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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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Federal Bill To Replace HISA Reportedly In Pipeline

A federal bill aimed at replacing the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) with a regulatory system modeled around an interstate compact is reportedly in the pipeline.

The president of the United States Trotting Association (USTA), Russell Williams, disclosed the news about the pending legislation Mar. 21 during a special meeting of the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission (PHRC).

Williams addressed the PHRC Tuesday just prior to the board voting in favor of entering into three nine-month agreements with the HISA Authority that pertain to the Racetrack Safety Program, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), and the Laboratory Services Agreement.

Williams was urging the board to consider future implications prior to taking its vote, and one of the issues he brought up was the looming potential for a replacement regulatory structure.

“It's not just a possibility out there. It should be happening in the near future,” Williams said.

“There is legislation about to be introduced in Congress [and] the primary sponsor of this legislation has been talking with us,” Williams said. He did not disclose who that senator or congressman is.

“We provided him with a draft,” Williams continued. “The draft came from the [North American Association of] Racetrack Veterinarians, the HBPA, and the USTA. And it's already been through legislative services, [which has] put it in Congressional format, and as soon as the primary sponsor has his team put together, the bill will be introduced.

“This bill is a state-administered program,” Williams said. “So states would form an interstate compact. They would use state authorities, state experience and state funding, and save millions of dollars over the HISA structure.

“The legislation is health- and safety-focused,” Williams said. “It provides all of the same benefits to the racing industry that HISA does. It is science-based, and this is one of the problems we've had historically with the approach of HISA; it's in the HISA statute, the arbitrary nature of the regulatory approaches in words and statute, the Lasix ban.”

Williams said that the new legislation would be underpinned by “state administration, a science basis for making policy decisions, and a funding model that can be afforded by the racing industry.”

TDN could not independently confirm the involvement of the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) with the pending legislation. A phone message left for the NHBPA's chief executive officer, Eric Hamelback, did not yield a return call prior to deadline for this story.

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HISA’s Lisa Lazarus Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

On Monday, there will be a seismic shift in horse racing. That's when the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority will launch its Anti-Doping and Medication Control program and, in most states, will take over the responsibilities of drug testing and drug adjudications. With that date right around the corner, the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland brought in HISA's CEO Lisa Lazarus to give an update on what to expect once HISA takes over. Lazarus was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

Lazarus made it clear that one of HISA's major goals is to do everything in its power to stop anyone who tries to use performance-enhancing drugs to get an edge. To do so, they will go beyond drug testing and will rely on investigations and intelligence.

“Our test distribution plan is going to be investigations and intelligence led,” she said. “We are not going to be relying primarily on post-race testing in order to discern who actually is breaking the rules. We've got a very robust investigative team headed by Shaun Richards, who is a former FBI agent. He is actually the one who worked up all the evidence in the prosecutions in the Southern District involving Navarro and Servis, et cetera. We really are focusing on the intelligence.”

Lazarus said she knows there are still those in the industry who are anti-HISA and have a lot of trepidation about it taking over when it comes to drug testing. She said one of her main goals for HISA is to change that narrative.

“I would like to have gained the trust of the majority of horsemen and players in the industry,” she said when asked about her goals for the coming year. “You may agree or disagree about a rule here or there, and that's all good. That's all part of the dialogue. But I really hope that and believe that we'll have the majority saying that this is actually needed. That we needed a uniform system. We needed uniform rules. This is good. And this is this actually professionalizes our sport to a different level. I hope that horsemen will feel like there is a level playing field. I hope the public sees racing horse racing in a different way, that it is safer and with more integrity.”

Another change that HISA will usher in is that it will differentiate between drugs that are true performance-enhancers and therapeutic medications that were still in a horse's system when they were tested. They will also have a separate category for positives that appear to be the result of environmental contamination.

