Tag: HISA

Weekly Stewards and Commissions Rulings, Jan. 24-30

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: 01/22/2023
Licensee: Randy Rennon, owner
Penalty: Suspended license
Violation: Failure to comply with financial agreement
Explainer: Owner Randy Rennon (dba Summer Knights Stables, Inc), having failed to comply with a Financial Agreement dated November 26, 2020, at Del Mar Race Track, is suspended for violation of California Horse Racing Board rule #1876 (Financial Responsibility – Farrier Kyle Baze $820.00). Suspension to commence on January 29, 2023.During the term of this suspension, all licenses and license privileges of Randy Rennon (dba Summer Knights Stables, Inc) are suspended and pursuant to California Horse Racing Board rule #1528 (Jurisdiction of Stewards), subject is denied access to all premises in this jurisdiction.

Track: Santa Anita
Date: 01/27/2023
Licensee: Rolando Quinonez, trainer
Penalty: $1,000 fine
Violation: Excessive use of whip during training hours
Explainer: Trainer Rolando Quinonez is fined $1,000.00 for violation of California Horse Racing Board rules #1874 (Disorderly Conduct – excessive use of riding crop during training) and #1530 (Cases Not Covered by Rules and Regulations) at San Luis Rey Training Center on September 14, 2022. Furthermore, Rolando Quinonez must be evaluated by the Winners Foundation for anger management and comply with any recommendations made by Winners Foundation.

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
Katherine “Katie” Davis – violation date January 20; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

Gulfstream Park
Shaun Bridgmohan – violation date January 21; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes
Jaime Alexis Torres – violation date January 22; $250 fine, laceration on his mount Talking Like Mom from the crop

Oaklawn Park
Ramsey Zimmerman – violation date January 28; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes
Ricardo Santana – violation date January 28; $250 fine, raising his wrist above his helmet when using the crop during the seventh race

Parx Racing
Anthony Salgado – violation date January 20; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

Penn National
Ricardo A Chiappe – violation date January 20; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 9 strikes

Tampa Bay Downs
Carlos Eduardo Rojas- violation date January 18; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes
Carlos Eduardo Rojas – violation date January 18: Rojas has accumulated a total of 23 points for violations of HISA Rule 2280 (b), (1), though six of the points are under appeal and a stay has being granted, so the total points is reduced to 17 points. “Jockey Carlos E. Rojas is hereby suspended 15 calendar days based on points accumulated for multiple violations. To be serve from Wednesday, February 1st, 2023 through and including Wednesday, February 15, 2023.”

The post Weekly Stewards and Commissions Rulings, Jan. 24-30 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Letter to the Editor: HISA Smack Down

Despite HISA court filings claiming everything was legal and pronouncements that the HIWU anti-doping program starts on March 27th, reality needs to set in on the Thoroughbred industry in the same way it does for a young child who comes to realize that the Christmas Eve Santa tracking report may not be true.

This week's decision and mandate just issued by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is nothing less than a smack down for HISA. It underscores that the constitutional questions are far from settled and may actually break against them. Given the FTC's prior action, this could doom HISA's hope of quick approval of the resubmitted medication control rules.

It's hard for some of us who have been around for a while to watch as this situation could have been avoided. The uncertainty of all this is deeply troubling to everyone.

Despite public pronouncements from Ms. Lazarus that HISA is transparent, the industry has no idea as to their financial stability. Some racetracks are quietly questioning whether to pay the HISA assessments and are researching if they can get their money back if it all goes south. Some testing labs have expressed similar concerns.

As for the States: 1) most could not elect to assume financial responsibility for HISA, and,2) HISA/HIWU has yet to secure any signed ADMC implementation agreements seeking the use of state assets or personnel, with or without reimbursement. It's not that the States are unwilling to help; it has to do with the avoidable problems associated with how HISA organized its programs and neglected to listen to realities raised during the countless implementation calls ARCI organized for them in 2021.

In May, 2022, I announced that most state racing commissions believed technical corrections to the statute were necessary in order for HISA to work. Rather than begin substantive discussions as to how to do that, HISA staff barreled forward and somebody, somewhere decided it was a waste of their time to have HISA leadership talk to me about easier ways to get where they are trying to get.

