA does not yet have a contract with the Authority, it's fully expected that it will be the agency named to that position, enforcing anti-doping policies in much the way it does for athletes in the Olympics, Paralympics and UFC fighters from the world of mixed martial arts.

Muir has worked as a regulatory veterinarian with Racing Victoria in Australia and before then spent six years with the British Horseracing Authority as a veterinarian assistant and anti-doping manager.

“We are diligently working with the Authority,” Muir said in an interview with the Paulick Report. “The core rules that we are developing will form the basis of the program. Implementation is that final step in bringing HISA to reality.

“Alongside the rules,” Muir added, “we are working with the Authority and hope to have a contract in place with them ASAP.”

In parallel with development of medication regulations, which will lean heavily on existing guidelines from the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities and the Association of Racing Commissioners International, Muir said USADA and the Authority are also working through a business model to determine staffing or contract labor needed to enforce its program. Among other things, there will be a need for investigators and what USADA refers to as doping control officers.

“One of the really great things with combining USADA and its human side with its equine side – assuming we do have a signed contract with the Authority – is that there will be some crossover between what goes on in the human world and the equine world,” Muir said. “Clearly, there are a lot of things that are also different, but again, where possible, we'll be trying to leverage resources sensibly to make it as streamlined as possible.

“What we are looking to do is to take the best elements from good anti-doping programs, whether they be equine or human, and create consistent, thorough and robust rules that fit the U.S. Once we have those rules, we can enforce them to ensure clean racing, the health and welfare and long-term soundness of our equine athletes.”

USADA and the Authority will also need to establish laboratory standards and an accreditation program before determining which of the existing drug testing laboratories will be utilized. While laws in some racing jurisdictions currently require testing to be conducted at in-state university labs, the assumption is that the enabling federal legislation will supersede such state laws.

Muir said post-race sampling will continue to be a part of a USADA anti-doping program, but it's obvious a significant focus will be on out-of-competition testing. Achieving what she calls a “gold standard” program will not happen overnight. Muir puts an 18- to 24-month timeline on that goal.

“A lot of it relates to collection of the data and to have a smart testing program, whether that be in or out of competition,” Muir said. “You have to develop the technology and the information and intelligence from the investigations to form that big picture on how you conduct testing.”

Muir describes best practices out-of-competition testing as an “anywhere, anytime”program that will be accompanied by a “whereabouts” requirement. That means the location of horses may need to be reported to the Authority or to USADA at all times so that surprise visits by doping control officers may take place.

“The intent of the (federal law) is that horses are accessible at any time at any place from the point of their first workout until they retire from racing,” Muir said. “In order to conduct that 'no-advance-notice' testing anywhere at anytime, you need whereabouts information in order to find the horse. That really is a critical underpinning for prevention, deterrence and detection of misuse of substances. Whilst specifics of how that may look are currently not finalized, if you look at any good anti-doping program in the world, whereabouts is a really key component. And that requires locations, not just while horses are in training but when they are in other locations resting or pre-training.”

Muir said testing is not the only way to catch violators, since some substances can be very difficult to detect.

“When you look at blood doping agents or illicit substances, it's not just things like EPO that are potentially difficult to detect,” she said. “There are other substances such as insulin, which have relatively short detection windows but potentially a much larger window for effect.

“In general terms, detection of a prohibited substance in a sample is only one of a number of different anti-doping rule violations. That detection isn't necessarily the only way to determine that someone has broken the rules.”

Muir listed anonymous tip lines as an important tool, though realizes that racing, like other sports that have struggled to control performance-enhancing drug use, there seems to be a de facto code of silence among many participants.

For that to change, Muir said, the industry will need to buy in to the principle that clean racing is better for everyone.

“The testing investigations comes under the responsibility of the enforcement agency (presumably USADA), but the tip lines and other things must have industry ownership,” she said. “When it comes to the responsibility for clean racing and preventing, deterring and detecting people who might be doing the wrong thing, it's the responsibility of the whole industry to call that out and prevent it and to stand up for clean racing.”