“We completely separated the rule book into two categories, the banned substances, which are the doping substances; versus the controlled medications, which are the therapeutics,” she said. “And we take a very different philosophical approach to those two categories. If you have a banned substance in a horse, which is a performance enhancement that should never be in a horse, the penalties are severe. They're severe, they're swift, and they will be game-changing. If you make a mistake or if you have a therapeutic overage, there will be consequences, but they'll be proportionate to the to the violation. We also have a policy called the Atypical Findings Policy, which basically has 27 different substances that, if detected in a horse's system, we know it's almost certain to be result of contamination. Those will go through a different process. If we are satisfied after looking at those a little bit more deeply that it really is contamination, there's no loss of purse, there's no sanction. It's like it never happened.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, Woodford Thoroughbreds, The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, XBTV, 1/st Racing, WinStar Farm and West Point Thoroughbreds, Randy Moss and Bill Finley took a look at the remarkable year 87-year-old trainer Wayne Lukas is having. Lukas won last weekend's biggest race, the GIII Essex H. at Oaklawn Park with Last Samurai (Malibu Moon). There was also a discussion of the promising numbers that came out of the Equine Injury Database for 2022. The 2022 figure of 1.25 fatalities per 1,000 starters was the lowest since The Jockey Club began compiling fatality numbers in 2009. Looking ahead to this weekend's racing, the team gave their thoughts on the major races at the Fair Grounds and Turfway Park, which include key GI Kentucky Derby preps in the GII Louisiana Derby and the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks S.

Click for the Writers' Room Podcast's Audio or Video.

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Weekly Stewards And Commissions Rulings, Mar. 14-20

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. With the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) having gone into effect on July 1, the TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant HISA-related rulings from the same week.

California
Track: Santa Anita
Date: 03/11/2023
Licensee: Clifford Size, trainer
Penalty: $500 fine
Violation: Out of competition medication violation
Explainer: Trainer Clifford Size Jr., who worked out the horse Aventapp at San Luis Rey Downs on December 3, 2022, is fined $500 and assessed one half (1/2) point in accordance with California Horse Racing Rule #1843.4 (Multiple Medication Violations – Expires 3/11/24) pursuant to California Horse Racing Board Rule #1887 (Trainer or Owner to Insure Condition of Horse) for violation of California Horse Racing Board Rule #1868 (Authorization Medication During Workouts) and Rule #1843.1 (b) (Prohibited Drug Substances – Phenylbutazone [Class 4]).

Track: Santa Anita
Date: 03/17/2023
Licensee: Peter Miller, trainer
Penalty: $500 fine
Violation: Medication violation
Explainer: Trainer Peter Miller, who started the horse Midnight Majesty, that finished first in the second race on December 4, 2022, at Del Mar Race Track is fined $500 and assessed one half (1/2) point in accordance with California Horse Racing Rule #1843.4(a) (Multiple Medication Violations – Expires 3/16/24) pursuant to California Horse Racing Board Rule #1887(a) (Trainer or Owner to Insure Condition of Horse) for violation of California Horse Racing Board Rule #1843(a)(b)(d) (Medication, Drugs and Other Substances and Rule #1843.1(a) (Prohibited Drug Substances – Phenylbutazone [Class 4]).

Track: Santa Anita
Date: 03/17/2023
Licensee: Armando Aguilar, jockey
Penalty: Three-day suspension
Violation: Careless riding
Explainer: Apprentice Jockey Armando Aguilar, who rode Gila in the second race at Santa Anita Park on March 12, 2023, is suspended for 3 racing days (March 24, 25 and 26, 2023) for failure to make the proper effort to maintain a straight course leaving the gate causing interference. This constitutes a violation of California Horse Racing Board rule #1699 (Riding Rules – careless riding).

NEW HISA STEWARDS RULINGS
The following rulings were reported on HISA's “rulings” portal, except for the voided claim rulings which were sent to the TDN directly. Some of these rulings are from prior weeks as they were not reported contemporaneously.
One important note: HISA's whip use limit is restricted to six strikes during a race.

Violations of Crop Rule
Aqueduct
Gherson Paolo Huayas – violation date March 11; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

Oaklawn Park
Francisco Joaquin Arrieta – violation date March 16; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes
Cristian Alexis Torres – violation date March 16; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

Santa Anita
Carlos Barboza – violation date March 18; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes
Kyle Frey – violation date March 19; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

Tampa Bay Downs
Ronald Dale Allen Jr. – violation date March 11; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes
Marcos Meneses – violation date March 12; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes
Lexander Sanchez – violation date March 12; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 8 strikes

Turfway Park
Declan Cannon – violation date March 16; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

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