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HISA to Begin Using Can’t-Race Flags Beginning March 27

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) will begin using “can't-race” flags to enforce its existing Racetrack Safety and Registration regulations beginning on Mar. 27, 2023. Covered Persons and Horses who are not in compliance with HISA's Racetrack Safety and Registration rules, which went into effect on July 1, 2022, will be at risk of being unable to race until they comply with the rules.

In order to be in full compliance with the Racetrack Safety and Registration rules:

-Covered Persons must ensure that they and their Covered Horses are registered in the HISA Portal,
-Covered Persons must ensure that they have paid any overdue fines issued to them, and
-Jockeys must have the dates of their most recent baseline concussion test and physical examination entered into the HISA portal, and those dates must fall within the last 12 months.

In addition to HISA's use of can't-race flags beginning on Mar. 27, HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program is also expected to launch that day pending final approval of the ADMC rules by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This will mean that all of HISA's ADMC, Racetrack Safety and Registration regulations are expected to be in full effect as of Mar. 27, 2023.

“Mar. 27, 2023 will truly be the start of a new era in Thoroughbred racing,” said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus. “An added level of enforcement of our Racetrack Safety and Registration rules, coupled with the launch of our ADMC Program, will be a clear sign to all that the racing industry is taking equine wellbeing and rider safety incredibly seriously. I am grateful for the high level of engagement and compliance we've seen with our Racetrack Safety and Registration rules since they went into effect on July 1, 2022, and I hope that the use of can't-race flags serves as one more mechanism to ensure uniformity and compliance across the country as we continue our implementation process.”

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Pennsylvania Commission Rescinds Ness Penalties From ’22

The Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission (PSHRC) has rescinded an Aug. 18, 2022, ruling against trainer Jamie Ness that suspended him six months and fined him $5,000 for a positive drug test for bufotenine in a winning horse at Parx.

Bufotenine is a psychoactive substance often referred to as “toad venom” because one of its sources is the skin of toads from the genus Bufo. In humans, it has been used for centuries in traditional forms of medicine as both a hallucinogen and a purported aphrodisiac. Starting in the 1990s, it briefly cycled into popularity as a street drug of abuse in the United States because of its ability to produce effects similar to those from mescaline and psilocybin mushrooms.

But another source of bufotenine is reed canary grass, a pasture plant. Ness's attorney, Drew Mollica, had argued that inadvertent contamination could have been a factor as the source of the traces of bufotenine that showed up in the positive post-race blood test of Crabs N Beer (Blofeld), who won a starter-optional claimer by 2 1/2 lengths as the 3-5 favorite on Feb. 23, 2022.

“Common sense and science carried the day, and a possible career-threatening suspension was rescinded,” Mollica told TDN. “The system is often draconian and unfair, but in this instance justice was served.”

The rescinded ruling, dated Mar. 6, 2023, reads as follows:

“The Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) does not specify a threshold level for the substance Bufotenine. Based upon the PSHRC's analysis and investigation, the Commission has determined that the proper procedure would be to utilize the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) recommended residual limit of 10mcg/ml in urine. Based on the IFHA established threshold level, the finding in Sample No. 390762 will not be determined as a positive result. As such, there is no violation of the Commission's Rules of Racing. Therefore, the Parx Board of Stewards Ruling No. 22226PP is hereby RESCINDED.”

Mollica explained the appeals process this way:

“We appealed on numerous levels. We did not go to a hearing, but they investigated it, and this is what they came up with. Bufotenine is a known contaminant, and our premise was it's culled in urine. They never took urine from this horse. They only took blood. And we argued that it was a known contaminant, and it was a low number in blood, and it should never have been a positive at all.”

Ness is currently third in the North American training standings so far this year, and seventh based on earnings. He is currently atop the Parx leaderboard in both wins and earnings for 2023.

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Travers Highlights Saratoga Stakes Schedule

The stakes schedule for the 2023 summer meet at historic Saratoga Race Course will include 71 stakes worth $20.8 million in total purses, the New York Racing Association announced Tuesday.