Muir admits that won't happen if the industry lacks confidence in USADA and the Authority.

“People have got to have confidence in those enforcing the rules, that they are acting on and doing the right thing,” she said. “I've had a lot of respect for USADA for a long time: that voice for the clean athletes and those doing the right thing. On the equine side it's the same proposition: standing up for the good people who are doing the right thing. They need to have trust that those enforcing the rules are going to help stand up for their rights.”

The post USADA’s Dr. Tessa Muir: Industry Confidence In Anti-Doping Program Key Element To HISA Success appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Before Muir joined the USADA staff roster, she had hopscotched her way up the industry ladder, from exercise rider to private veterinarian to head of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA)'s anti-doping program between 2013 and 2019. Her last position was as a regulatory veterinarian in Australia, for Racing Victoria.

Currently in the process of earning a master's degree in sports law, Muir faces an even tougher task in bringing to life the enforcement arm of racing's new regulatory framework. That's because there's much to do within a worryingly short amount of time.

Though the official implementation of HISA is set for July 1 next year, a baseline set of uniform rules–medication standards, laboratory testing accreditation rules, and racetrack safety accreditation standards–need to be squared away by the end of the year in order to meet tight administrative deadlines.

What's more, it's still unclear exactly who the enforcement agency will be when the law goes into effect. “No final agreement on USADA's involvement as the enforcement agency is currently in place,” Muir said, in a video presentation for the recent The Jockey Club Round Table Conference.

For her part, Muir tipped her hat during the Round Table to the “enormity of the task” ahead of her, saying that “USADA and myself personally are absolutely committed to our role in the inception of HISA, whether that ultimately sees USADA running the program, or contributing its expertise to the development of harmonizing rules and best practices in anti-doping.”

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority–the broad non-profit umbrella established by the law and commonly referred to as just the “Authority”–is expected to unveil important program specifics at an unspecified date this fall.

To try to elicit some details before then, the TDN this week sat down with Muir. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Coady

DR: What's your initial takeaway from these first few weeks on the job? 

TM: I actually started with USADA in April, so, I've been working with them for a while. The first month here [in the U.S.] has been a little bit of a whirlwind getting settled into a new country.

I've been really excited and encouraged by the engagement we've had with the people we've spoken to. Of course, we've started working with the Authority and their anti-doping and medication control committee, and then, I spent a week in Saratoga leading up to the Round Table, spending time with their state commission vets and the racetrack vets.

We've had our head down working really hard to deliver on some of the other things we need to. There are some challenges that are not unsurmountable if everyone works together and collaborates.

DR: Okay, so when it comes to HISA, given how we don't yet know who will run the enforcement arm of the law, what can you tell industry stakeholders looking at the ticking clock and worrying about the current lack of available specifics?

TM: As I've alluded to, we've got our heads down working really hard with the Authority to develop a set of rules. As you'll have heard, with what the chairman of the Authority [Charles Scheeler] said, the intention is that they'll be ready for socialization to the industry this fall.

HISA passing is the first component of it. The development of these rules and regulations is the second part. Then [comes] the specifics for USADA, and USADA becoming the enforcement agency.

I think we're all keen to get there ASAP. Of course, the rules go into effect on the first of July next year. But as you and the industry can appreciate, there are a number of things to work through given the expanse of the program for it all to come together.

Coady

DR: How well placed is USADA to manage what would appear a significant increase in testing volume, even if it's just in an oversight role? Does it have the necessary personnel?

TM: The intent is not to totally reinvent the wheel. There are good practices in place that can be leveraged. We will look to utilize existing infrastructure–for example, in testing barns where it's possible.

I think something else that comes into the mix is how technology might play a key role in running the program. To some extent, when you look at USADA's team, they've begun to expand the team to administer the program. But certainly, there's going to be a need for people who can leverage the existing structures.

