Timeline for HISA Implementation Comes Into Clearer Focus

With the July 1, 2022, implementation date looming for the nationwide regulatory Authority mandated by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) to go into effect, Charles Scheeler, the chairman of the Authority's board of directors, on Sunday outlined the timetable for the sport's new ruling body to be fully operational.

Speaking via pre-recorded video during Sunday's 69th Annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing that was hosted virtually by The Jockey Club (TJC), Scheeler said the Authority is currently developing its anti-doping and safety programs side by side, and that by the fall those initiatives will be shared publicly in an effort to generate feedback.

“All of this will be before we submit these proposed rules to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is what is required by the Act,” Scheeler said. “And then [the FTC] will make them public; publish them in the Federal Register for a 60-day period of notice and comment. So the industry will get a second bite at the apple–another chance to comment on these rules.

“After the 60 days, the FTC will decide whether to approve all or some of these rules. We hope that they approve all of the rules that we submit to them. And then they have to be posted and finalized for a four-month period of time. So no later than March 1, 2022, for these rules to become operative on [July 1, 2022],” Scheeler said.

“We will also, in the late fall and winter, be sharing with state racing commissions our estimates of the costs for the coming year. That is required by the Act to occur no later than April 1. But it is our goal to get those numbers to the states months and months in advance of the event,” Scheeler said.

“And then, July 1, we will go live together with a new system to enforce the anti-doping and medication laws, and to make the tracks safer, and to make the sport fair for everyone,” Scheeler said.

But that timetable for implementation could face legal pushback in the form of lawsuits initiated by the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (National HBPA) and several state racing commissions.

Speaking in a separate section of the Round Table video presentation, TJC's chairman, Stuart Janney III, said such obstructionist tactics won't prevail in the long run.

“They defend the status quo with lawsuits that are effectively protecting a few bad trainers, veterinarians, and horsemen at the expense of those who are honest,” Janney said. “They offer nothing in the alternative other than worn-out notions of state-by-state compacts in defense of the same broken system.”

Janney also reiterated a prediction he made during last August's Round Table video presentation that more federal arrests of alleged horse dopers are in the pipeline.

Six of 28 defendants arrested in March 2020 have already pleaded guilty to felony charges in the federal government's prosecution of an alleged “corrupt scheme” to manufacture, mislabel, rebrand, distribute, and administer performance-enhancing drugs to racehorses all across America and in international races.

Elsewhere in the two-hour Round Table presentation, two Columbia University researchers–Dr. Yuval Neria, a professor of medical psychology, and Dr. Prudence Fisher, an associate professor of clinical psychiatric social work–gave an update on the Man O' War Project, which uses Thoroughbreds in equine-assisted therapy (EAT) to treat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“We plan on capitalizing on our work so far by creating the Man O' War Center at Columbia University,” Fisher said. “And its mission will be to advance the promising field of EAT. The center will coordinate and carry out many initiatives that further our work.”

Neria said another goal is to provide EAT training to others in the field.

“Over the last two to three years, we have been approached by many programs who are eager to learn from us and implement our protocols,” Neria said. “[And] we plan to adapt our protocols for use with other groups beyond veterans with PTSD. For example, children and adolescents, and also others. With support from Ambassador [Earle] Mack, this fall we will be carrying out a pilot study with anxious youths.”

Fisher added that research work on the original protocols will be expanded by undertaking a randomized, controlled trial later this year.

“This would be a larger study, and we plan on partnering with other sites that we will train to make it work,” Fisher said.

Neria added that “a critically important part of our mission is to expand the number of retired Thoroughbred racehorses that are used in the EAT programs.”

The post Timeline for HISA Implementation Comes Into Clearer Focus appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Scarlett Sky Overcomes Slow Pace in Transylvania

Stuart Janney III's SCARLETT SKY (c, 3, Sky Mesa–Mata Mua, by Arch) looked to have it all to do in Friday's GIII Transylvania S. at Keeneland, as he lingered in last of six behind a glacial pace. But, steered out widest into the stretch, he motored down the center of the course and was along late to post an ultimately cozy victory over Palazzi (Pioneerof the Nile), who hit the lead inside the final sixteenth, only to be run over in the final strides. GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Fire At Will (Declaration of War) enjoyed a very soft time of things on the engine, but could not take advantage of the slow pace he set and could do no better than third. It was the second win in the race for Janney and trainer Shug McGaughey, who teamed to win the 2011 renewal with Janney homebred Air Support (Smart Strike). Scarlett Sky was most recently narrowly beaten into second by 'TDN Rising Star' Annex (Constitution) in the Feb. 27 Palm Beach S. at Gulfstream Park. Lifetime Record: 7-3-3-0. O/B-Stuart S Janney III (KY); T-Shug McGaughey.

Friday, Keeneland Race Course
KENTUCKY UTILITIES TRANSYLVANIA S.-GIII, $150,000, Keeneland, 4-2, 3yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:43.89, gd.
1–SCARLETT SKY, 118, c, 3, by Sky Mesa
                1st Dam: Mata Mua, by Arch
                2nd Dam: Impressionism, by Broad Brush
                3rd Dam: Sky Blue Pink, by Strawberry Road (Aus)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O/B-Stuart
Janney, III LLC (KY); T-Claude R. McGaughey III; J-Joel
Rosario. $90,000. Lifetime Record: 7-3-3-0, $210,400.
Werk Nick Rating: A+. 
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Palazzi, 120, c, 3, Pioneerof the Nile–Kindle, by Indian
Charlie. ($375,000 Wlg '18 KEENOV; $510,000 Ylg '19 FTSAUG).
O-John C. Oxley; B-HnR Nothhaft Horseracing LLC & Pioneerof
the Nile Syndicate (KY); T-Mark E. Casse. $30,000.
3–Fire At Will, 123, c, 3, Declaration of War–Flirt, by Kitten's
Joy. ($97,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Three Diamonds Farm; B-Troy
Rankin (KY); T-Michael J. Maker. $15,000.
Margins: HF, HF, 1 1/4. Odds: 2.50, 10.70, 1.10.
Also Ran: Barrister Tom, Earls Rock (Ire), Breadman.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

 

The post Scarlett Sky Overcomes Slow Pace in Transylvania appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights