Tag: horseracing integrity and safety act

Thoroughbred Safety Coalition: HISA ‘The Beginning Of A New, Safer Era For Our Storied Sport’

To all of the hard-working individuals who make up the Thoroughbred community and the fans who share in our love for the horses that set our sport apart from all others: 

As one of our nation's oldest and most celebrated pastimes, racing's traditions run deep. However, the most durable traditions are the ones that evolve and improve with time. Amid the pageantry and beauty, we've faced challenges around equine safety and racing integrity  throughout our history, which is why leaders across the Thoroughbred industry came together  to make the changes necessary to bring our sport into the 21st century and secure its future for  generations to come. Leaders in Thoroughbred racing agree with those who have argued for  greater transparency and more rigorous safety standards, and are united in choosing to prioritize, above all else, the safety and well-being of our equine athletes. 

Through the collaborative work of the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition (the Coalition), its members, and broader efforts by leading organizations across the Thoroughbred industry, including The Jockey Club, we worked with lawmakers to help pass The Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), which was signed into law on December 27, 2020. 

Under the oversight of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the independent Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (the Authority) will implement consistent, transparent, and enforceable rules across all state racing jurisdictions. These efforts will be divided into an Anti Doping and Medication Control Program, which will be executed and enforced in partnership with the United States Anti-Doping Authority (USADA), and a Racetrack Safety Program. Most of the medication, organizational and operational reforms that the Coalition and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) have adopted and continue to advocate for will likely  serve as a basis for these programs. Additionally, the Authority will work with state regulators  and horsemen's groups to ensure the most efficient and cost-effective approach to  implementing the new programs. 

The passage of HISA represents a monumental turning point for our traditionally decentralized industry, and we hope it will go a long way in increasing public confidence in the sport. Even stakeholders who historically sought to avoid government intervention in racing are embracing HISA because they understand that it represents a roadmap to a safer sport and will modernize  the industry through strengthened accountability measures. 

HISA has given all of us a mandate to build on the unprecedented display of unity that brought us to where we are today. The formation of the independent Authority as a vehicle to establish and implement uniform medication rules and racetrack safety standards will codify the culture  of safety and integrity that the Coalition was founded to strengthen and protect. The Coalition, The Jockey Club, the NTRA and our respective members are proud to have played a role in this industry-wide effort that will improve our sport. Now, we must work together to support HISA's continued success and the success of Thoroughbred racing for generations to come.  

This is the beginning of a new, safer era for our storied sport, and our work has only just begun. We can't think of a greater task to undertake. 

Sincerely, 

American Association of Equine  Practitioners  

Aqueduct Racetrack 

Belmont Park 

Breeders' Cup Limited 

Churchill Downs, Incorporated Colonial Downs Racetrack 

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club Fair Grounds Race Course 

Golden Gate Fields 

Gulfstream Park 

Keeneland Association Inc. 

Kentucky Thoroughbred Association Laurel Park 

Monmouth Park 

National Thoroughbred Racing Association

New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA)

Parx Racing 

Pimlico Race Course 

Presque Isle Downs 

Santa Anita Park 

Saratoga Race Course 

Suffolk Downs 

The Jockey Club 

Thoroughbred Owners & Breeders  Association 

Thoroughbred Safety Coalition 

Turfway Park 

1/ST RACING

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Second Lawsuit Against HISA Seeking Supporters

A second and separate federal lawsuit that would attempt to keep the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) from being implemented on grounds of alleged unconstitutionally continues its way through the legal pipeline.

Different from the March complaint filed by various Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Associations against members who represent the HISA “Authority” and the Federal Trade Commission, this yet-to-be-filed lawsuit is being spearheaded by the Oklahoma Attorney General in conjunction with that state's racing commission.

Various other racing commissions are apparently being courted as co-plaintiffs, and on Apr. 20 the West Virginia Racing Commission (WVRC) voted 2-1 to authorize the state's attorney general to represent the WVRC in that litigation.

Details about the exact method of legal attack have yet to be publicly disclosed, but David Tryon, a lawyer for the Office of the West Virginia Attorney General, gave a hint at the anti-HISA strategy when he briefed WVRC members prior to the vote at Tuesday's meeting.

The WVRC at first met in executive session to discuss the matter, but when the public portion of the meeting resumed Tryon said the AG's staff has reviewed a draft of the coming complaint and deemed it “constitutionally infirm” on various grounds, including with regard to the anti-commandeering doctrine and in matters related to ceding legislative and executive powers to a private entity.

On Apr. 16, the United States Trotting Association's board of directors voted 35-8 to join that same lawsuit.

“The AG's office is trying to not make representations based on the merits of the legislation so to speak, but rather spoke to the constitutionality,” of the powers granted by the new law to police the sport, commissioner J.B. Akers said.

Akers and chairman Ken Lowe Jr. voted to have the WVRC join the HISA fight. Commissioner Tony Figaretti cast the “no” vote.

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USTA To Join Upcoming Lawsuit Challenging Horseracing Integrity And Safety Act

By a vote of 35-8, the United States Trotting Association Board of Directors on Friday, April 16, elected to join an upcoming federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Horseracing Integrity & Safety Act (HISA), which was passed by Congress and signed into law last year.  The USTA repeatedly has expressed reservations about the legislation's legality, in particular whether or not it violates the Constitution's non-delegation doctrine and anti-commandeering principle.

In a statement made in September 2020, USTA President Russell Williams said, “The constitutional concerns raised by HISA are substantial and pervasive. Those concerns embrace the structure and powers of the regulatory body at the heart of the bill and extend even to the bill's more peripheral provisions.”

