horseracing integrity and safety authority | Horse Racing Free Tips

PARX-Based Trainer Joe Taylor Latest to Be Provisionally Suspended by HIWU

According to a posting on the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) website, Parx-based trainer Joe Taylor has been provisionally suspended after two horses he trained allegedly tested positive for banned substances.

On June 18, the Taylor-trained Cajun Cousin (Cajun Breeze) allegedly tested positive for Methylphenidate and Clenbuterol, both of which are banned substances. Two days later, Taylor sent out Classy American (Uncle Lino), who tested positive for the same two substances. Classy American finished second in a starter allowance while Cajun Cousin finished second in a $10,000 claimer.

Cajun Cousin would go on to win a $10,000 claiming race at Parx on July 12, before the results of the positive test had come back. She was claimed on July 12 by trainer Michael V. Pino for Smart Angle LLP. Under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA)'s Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program, a claim shall be voided if “the horse has a positive test for a prohibited substance.”

Methylphenidate is sold under the name of Ritalin, a common drug given to people battling attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in horses. Clenbuterol is used for respiratory ailments but is also known for having steroid-like properties that can build muscle mass.

Taylor faces a suspension of up to two years.

Taylor led all trainers at Parx in 2019 when he had 103 winners. Training since 2010, he has 328 career wins from 2,011 starters.

The post PARX-Based Trainer Joe Taylor Latest to Be Provisionally Suspended by HIWU appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Art Collector on List of Horses Provisionally Suspended by HISA for Violating Intra-Articular Injection Rule

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has issued a new list of horses that have been provisionally suspended for violating the rules regarding intra-articular injections and it includes Grade I winner Art Collector (Bernardini).

The Paulick Report was first with the story.

Under new rules put in place by HISA that went into effect in May, horses who have had an intra-articular injection are prohibited from running within 14 days of the injection and cannot have a published workout within seven days of the injection. Art Collector, who is trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, was injected on June 21. According to Equibase, he had a five-furlong workout at Saratoga on June 26. With the violation, Art Collector was placed on the provisionally suspended list, which requires that he not race or work out for 30 days.

He will come off the provisionally suspended list on July 21.

The HISA rules covering inter-articular injections have gone through several revisions. Originally, any trainer found to violate the rule was subject to a 60-day suspension but that was dropped when HISA determined many of the offenses were caused by confusion and that many trainers did not understand the new rules. Those rules were tweaked during the time that Art Collector had the injection and the workout. In addition to the horse being put on a suspended list, Mott has received a warning letter. Still new rules went into place on July 16. Under this set of guidelines, any trainer who violates the rules will receive a $3,000 fine for the first offense. However, the horse in question is not provisionally suspended.

After declining to publish the list of the first batch of horses that had violated the rule, HISA reversed course and published a list the next day of 19 horses who were in violation of the rule. Those horses should not have been allowed to race while on the suspension list but nine of them did and three won their next start.

The new list contains 15 names. As was the case with the first list of names that was revealed, HISA did not enforce its own rules. None of the horses on the list should have been allowed to race while suspended, but six made it into the starting gate. In the case of Celtic Treasure (Treasure Beach {GB}), he was injected on June 12 and raced twice before his suspension ended on July 12. In another case, To Kalon (Ghostzapper) ran in a race just three days after having the injection.

With Art Collector coming off the list on Friday, he should be ready to return to the races at Saratoga quickly and could point for races like the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup. Another option might be the GII Charles Town Classic, a race he won in 2022 and 2021. He last ran on May 5 at Churchill Downs, where he finished second in the GII Alysheba S. The biggest win of his career came in January when he won the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream.

The post Art Collector on List of Horses Provisionally Suspended by HISA for Violating Intra-Articular Injection Rule appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

HISA Temporarily Suspends Full Enforcement of Intra-Articular Joint Injection Rules

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has temporarily suspended full enforcement of its rules surrounding intra-articular joint injections.

Under HISA's rules as written, trainers are prohibited from giving their horse intra-articular joint injections within 14 days prior to the post-time of a race, and within seven days prior to any timed and reported workout.

A violation of these rules could result in a 60-day suspension for the trainer.