DR: When it comes to HISA's approach to the public reporting of testing, what can we expect? Will there be greater transparency concerning all horses who are tested and not just the positives, for example? How will you approach the reporting of out-of-competition testing?

TM: There's a need for transparency in competition–for race day and in the out-of-competition component. If you look at USADA's history, they've been huge advocates for transparency and for sharing testing data.

If you look on their website, you can search for an individual athlete and see how many times they've been tested in a year or in a quarter, which I think is a really positive thing.

On the equine side, we definitely want to publish testing data. I think there's a balance–you want to publish and be transparent to the point it doesn't compromise the integrity of the independent testing program you've got in place.

DR: Are you able though to talk about what you think may be made public?

TM: It's probably a little too early to delve into specifics. There are things we've discussed with the Authority. If you take USADA's example of what there is with human sports, you can search any individual athlete by name, and you can see how many times they've been tested within that breakdown.

You can also look to other racing jurisdictions where they already publish some of this data, such as in Racing Victoria. After the race day, they publish a report on what horses got tested, pre-race and post-race.

Coady

Without saying we've landed on a specific final picture of what it might look like, I think that gives you a nice example of where there are standards already set where we can look and say, 'Where can we expand on that to give the public transparency?'

Note: Click here for USADA's athlete test history database.

Click here for an example of a Racing Victoria post-race day stewards' report.

DR: You said in your Jockey Club Round Table presentation that it'll take a while before USADA's “gold standard” anti-doping infrastructure will be implemented. What kind of timetable are you envisaging?

TM: We've got the first July deadline for next year. We need a program in place that's robust and covers the essentials. One of the big bits are the rules that need to be in place to get that uniformity. Looking forward, maybe it'll take 18 to 24 months to reach that gold standard of our independent program.

You've got to look at developing laboratory standards and their capabilities, the intel and investigations of course take shape over time, and a smart testing program similar to what USADA use in their human world–you've got to develop that data to drive that forward. And again, we'll be looking at technology as one of the key components to finesse that program.

As is the case with the human program, things never stand still. We work hard every single day to continually improve and adjust and refine the program.

DR: You use that 18-month timeframe. On a very practical level, what tangible differences can industry stakeholders expect to see between implementation on July 1 next year and then 18 months from then?

TM: The real tangibles you'll see on day one is the uniformity in the rules and some of those basic interactions and processes.

The development is still to be determined in many ways–as much as we can get in on day one the better. But of course, things like the smart testing program and refining how you select horses for testing, and the things you learn as you collate and collect data, it will of course evolve over that period of time.

Getting all the laboratories to a baseline and then developing that side of it–that's probably not the front-facing side of it, it's probably the development and the refinements behind the scenes.

The labs are really good ones to look at because developing new methodologies, investigative equipment and all that kind of stuff, takes time, and so, we're looking at: What do we need on day one for the program to function as a robust program? And then, how can we look to develop that going forward?

Coady

DR: Anti-doping deterrence costs money, and I think it's fair to say the financial component is of central concern to most stakeholders. What specifics can you share about what they can expect when it comes to costs, and specifically anti-doping deterrence and prevention costs?

TM: I think that's slightly two questions. The prevention and deterrence side is multi-factorial. It's not an isolated area. We've got education, out-of-competition no-notice testing, tip lines and investigations.

It's not an expensive cost per-se developing those rules and having those consistent results management arbitration processes–sanctions that deter those bad athletes. That covers deterrence and prevention as a whole.

On the question of the cost, that's probably the number one question that everyone asks. I think one of the challenges at the moment is that there's not any one currently accepted understanding of what the total cost and total amount currently being spent is. So, getting a handle on that is quite difficult to know: How is it going to be more expensive, and by how much?

As the chairman alluded to at the Round Table, he said publicly that they anticipate the costs are going to go up, and of course, that's to be expected for an enhanced and more effective program of the scale we're looking at here.

It's a comparatively small investment–I'm not saying it's necessarily a small amount of money, not to belittle the amount–but a comparatively small investment in protecting the fairness of clean racing for all our horsemen and obviously the health and welfare of the horses and the longevity of the sport in the future.

