HBPA

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...

In horse racing, the betting public counts on owners and trainers trying to win within safe and lawful parameters. A critical component associated with both is the private veterinary practitioners they employ to help prepare the horse for competition. To date there is no evidence that the Horseracing Integrity & Safety Act and the private corporation Authority (both known as HISA) that the legislation birthed has given any thought to the role of the private practitioner except to mandate onerous and dubious vaccinations, piling on bureaucratic duties and counterproductive medication...

The largest purse increase in Oaklawn Park history was unveiled in a release Wednesday by the track. Purse distribution for the upcoming 2023-2024 season is set for $60 million, which amounts to a $10 million or 20% increase over last season's record-setting $50 million distribution. The average daily purses will top $900,000 when the season starts on Dec. 8. Purses for allowance races will be $140,000--$145,000, maiden special weights will be $115,000 and the minimum purse on any race will be $30,000. "Let me put this in perspective," said Oaklawn...

by Beau Lane Rumor has it that Mike Repole said he was going to get out of the business if things didn't change. Well, I can see how Mr. Repole could feel that way; he's had some real kicks in the behind this year. But the racing industry needs more people like Mike Repole. He goes to the sales, buys nice horses, goes to the races, and takes his chances. He spends more than most and has Todd Pletcher for a trainer (there is no better), and so his chances...

With oral arguments tentatively scheduled for the first week in October, the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) and 12 of its affiliates told the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Wednesday that the rewritten version of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) remains "patently unconstitutional," and that the Authority overseeing the sport "is basically a private police department" whose sweeping powers equate to "oligarchic tyranny." As the appellants in a lawsuit that has persisted in the federal court system for more than 27...

Invaluable (Include) was named the 2022 Claiming Crown Horse of the Year by the National HBPA's Industry Awards Committee chaired by Todd Mostoller from the Pennsylvania HBPA. Invaluable will be recognized at the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association annual awards dinner on Sept. 9. Trainer Mike Maker and owner Peter Proscia's Paradise Farms Corp. claimed Invaluable, then 5 years old, in the final days of Saratoga's 2022 meet with the intention of running in the Claiming Crown on Nov . 12 at Churchill Downs. After finishing third in a $10,000...

The 2023 Claiming Crown will be staged for the first time since 2011 at the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in New Orleans on Saturday, Dec. 2, the National HBPA and the TOBA said in a joint release early on Thursday. The event will feature eight races totaling $1 million in base purses, headlined by the $200,000 Claiming Crown Jewel. Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National HBPA said, "The Claiming Crown was designed to celebrate our hard-knocking, unsung heroes of the turf. What better place--especially for our 25th running--than...

In two separate court filings Thursday, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) both sharply criticized the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA)'s decision to seek an injunction that would delay the May 22 implementation of the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program. What stood out was that neither the HISA Authority nor the FTC shied from trying to link the NHBPA's desire to maintain the "status quo" to the grim headlines that have dominated the sport over the past week. "Seven...

Even as the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) is trying to halt the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) for good, its attorneys filed a response in federal court Thursday that criticized the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)'s Apr. 27 order that mandated the third delay in nearly a year for the implementation of the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program, this time from May 1 to May 22. The NHBPA told the court that the FTC's issuance of the order to delay the program without first providing a...