HBPA

A judgment Friday by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit declared that part of the Horseracing and Safety Integrity Act (HISA) is unconstitutional. Even though the three-judge panel agreed with "nearly all" of a lower court's ruling that other contested aspects of HISA's constitutionality were fixed by a Congressional amendment to the law in 2022, the panel's one unconstitutional finding has to do with the HISA Authority's broad powers to investigate and operate. The gravity of that unconstitutionality opinion could be enough to send the case...

Funds totaling an additional $66,588 have been allocated to the Thoroughbred Breed Improvement Program for 2024, according to a press release from the Alberta Thoroughbred Community Racing Association (ACTRA), the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society (CTHS), and the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA). "This allocation of additional funds marks a significant commitment to the enhancement of the Alberta Thoroughbred industry," said CTHS Alberta General Manager Jean Kruse. "We are confident that these investments will not only support the development of local breeding programs but also strengthen the competitiveness of Alberta-bred...

The National Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association (HBPA) filed a Petition for Rulemaking under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) on Monday, requesting the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to create no-effect thresholds. A no-effect threshold, also known as a no-effect screening limit or no-effect cutoff, is a laboratory testing detection level below which no owner or trainer will be punished for innocent and pharmacologically irrelevant concentrations of foreign substances that have no effect on a horse, according to the HBPA. Under the petition, the no-effect thresholds would be required...

Iowa Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg will deliver the keynote address at the 2024 National HBPA Conference set for July 23-26 at Iowa's Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack and Hotel, the association said in a release early Friday morning. Lt. Gov. Gregg will make his remarks on Wednesday, July 24, the conference's first of three days of panel discussions and presentations. Coinciding with the conference will be a starter-allowance race carrying a $50,000 purse. The top three finishers receive automatic entry into the 1 1/16-mile Kent Stirling Memorial Iron Horse, part of...

Thursday's eight-race card at Woodbine Racetrack has been pushed back and will begin at 6:05 p.m., the track announced Monday. The move was made in the best interest of horse welfare as an extreme heat warning is in effect for the city of Toronto and the surrounding areas. Woodbine noted that the decision to push back the start time was made in consultation with the HBPA. Woodbine is the latest track to alter post times due to the heat joining Finger Lakes, who moved both Tuesday and Wednesday cards up...

Earlier this month, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans heard oral arguments in a pivotal case—led by the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA)—seeking to overturn the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) on grounds that it is constitutionally flawed. In short, the Fifth Circuit's pending ruling could have profound implications for the short and long-term future of the federal law. Oral arguments in the Fifth Circuit follow a key decision earlier this year out of the United States Court of Appeals...

The Jockeys' Guild has reached an agreement with the Kentucky HBPA and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association on a mount fee increase effective Nov. 29, which is opening day of the Turfway Park Holiday meet, the organization said in a release Wednesday. The mount fee schedule calls for a minimum fee of $125 at all Kentucky racetracks, including Churchill Downs, Keeneland, Ellis Park, Kentucky Downs and Turfway Park. This agreement also provides for $500 minimum fee in races with purses of $1 million or more. "On behalf of our members who...

The Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association has extended Turf Paradise's contract to simulcast races for wagering until Nov. 12, the Phoenix track said in a tweet Thursday morning. The extension avoids a shutdown of the track's 37 Off Track Betting sites. A new live horse racing meet is scheduled to start in early January. The news comes after Turf Paradise reported Sept. 19 that the owner of the track, Jerry Sims, would be retiring and that no more live racing or simulcasting would take place after Oct. 1. Additional...

Two days after the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority disclosed at a press conference last week that it had initiated discussions with sales companies in an attempt to bring about voluntary compliance with medication policies throughout the lifetimes of Thoroughbreds, the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) went on record with a letter filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit alleging that those efforts equate to improper rulemaking by the Authority and "preferential treatment" for breeders. The purpose of the HISA Authority's...

A federal judge has stayed a 14-month-old lawsuit initiated by the states of Louisiana and West Virginia that is trying to wipe out the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) via alleged constitutional violations, ordering the case to be "administratively terminated" until the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals makes a ruling in a separate suit in which the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) is also alleging HISA is unconstitutional. However, U.S. District Court (Western District of Louisiana) Chief Judge Terry Doughty wrote in his Sept. 14 ruling...

With oral arguments in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit now five weeks away, the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) filed a legal brief Aug. 25 underscoring that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority unconstitutionally "wants the best of both worlds" by allegedly portraying itself as both a governmental body or a private organization "depending on which suits its interests on any individual argument." "Sometimes [the Authority] wants to be like a government entity, with the power to compel registration, collect mandatory...

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has released its proposed budget for 2024, totaling $80.96 million, including $38.7 million earmarked for the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), the drug testing arm of the federal program. The total fee assessments for the states and racetracks come out to $78.5 million, but available credits potentially bring that number down to $59.8 million. HISA's 2023 total budget was initially set at $72.5 million. That number was subsequently revised down to $66.4 million earlier this year. The proposed 2024 budget was issued...