According to an announcement dated June 26, the prohibition of such injections within seven days prior to a workout shall be enforced only by making the horse ineligible to race for a period of 30 days. This temporary measure will last until July 15, 2023. HISA had also issued a bulletin to stakeholders on June 23 stating the new policy.

All other provisions of the rule will continue to be enforced.

According to HISA Chief Executive Lisa Lazarus, between 15 and 20 trainers have breached the rule surrounding intra-articular joint injections prior to a workout. The reason HISA decided to temporarily modify its enforcement of the rule was due to confusion among trainers about the specifics of the rules related to workouts, Lazarus added.

“On the workout side, while it was mentioned in the education process, it seems that a lot of trainers just really didn't understand it, and most of the violations we saw were only off by one day,” said Lazarus.

Lazarus added that the temporary modification of enforcement of the rules was deemed the most “fair and equitable” way to proceed “given the number of violations.”

According to Lazarus, there has been only one violation of the rule surrounding intra-articular joint injections prior to a race.

Lazarus said she was unaware which trainers had breached the rule. “That would be a HIWU question,” said Lazarus, pointing to the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit, which oversees implementation of HISA's anti-doping and medication control (ADMC) program.

“When horses are suspended, you'll be able to figure that out,” Lazarus added, pointing to HIWU's “public disclosures” webpage.

The Authority–the non-profit umbrella broadly overseeing implementation of the federal law–has the legal discretion to modify rule enforcement, said Lazarus.

“We can't modify the rules,” she said. “But we can–and we have in the past on the safety rules–decided to not enforce a particular provision of the rule,” said Lazarus.

“This general discretion to not enforce a portion of the rule is we believe within HISA's authority,” she added.

When asked if this was fair to other industry stakeholders facing sanctions as per the rules, Lazarus said that sanctions are still being meted out, even though they are less stringent than the rules require.

“There are a lot of folks who don't like the decisions that we [make]. But it's our job to make tough decisions, and I fully stand behind this decision,” said Lazarus.

When asked if this action was unfair to the owners of the horses in question, Lazarus said that it was ultimately a welfare decision.

“Protecting the horse is always in our view our responsibility,” said Lazarus. “And so, we believe it is not appropriate to allow a horse to race within 30 days of it having the injection.”

Lazarus said that the Authority is not “at this time” considering tweaking the enforcement of other rules on the books.

Daily Racing Form reported that HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Committee is also considering modifying the sanctions surrounding the 60-day trainer suspension for violating the workout portion of the rule.

“There's a feeling that the sanction may be too high,” Lazarus told the DRF.

The post HISA Temporarily Suspends Full Enforcement of Intra-Articular Joint Injection Rules appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Hospital & Veterinary Management System Launches HISA Integration

Hospital & Veterinary Management System (HVMS) has announced the launch of a software integration with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA). HISA oversees national, uniform integrity and safety rules for Thoroughbred racing in the United States. In an effort to facilitate ease of reporting, HVMS has worked with HISA to create a software integration that will enhance workflow, reduce duplicate entry of records, and align data to make information flow easier and quicker.

“The integration saves a significant amount of time in the HISA reporting requirements over doing reporting separately in the HISA portal,” said Dr. Scott Hay, DVM, President, Managing Shareholder at TFB Equine. “The biggest gain has been increased efficiencies over working in two different systems. The system is comprehensive and quite easy to use.”

Benefits of the integration include:
· When billing for HISA linked patients, HVMS will prompt for the required HISA information.
· The medical records captured while billing in HVMS can be submitted to HISA through your HVMS software.
· All HISA items billed can then be reviewed and submitted to HISA directly from HVMS.
· HVMS also displays the history of all HISA items submitted and reports their sent status so you can verify each item was received by HISA.
· You will save time every day while using this integration as it omits the need for two points of entry.

“Our goal in working with HISA is to automate the flow of medical records between the veterinarian and HISA to eliminate dual entry of records which saves time and input errors,” said Scott Pickard, President & CEO of Business Infusions. “This outcome has been achieved and we are adding new practices to the integration on a weekly basis.”

“HISA is committed to doing everything we can to make compliance with our safety and integrity rules simple and straightforward for horsemen and veterinarians,” said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus. “We are therefore delighted that HVMS has integrated with HISA to deliver these efficiencies to their customers who have HISA reporting obligations.”

The post Hospital & Veterinary Management System Launches HISA Integration appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post