As far as what the actual dollar amount is, as [Scheeler] said, that's still being worked on at the moment. It's hard not having that really clear-cut number on what's currently being spent. There's money being spent in a lot of different areas currently.

DR: When it comes to the everyday adjudication of medication violations, Jockey Club vice chairman Bill Lear told me recently there'll likely be a tiered approach in the beginning, with the severity of the infraction governing which set of regulatory personnel–either the state's or USADA's–will handle the hearing. Could you elaborate on that?

TM: From a top-level look at it, the results management and adjudication process will come under the banner of the enforcement agency, so assuming that is USADA, USADA will be responsible for any of the anti-doping rule violations that occur.

As [Lear] alluded to, certainly looking at a tiered approach for that. The specifics will be made a lot clearer when the socialization process happens with the industry.

Sarah Andrew

DR: Obviously, a key issue with the current status quo is the glacial pace at which violations are adjudicated. Do you see a scenario whereby that process is expedited come July 1 next year?

TM: The intention is to have a streamlined process, but of course, there is the [matter] of due process, and that's something that is probably better answered by someone [in the] legal [department]. Obviously, we have a legal team at USADA that deals with the human side. The processes and the streamlined nature of that will become more evident when the arbitration procedures and the rules are socialized in the fall.

DR: One of USADA's big selling points is its educational programs for human sports. What will HISA's education outreach look like for racing? And how will you make sure everyone in the sport–irrespective of language barriers–gets access to the necessary information?

TM: You've made a great point that the education component of any anti-doping and medication program is a foundation to the success of the program.

There's a variety of ways to actually deliver that information in an effective way. Something we'll be looking to is a level of education in place ahead of the first of July 2022, because people will need to understand what the new requirements are. And of course, some of that will be developed beyond that.

The point about language is a really good one. That's something we're cognizant of as we look to start developing and creating education materials, ensuring that those people who need to be communicated with, and to engage with the process, can do so.

There are a lot of parties beyond just the trainers and the grooms who touch these horses on a day-to-day basis, and therefore, we want to be in the best position possible to give people the tools to comply with the rules.

DR: Have you started putting these materials together?

TM: Specific materials? No. First of all, before you can design educational materials, we need rules that we can educate people on. And so, at the moment, it's not our number one priority.

But as far as concepts and looking at good ideas–I've certainly done a few of the USADA education tools online to get an idea of some of the things that might be great to leverage.

Read part one and part two of our recent series digging down into the particulars of HISA.

The post Q&A with USADA’s Dr. Tessa Muir appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Although it is widely assumed the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency will take control of drug testing for horse racing, a contract has not yet been inked to finalize that relationship. It's no secret that USADA expects to take over that role, and the organization has hired Dr. Tessa Muir as its director of equine science. Muir grew up immersed in the equestrian world in her native England, attended veterinary school in Australia, and worked as a regulatory veterinarian after graduation.

The rules set out by the national authority will come from two separate committees: the medication/anti-doping committee and the safety committee. The former is chaired by Adolpho Birch, who coordinated the medication policy for the National Football League, and the latter is chaired by Dr. Sue Stover of the University of California-Davis.

Medication regulations must, per the text of the federal law, be based on international guidelines. Once the committees have draft guidance, it will be released to the industry for public comment for a period of 60 days. Then, HISA must consider public comment and has the opportunity to tweak the drafted rules. From there, HISA will submit the proposed regulations to the Federal Trade Commission and they must be entered into the federal register for another official 60-day comment period. After that period expires, the FTC must approve the new regulations at least four months prior to their becoming effective.

With a July 1 implementation deadline for HISA, that means regulations must be finalized and published March 1 at the latest in order to take effect as required by law.

Scheeler said by late fall or winter, HISA would have solid information regarding costs of the new program. But make no mistake — it will cost more than what the industry is used to paying.

“These program costs should not be looked at expenses,” said Scheeler. “They should be looked at as investments in strengthening the industry and ensuring its future.”

Outreach and education will also be part of the plan to get HISA off the ground. Scheeler said the new authority is not designed to replace state racing commissions, but will endeavor to work with them to enhance the work they're already doing. Scheeler emphasized that HISA isn't going to work if racing industry participants don't believe in it or put their best efforts into getting it off the ground — and that it needs to work, because the status quo is untenable.

“I've joked with some folks that we have a great advantage here in horse racing because the horses don't have a union,” said Scheeler. “But maybe that's the problem. While human athletes knowingly accept a risk when they cheat, horses don't have that choice. And while there are a constellation of humans in various organizations across the industry designed to protect horses, the enforcement has been balkanized and uneven.”

The post Scheeler: Proposed HISA Regulations Will Be Available For Public Comment By Year’s End appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

“When the history of this is written, it will be clear who the obstructionists were and who opposed this industry's best ever opportunity to right our badly listing ship,” Janney said. “I am proud to stand with those who support HISA, and I look forward to the needed reform it will bring to our industry and to seeing our ship finally sailing a straight course.”

Sunday's event was held virtually and streamed on jockeyclub.com and made available on NYRA's YouTube channel, Racetrack Television Network's respective platforms, and bloodhorse.com.

Janney was preceded by presentations from Charles Scheeler, chair of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority board of directors, and Dr. Tessa Muir, director of Equine Science for the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

Scheeler described the components of the authority's work ahead, which include the establishment of an anti-doping and medication testing program and a safety program; constituency outreach; and utilizing the industry's plethora of data, much of which will be sourced from The Jockey Club's databases. In advance of the implementation of HISA next year, plans call for the authority's board and standing committees to publish proposed rules for public comment before they are submitted to the Federal Trade Commission.

“What I saw when [I looked at HISA] was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make the sport safer for horses and jockeys, to serve the overwhelming majority of horse people who want to win fairly and who want to play by the rules…” Scheeler said.

Muir spoke of USADA's plans to work with the Thoroughbred industry, including leveraging expertise for both human and equine athletes to create best practices.

“Our aspiration is to establish and maintain a uniform and harmonized program that is centered on promoting and safeguarding the health and welfare of horses and protects the rights of all participants to race clean and win fairly,” she said.

Emily Lyman, founder and chief executive officer of Branch & Bramble, a digital marketing agency used by America's Best Racing (ABR), discussed how “social listening” online can be used to gauge public sentiment of horse racing and how highly publicized events can have a positive or negative impact on how the sport is viewed. She talked about how ABR's marketing strategy is influenced by this data and that influencers can be effectively used as brand ambassadors to introduce new audiences to horse racing.

“Maintaining the status quo doesn't protect a brand's long-term health,” Lyman said. “Without growth in impressions and public sentiment, your key audience will eventually die out.”

Will Duff Gordon, the chief executive officer of Total Performance Data (TPD), spoke in a presentation with Will Bradley, director and founder of Gmax Technology Ltd., on how TPD and Gmax have collaborated to create timing systems for horse races and how they are working with Equibase to determine how the tracking data can supplement and enhance the information that Equibase provides. They noted that this information will become more valuable with the expansion of sports betting in the United States.

“We do know from our European experience that sports that have the richest set of data, as well as pictures, as well as odds, capture the most betting turnover and handle,” Gordon said.

Dr. Yuval Neria, professor of Medical Psychology at Columbia University and director of the PTSD Research Center, was joined by Dr. Prudence Fisher, associate professor of Clinical Psychiatric Social Work at Columbia University, to talk about the Man O' War Project, which was founded by Ambassador Earle I. Mack. It is the first university-led research study to examine the effectiveness of equine-assisted therapy (EAT) in treating veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Neria described the findings as “extremely encouraging,” noting measurable changes in the parts of the brain involved in the capacity to seek and experience pleasure among trial participants. There were also decreases in symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

Moving forward, plans call for the creation of the Man O' War Center, with goals to train others in EAT protocol for veterans, adopt the protocol for other groups, pursue a larger research study, and expand the use of former racehorses for equine-assisted therapy work.