Highlighted by the 154th renewal of the $1.25-million GI Travers Aug. 26 and the $1-million GI Whitney Aug. 5, the 40-day summer meet will open Thursday, July 13 and continue through Monday, Sept. 4.

Whitney Day provides a trio of Grade I events, including the GI Test S. and the GI Saratoga Derby Invitational.

The Travers Festival offers nine stakes including six Grade Is from Wednesday, Aug. 23 through Saturday, Aug. 26. The lucrative Travers Day card features five Grade I stakes, including the GI Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer, GI Ballerina H., GI Forego and GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial.

Following the four-day opening weekend, racing will be conducted five days a week, Wednesdays through Sundays, apart from closing week, when the 2023 summer meet will conclude on Labor Day.

Saratoga Live, the acclaimed television show produced by NYRA in partnership with FOX Sports, will return for its eighth season to provide expansive on-site daily coverage of the summer meet to a nationwide audience on the networks of FOX Sports.

The complete stakes schedule for the 2023 summer meet is available at https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/stakes-schedule/.

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Forte Tabbed as Morning Line Favorite for KD Future Wager Pool 6

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's champion and last weekend's GII Fountain of Youth S. winner Forte (Violence) was tabbed as the 4-1 overall morning line betting favorite for Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which is set to open at noon on Friday. The pool will run concurrently with the first and only pool for the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager.

In addition to $2 win and exacta betting, an Oaks/Derby Future Double will be offered. The Kentucky Derby Future Wager closes Sunday at 6 p.m. EST while the Oaks Future Wager will close 30 minutes later at 6:30 p.m. EST.

The complete field for Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (with morning line odds): #1 Angel of Empire (Classic Empire), 30-1; #2 Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo), 10-1; #3 Arabian Lion (Justify), 50-1; #4 Blazing Sevens (Good Magic), 40-1; #5 Cagliostro (Upstart), 99-1; #6 Cairo (IRE) (Quality Road), 50-1; #7 Classic Car Wash (Noble Bird), 99-1; #8 Classic Catch (Classic Empire) 50-1; #9 Confidence Game (Candy Ride {Arg}), 30-1; #10 Congruent (Tapit), 80-1; #11 Cyclone Mischief (Into Mischief); #12 Denington (Gun Runner), 80-1; #13 Disarm (Gun Runner), 99-1; #14 Forte; #15 Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}), 20-1; #16 General Jim (Into Mischief), 80-1; #17 Hejazi (Bernardini), 40-1; #18 Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}), 30-1; #19 Instant Coffee (Bolt d'Oro), 30-1; #20 Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo), 50-1; #21 Litigate (Blame), 50-1; #22 Mage (Good Magic), 80-1; #23 Major Dude (Bolt d'Oro), 50-1; #24 Mandarin Hero (Jpn) (Shanghai Bobby), 50-1; #25 National Treasure (Quality Road), 30-1; #26 Perriere (Jpn) (Henny Hughes), 50-1; #27 Practical Move (Practical Joke), 8-1; #28 Raise Cain (Violence), 50-1; #29 Red Route One (Gun Runner), 40-1; #30 Reincarnate (Good Magic), 30-1; #31 Rocket Can (Into Mischief), 40-1; #32 Skinner (Curlin), 40-1; #33 Sun Thunder (Into Mischief), 99-1; #34 Tapit Trice (Tapit), 15-1; #35 Tapit's Conquest (Tapit), 80-1; #36 Two Eagles River (Cloud Computing), 80-1: #37 Two Phil's (Hard Spun), 80-1; #38 Verifying (Justify), 50-1; #39 Victory Formation (Tapwrit), 80-1; and #40 “All Other 3-Year-Olds”, 5-1.

In the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager, champion Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) was made the 8-1 morning line favorite in the field of 39 individual betting interests plus an option for “All Other 3-Year-Old Fillies” from the 2020 foal crop that were not listed.

The $3 million GI Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve will be constest Saturday, May 6 and the $1.25 million GI Longines Kentucky Oaks will run one day prior on Friday, May 5.

More information, Brisnet past performances and real-time odds on both wagers will be available online before the pool opens Friday. The sixth and final pool for the KDFW will open on Mar. 30.

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