In August, while on a panel with Ms. Lazarus in Saratoga I proposed that HISA get everyone in a room and come up with an alternate approach to avoid the endless and costly litigation. That didn't happen. My repeated requests to meet privately with the HISA Board to share an independent assessment and an analysis of their options were also ignored. No skin off my back, but it is frustrating when you care about this industry and see a golden opportunity starting to slip away.

On a November American Horse Council call with congressional officials, Jockey Club staff questioned my personal credibility as I was explaining the new financial burden being put on racetracks just as I was making progress convincing a Member of the House Appropriations Committee of the need to add $50 million in federal funding for HISA. Heaven knows they could use it to mitigate the cost being imposed on the racetracks.

When that $1.7 trillion bill eventually passed there was not a dime for racing. Congressman Tonko, when asked by an Albany reporter why no money was included, responded that the industry didn't ask for any. Amazing, absolutely amazing.

Then there were laudatory press statements issued by major HISA supporters praising Senator McConnell for passing a “fix”. All that I could think of was “The Emperor's New Clothes” or the angry ladies in the 1984 Wendy's “Where's the beef?” commercial. Apparently from Tuesday's court action, the tweak to the Act didn't work and racing missed a golden opportunity to have some federal funding.

So here we are. Despite the hard work of many, this is starting to look like a mess.

While the Santa tracking system may not be truth, the children who used to rely on it have found they can still have Christmas. So too for racing. But it may have to look different than what we have now–a fat man stuck in a chimney being pushed by his supporters from above with a stick. There's an easier way if only some people were not so intransigent.

Ed Martin is the President of the Association of Racing Commissioners International, a non-profit group of international regulators which provides a mechanism for collective policy formation, the exchange of information, research, education and training, and integrity advocacy.

The post Letter to the Editor: HISA Smack Down appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Bruce Lunsford Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast, Unveils Plans for Art Collector

A well-bred, three-time Grade I winner, Art Collector (Bernardini), the winner of last Saturday's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S., has a future as a sire. But that will have to wait. Not only will he race this year as 6-year-old, but owner Bruce Lunsford is hoping that Art Collector can have a full campaign in 2023, one reminiscent of a foregone era when horses raced more often. Those were among the insights Lunsford provided when appearing as this week's Green Group Guest of the Week on the TDN Writers' Room podcast. The podcast is presented each week by Keeneland.

“Bill (Mott) has been told by me that if he continues do well we will continue,” Lunsford said. “That was a pretty good race the other day in the Pegasus and it gives us a chance to take more shots.”

While Lunsford understands the economics of the sport, where, oftentimes a horse can make considerably more money breeding than racing, the owner wants to enjoy watching Art Collector run for at least one more year.

“It used to be that horse racing was never meant to be your main source of living,” Lunsford said. “It was more like owning a baseball team or a football team. You have the guy who owns Rich Strike, is having the experience of his life and is going to keep running him. We need more of that in the game. I love the excitement. Winning the Pegasus made my blood pump.”

The owner said that the next race for Art Collector has yet to be decided upon, while adding that “there's a list of 10 races that would fit him this year.”

Lunsford also addressed his decision in 2021 to turn the horse over to Mott after he had been trained by Tom Drury. For Drury, Art Collector win the GII Blue Grass S., but finished off the board in his final three races for that trainer.

“Tommy and I have an incredibly close relationship,” Lunsford said. “But after that last race at Churchill (a sixth-place finish in the Kelly's Landing S.), I went in and talked to Tommy. I knew it was a punch to the gut for him. I told him that I wanted to go to New York because there were a lot of big races there for him to run in. Tommy and I, we're probably closer now than we've ever been. We've kept a great relationship. I think I made the decision on the right terms and I took a little heat for it. But I just kept my mouth shut and let things happen. Sometimes you have to do things likes this.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore,https://lanesend.com/ Lane's End, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV https://www.kentuckybred.org/and https://www.threechimneys.com/ West Point Thoroughbreds, Zoe Cadman, Randy Moss and Bill Finley discussed the latest decision handed down by the courts to the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) and speculated on whether or not HISA could survive the setback. This week's 3-year-old watch included a review of the GIII Southwest S., won impressively by Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo), and a discussion of Bob Baffert's domination of the 3-year-old ranks in California. In Saturday's GIII Robert B. Lewis S., Baffert trains all four horses in the field and trains 14 of the 16 horses nominated.

Click for the video version of the podcast or the audio-only version.

The post Bruce Lunsford Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast, Unveils Plans for Art Collector appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights