FTC

On the eve that Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) and the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) were scheduled to appear at separate enforcement hearings in front of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority board to address disputes over their non-payment of assessment fees that are based partially on purses, those two prominent Thoroughbred track operators teamed up to sue the Authority and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in federal court, alleging that both the fee impositions and the attempted enforcement actions for non-payment are "illegal." According to the civil complaint...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Nov. 6 issued an order approving the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's $80-million budget for 2025. The Authority's proposed 2025 budget garnered only three public comments after it was first submitted to the FTC on July 31 and subsequently published in the Federal Register. The public commentary period closed Sept. 12. According to the FTC's order, "Two of the comments were brief and did not address the Decisional criteria that the Commission must apply in determining whether to approve a proposed budget. A third,...

The latest development in Jonathan Wong's ongoing case stemming from a June 2023 metformin positive saw him file a complaint against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority in the District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Lafayette Division. Wong is currently serving a two-year ban under HISA. In the complaint filed Tuesday, Wong asserts the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) had threatened the immigration status of one of his intended witnesses before a prior arbitration hearing-something the agency denies doing....

Philip Serpe, a licensed trainer since 1984 who has maintained a nearly violation-free record while campaigning graded stakes winners up and down the East Coast, is fighting "banned substance" sanctions involving the alleged detection of clenbuterol in an Aug. 10 Saratoga Race Course winner he trained by suing the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in federal court. Serpe's Oct. 17 lawsuit in United States District Court (Southern District of Florida) cites the purported unconstitutionality of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), "because, first,...

Horseracing and Safety Integrity Authority chief executive Lisa Lazarus on Monday sent a letter to Alan Foreman, the chairman of the Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (THA), warning THA members of "potentially significant disruptions" to the industry based on the HISA Authority's interpretation of legal strategies being pursued by the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA). With an application by the Authority pending in the United States Supreme Court that would stay a Horseracing and Safety Integrity Act unconstitutionality mandate that has yet to be released by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court...

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on Friday affirmed a ruling out of a lower federal court in Arkansas that had denied a preliminary injunction sought by horsemen in Arkansas and Iowa to halt the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) and its Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program. Chief Judge Steven Colloton took the lead in authoring the opinion for the three-judge panel, writing that the plaintiffs/appellants have "not established a fair chance of success on the merits, so the district court did not abuse...

The Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit has lifted the suspension assessed to trainer Jorge Duarte Jr. in the wake of one of his horses testing positive for methamphetamine after a race at Delaware Park in May. Duarte is the private trainer for Richard Santulli's Colts Neck Stables. On June 26, Duarte was informed that a horse he trained named Happy Cat (Kitten's Joy) had tested positive for methamphetamine following a May 22nd race at Delaware Park. On September 5, he was issued a provisional suspension of 60 days. After presenting...

A Monday order out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit shot down a request for a rarely granted "en banc" procedure that the Horseracing and Safety Integrity Act (HISA) Authority and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had asked for last month. Had the long-shot legal maneuver been successful, it would have granted a rehearing before all of that court's judges to review a July 5, 2024, opinion issued by a panel of three that had declared HISA is unconstitutional because its enforcement provisions violate the...

Ahead of a Wednesday federal court hearing to determine if a temporary injunction is warranted in Oklahoma to keep the Horseracing and Safety Integrity Act (HISA) from being enforced in that state, the HISA Authority filed a legal response Monday that stated "there is no emergency" that would merit such action. The Authority further told the court that the eight licensed Remington Park horsepeople who are plaintiffs in the case are engaging in "foot-dragging and gamesmanship" in their repeated efforts to derail HISA on the grounds of alleged unconstitutionality. In...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved the proposed rule changes to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA)'s Racetrack Safety Program and the changes will take effect starting July 8, the organization announced Friday via presser. The 30-day window before the official start day allows for an educational campaign so as to prepare the industry for the changes, an effort which will include handbooks, webinars, posters, HISA portal messaging and social media outreach. The revisions come after extensive dialogue and feedback from industry participants, including from the Horsemen's Advisory...

Both the jockey and the owner/breeder of the second-place finisher in the Feb. 18 GIII Sunland Derby have filed a notice of appeal with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in an attempt to reverse a more-than-six-strikes whipping disqualification under Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) rules that cost them the placing in that stakes and $85,360 in purse winnings. At issue is the contention by jockey Oscar Ceballos and Eleanor Martin, the owner/breeder of Alotaluck (Sir Prancealot {Ire}), that some of the 11 strikes of the whip that Ceballos administered...

Trainer Jonathan Wong's legal team has filed an application with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for the agency to review an April decision by an FTC chief administrative law judge affirming an earlier Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) arbitration panel ruling which suspended Wong for two years and fined him $25,000 for a 2023 post-race metformin positive. Metformin is a type 2 diabetes drug that HISA has classified as a banned substance. The application for review asks the FTC to conduct a de novo review of chief administrative law...