“We are proud to partner with the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance to connect groups trained in the Man O' War protocol with accredited aftercare facilities,” said Fisher. “It's a great way to incorporate more retired Thoroughbreds in EAT programs throughout the country.”

Kristin Werner, senior counsel for The Jockey Club and administrator of The Jockey Club's Thoroughbred Incentive Program, moderated an aftercare panel with panelists Erin Crady, executive director, Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA); Brian Sanfratello, executive secretary, Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association (PHBA); Beverly Strauss, executive director, MidAtlantic Horse Rescue; and Dr. Emily Weiss, vice president, Equine Welfare, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

Each panelist shared their perspectives on challenges in the aftercare landscape, from securing a safe first exit from the racetrack to placing retired breeding stock. Crady talked about the TCA's Horses First Fund, which helps Thoroughbreds in case of an emergency.

“Plan, plan, and plan some more,” Crady said. If you've prepared a business plan for your racing operation, include a section on aftercare.

“Please remember one thing that I feel is paramount to your horse's future. Make every effort to retire your horse while he or she is still sound. A sound Thoroughbred can have an unlimited future.”

Strauss talked about the kill buyer market and the frequent social media frenzies when Thoroughbreds are offered for inflated prices to save them from being sold to slaughter. She warned that individuals and organizations that participate in these practices are often scams.

“If you're contacted because one of your former horses is in a kill pen, do some research, don't just throw money at it, don't just send money blindly, do research and see that the horse truly is in a bad place and then ensure its safety,” Strauss said.

Sanfratello detailed the PHBA's stance on aftercare and its creation of a code of ethics that will sanction those who knowingly send horses registered with the PHBA to slaughter.

“Our board understands that aftercare is just as important as making sure that we increase the numbers of mares bred,” Sanfratello said.

Weiss focused on the work of the ASPCA's Right Horse Initiative, which assists with placing horses in transition. She noted that a problem seen with placing horses is that Thoroughbreds are often not located where the demand for them exists.

“There's some disconnect between the interest in the general public and getting these horses into their hands, and part of that is just getting those horses where those people are,” she said.

David O'Rourke, the president and chief executive officer of the New York Racing Association (NYRA), provided an update on that organization's efforts to promote safety, integrity, and the sport of racing. According to O'Rourke, NYRA has allotted 50% of its capital budget since 2013 to infrastructure improvements such as new track surfaces, barns, and dormitories. He also addressed the legalization of sports betting and NYRA's belief that this represents a critical opportunity for horse racing to expand its wagering options and boost handle

James L. Gagliano, president and chief operating officer of The Jockey Club, delivered a report on the activities of The Jockey Club.

Also in his closing remarks, Janney announced that Len Coleman and Dr. Nancy Cox, co-chairs of the nominating committee of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, have been awarded The Jockey Club Medal for exceptional contributions to the Thoroughbred industry.

A video replay of the conference will be available on jockeyclub.com this afternoon, and full transcripts will be available on the same site this week.

The Jockey Club Round Table Conference was first held on July 1, 1953, in The Jockey Club office in New York City. The following year, it was moved to Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The Jockey Club, founded in 1894 and dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred breeding and racing, is the breed registry for North American Thoroughbreds. In fulfillment of its mission, The Jockey Club, directly or through subsidiaries, provides support and leadership on a wide range of important industry initiatives, and it serves the information and technology needs of owners, breeders, media, fans, and farms. It founded America's Best Racing (americasbestracing.net), the broad-based fan development initiative for Thoroughbred racing, and in partnership with the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, operates OwnerView (ownerview.com), the ownership resource. Additional information is available at jockeyclub.com.

The post Jockey Club Round Table: HISA ‘Best Ever Opportunity To Right Our Badly Listing Ship’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post