horseracing integrity and safety act | Horse Racing Free Tips

Letter to the Industry: Breeders’ Cup: HISA is Common Sense

After a series of high-profile issues jeopardized the very existence of our sport, a wide cross-section of leaders representing all aspects of the industry came together to support legislation to address long-standing safety issues in racing. Our legislators agreed change was needed and passed the bipartisan Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), which included provisions for a governing body to oversee its implementation.

The purpose was simple: to address a system that lacked integrity. Before HISA, horsemen endured a dysfunctional state-to-state patchwork of rules which were inconsistently enforced. Thanks to the input of horsemen, owners, breeders, jockeys, racetrack operators, veterinary experts, regulators, and other industry participants across the country, HISA has established a fair, transparent, efficient, and economically sound approach to improving the integrity and safety of the sport. This includes uniform rules and regulations across all states that are in line with international standards, swift adjudication protocols, and a robust anti-doping program and medication controls.

Unfortunately, when presented with this opportunity to finally achieve meaningful reform, certain groups have responded by obstructing the path forward. Rather than offer constructive input, these groups have chosen instead to spread misinformation and drain precious industry resources with costly litigation. Some of those funding the opposition do not even care about racing and are using the debate over HISA as an opportunity to further their own political interests. Enough is enough.

Chief among the offenders is the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association. For example, the HBPA falsely claims HISA will put small entities out of business due to the costs associated with implementation. In fact, HISA specifically requires that regional differences are considered; accordingly, its governing body is addressing disparities between large and small operations and helping to identify operational efficiencies that will mitigate any increased costs.

The truth is, the HBPA has offered no solution that adequately addresses the full scope of the industry's issues, nor does it have any desire to represent its members who support meaningful reform. This has made us wonder who the HBPA really is, and why they don't want more effective controls on safety and drug use. Many in our industry don't know that the HBPA and its affiliate groups consider anyone who obtains an ownership license to automatically be a “member” of their organization. Instead of offering members the ability to provide input on its decisions, the HBPA's insular leadership has weaponized its industry position to oppose vital reform aimed at protecting the very people it claims it represents.

We urge any HBPA members who have horse racing's best interests at heart to come to the table and engage with HISA's leaders in pursuit of sustainable change. Follow the example of leaders from a variety of organizations, including the Thoroughbred Owners of California, Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. These groups have stepped forward with constructive input and have provided their members with information and support to make the transition to new regulations as seamless as possible.

At the Breeders' Cup, we have seen first-hand the success that comes with investing in safety and integrity measures. Because of the trust we have built, we have attracted top-tier national and international media rights partners, developed relationships with major new corporate partners, achieved record wagering numbers, and experienced a significant increase in international participation. A sport rich in integrity is going to thrive.

Breeders need owners who want to invest in horses. Owners need trainers to turn raw athleticism into speed and endurance. Trainers need jockeys, exercise riders, grooms, farriers, and dedicated veterinarians to help execute their programs and keep their horses safe and healthy. Everyone needs racetracks to provide the stages on which our athletes compete and where fans who love racing can gather to cheer on their favorites. And we all know bettors are the backbone of the business, as their wagering supports racetrack operations and purses. They deserve to bet on races that are fair.

Under HISA, uniform safety and integrity measures will ensure all participants can be part of racing's growth and success. Adjusting to the oversight of a national, independent authority may take time, but traditions must evolve if they want to endure. Although Thoroughbred racing has a long and storied past, it will only have a bright future if we make safety and integrity our top priorities through united reform.

HISA has been put in place to provide an opportunity for the sport not only to survive, but to thrive. If you want to see horse racing carry on for generations to come, please join us as we work together to ensure HISA's successful implementation.

Sincerely,

Barbara Banke , Chairman, Breeders' Cup Limited

Drew Fleming, President and CEO, Breeders' Cup Limited

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Plaintiffs in Louisiana Lawsuit Make Case for Allowing Amended Complaint

The plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit spearheaded by the state of Louisiana against the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fired the latest salvo Monday, arguing in a filing that the judge should not accede to the defendants' request to strike a recently amended version of the complaint that expands the slate of plaintiffs by letting new entities join the case.

“Defendants suggest that Plaintiffs engage in something sinister by seeking amendment to request expanded relief,” stated the Mar. 27 memorandum filed in United States District Court (Western District of Louisiana). “But parties across the country routinely amend to seek expanded relief without issue.”

Back on Feb. 6, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint to their original June 29, 2022, lawsuit, with the chief changes involving the addition of 14 new individual Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) affiliates, plus a wide swath of states, racing commissions, and individual racetracks.

Then, in a Mar. 6 motion, the HISA defendants asked the judge to strike that amended complaint on the basis that adding a “vast number” of organizations and states as new plaintiffs constituted an allegedly “blatant attempt” at “gamesmanship” and “shotgun” litigation.

The plaintiffs' Mar. 27 filing disputed those characterizations and argued for the amended complaint to proceed.

“Defendants' motion is unwarranted and amendment is proper as a matter of right at this early stage in the case,” the plaintiffs' filing stated.

“Leave to amend is also proper to allow parties who have been waiting for months to participate in this litigation to seek redress. [The amended version] both addresses HISA rules approved after Plaintiffs filed the initial complaint and adds more parties who have suffered harm from those rules,” the memorandum stated.

“Procedural squabbles aside, [the HISA Authority's] unlawful regulations pose a litany of issues requiring redress,” the plaintiffs stated.

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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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