On Friday, Williams further elucidated his concerns to the USTA Board in prepared remarks in which he also assured the board that the Association will assume no portion of the cost of district court proceedings.

If allowed to stand, HISA would remove from the states the power to regulate racing medication and safety matters and give them to a private entity, the newly created Horseracing Integrity & Safety Authority (Authority).  HISA is scheduled to go into effect no later than July 1, 2022.  The Federal Trade Commission will oversee a rule-making process that eventually will establish and approve the medication control and racetrack safety programs to be enforced by the Authority.  The new law stipulates that HADA initially will be funded by loans taken out by the Authority, which will then be repaid by fees assessed to the state racing commissions.   No price tag has yet been attached, however, nor has it been determined which segments of the industry will pay for HISA.

The legal action that the USTA will be joining is expected to be filed shortly by the State of Oklahoma and Hanover Shoe Farms.   That follows a similar claim against HISA brought last month by the National Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association (NHBPA) and 11 of its affiliated state organizations.   That suit, filed in the Northern District Court of Texas, alleges the law creates a private organization and gives it federal authority, which it claims is unconstitutional.

An attendance and voting summary appear below.  A “yes' vote reflects support for joining the lawsuit, while a “no” designation indicates opposition to doing so.

Present:  C. Antonacci, I. Axelrod, S. Beegle, D. Bianconi, D. Bittle, J. Bluhm, M. Breuer-Bertera, B. Brown, J. Cross, G. Ducharme, Chairman J. Faraldo, M. Ford, J. Frasure, R. Gillock, K. Greenfield, J. Gregory, T. Haight, S. Hedington, J. Hensley, S. Hoovler, J. Ingrassia, M. Kimelman, S. Lilly, Vice Chairman M. Loewe, D. Marean, J. Matarazzo, S. McCoy, C. McErlean, R. Miecuna, Treasurer J. Miller, J. Mossbarger, S. Oldford, J. Pennacchio, J. Reynolds, A. Roberts, R. Roland, J. Roth, J. Settlemoir, D. Siegel, D. Spriggs, M. Sweeney, A. Tetrick, M. Torcello, S. Warren, President R. Williams, J. Zambito

Not Present:  B. Alexander, D. Ater, L. Calderone, C. Callahan, K. Crawford, B. Kenney, C. Leonard, R. Mackinnon, S. O'Toole, S. Peine, T. Powers, R. Schnittker, J. Stratton, G. Wand

Yes:  Axelrod, Bianconi, Beegle, Bittle, Breuer-Bertera, Brown, Cross, Ducharme, Faraldo, Frasure, Gillock, Gregory, Haight, Hedington, Hensley, Hoovler, Ingrassia, Kimelman, Lilly, Loewe, Marean, Matarazzo, McCoy, Miecuna, Miller, Oldford, Pennacchio, Roberts, Roth, Spriggs, Sweeney, Tetrick, Torcello, Williams, Zambito

No:  Antonacci, Bluhm, Ford, McErlean, Roland, Settlemoir, Siegel, Warren

*Two votes from directors who were confirmed to be present on the call but experienced technical difficulties in being heard were added to the final tally.

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Horseracing Integrity And Safety Act A ‘Poll-arizing’ Issue

People apparently have strong feelings about the poll published over the last week in the Paulick Report asking readers whether they support or oppose the lawsuit filed by the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and state affiliates to stop the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act from being enacted.

We've done polls before on this legislation, asking whether readers were in favor of the Act while it was working its way through Congress and then, following its passage in December 2020, whether the creation of a national office (the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority) for medication and safety regulations will have a positive or negative impact on racing.

All those polls expressed strong support for the legislation.

That's why it was a bit surprising to see what appeared to be overwhelming support (about 60%) from our readers for the HBPA's lawsuit asking a federal court to declare the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act unconstitutional.

A reader pointed out they were able to vote more than one time and suggested that maybe someone supporting the HBPA was “stuffing the ballot box.”

Turns out this person was right.

The software we use to poll readers does collect the IP address for all voters but does not identify them in any other way. It also gives us the option to block any one IP address from voting more than one time. Unfortunately, that box was not checked when this poll was published.

I was able to download and export a file of all votes onto an Excel spreadsheet and sort by IP address. Lo and behold, there were multiple cases of what I would call “extreme voting.” In one case, an IP address was responsible for voting more than 1,000 times. Another voted 500 times. The timestamp on the votes showed some people spent a lot of their daylight hours trying to influence the outcome of this poll.

I went through the document and then back to the voting software and eliminated any multiple votes from the same IP address. In the vast majority of cases, those casting multiple votes were on the side of the HBPA. When all multiple votes were eliminated (no matter which side of the issue they supported), opposition to the HBPA lawsuit came in at 66%, with only 34% supporting the HBPA challenge. This is from a total of 2,230 votes (nearly 1,800 votes from the original 4,000-plus were discovered to be duplicates).

This poll is no longer accepting votes

Do you support or oppose the lawsuit filed by the National HBPA and some of its affiliates to stop the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act from going into effect?
Vote

The funny thing about this attempt to tilt a non-scientific public opinion poll is that it will have absolutely zero bearing on the legal challenge launched by the HBPA. We asked our readers how they felt because many of them are HBPA members or affiliated with other horsemen's organizations (Thoroughbred Horsemen's Associations or Thoroughbred Owners of California).

So why do it? Why sit at a keyboard for hours and vote hundreds of time on a meaningless poll on some horse racing website that has no influence on a federal court in west Texas, where the HBPA lawsuit was filed?

Maybe some people just can't help but cheat.

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