HISA

Bill Walmsley, Jon Moss, and the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association for Iowa filed suit against the Federal Trade Commission to "stop the illegally constituted Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA)" on Thursday, according to a press release from the National HBPA. The case, Bill Walmsley, et. al. v. Federal Trade Commission, was filed in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. "Congress cannot outsource regulatory authority to a private organization--unaccountable to the American people--that has the power to create rules, levy fines, and adjudicate disputes," said...

The ongoing stand-off between California's Veterinary Medical Board (VMB) and the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) has amounted to a regulatory turf war over California's backstretch veterinarians. So far, the state's VMB has flexed its primacy, issuing dozens of records requests and, in a number of instances, complaints against vets within this colony. The highest profile such case concerned a settlement last year with CHRB equine medical director, Jeff Blea. In that settlement, the VMB issued Blea a fine of more than $130,000, required him to undergo continuing education classes...

An Amarillo Division federal judge in Texas on Thursday ordered the most recently filed lawsuit out of four active nationwide cases all trying to overturn the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) to be transferred to the Lubbock Division that is currently handling the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA)'s similar and recently remanded complaint. The Apr. 6 order by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk (Northern District of Texas, Amarillo Division) comes more than eight months after the litigation was initiated on July 29, 2022, and just one day...

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. With the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) having gone into effect on July 1, the TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant HISA-related rulings from the same week. The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal, except for...

Former president and CEO of Equibase, Sal Sinatra, will advise the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) for the next six months on the integration of the InCompass interface at racetracks with the HISA portal, they said in a statement Thursday. Sinatra designed, programmed and installed racing office software for more than 30 racetracks when he was a principal with TSNS in the late 1980s, before it was acquired by a subsidiary of The Jockey Club. The TSNS assets were then merged into what is now known as InCompass, the...

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority reiterated to a judge on Monday a belief that the plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit spearheaded by the state of Louisiana have "no right" to expand the scope of their complaint by letting new entities join the nine-month-old case in United States District Court (Western District of Louisiana). "Plaintiffs characterize their joinder of new parties as a 'routine amendment,'" the Apr. 3 court filing stated. "But they do not dispute that the purpose of their amendment is to transform the preliminary injunction...

A federal judge in Texas has issued a 30-day waiting period before the rules of HISA's Anti-Doping Medication and Control (ADMC) can take effect. Those rules initially went into effect Monday, Mar. 27, but will now be suspended until May 1. During the month of April, therefore, HISA will turn back the job of collecting samples and testing back to the states, said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus on a Friday night media call. The ruling, issued Friday, was the latest in a long back-and-forth bitter struggle between pro-HISA and anti-HISA...

One day after Kentucky's state senate adopted a resolution by voice vote to urge a review of the HISA funding methodology, the Kentucky House of Representatives did the same. House Resolution 98, "A resolution expressing concerns regarding the unintended consequences of the current funding methodology of the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act," was adopted by a voice vote in the House. The resolution was sponsored by Republican representative Matthew Koch, and Democratic representative Al Gentry. The language is identical to that of its companion resolution in the Senate, contained...

Edited Press Release The Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) calls the Thoroughbred industry's attention to regulations regarding the possession and use of dietary supplements under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA)'s Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program. The ADMC Program permits the possession and use of dietary supplements such as vitamins, minerals, herbs, and homeopathic products. Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, such products are not considered drugs, and therefore do not require approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, Covered Persons should be...

Kentucky's state senate adopted a resolution by voice vote Mar. 29 that will "urge" the overseers of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) and elected federal politicians "to review the funding methodology of HISA and ensure that they provide uniform treatment to all states," according to a summary of the measure posted on the web page of the Kentucky General Assembly. Senators Damon Thayer and John Schickel sponsored the resolution, which was both introduced and passed on Wednesday. The resolution describes itself as a means of "expressing concerns regarding...

Edited Press Release New and enhanced anti-doping regulations took effect in U.S. Thoroughbred horse racing Monday following the Federal Trade Commission's approval of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's (HISA) Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program. HISA's ADMC Program, administered by the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU), brings all testing and results management under one national authority, standardizes the categories of substances laboratories test for and institutes clear and consistent penalties for violations. In its authority as the independent administrator of the ADMC Program, HIWU is introducing to the...

With the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Integrity Act's (HISA) anti-doping and medication control program set for launch Monday--pending approval by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)--the inevitable focus will be on the spider web of post-race and out-of-competition testing set to blanket most of the nation. But with it has come this other question: What do buyers now need to be aware of when purchasing a horse at the sales or privately? The question has gained added currency since a recent presentation before the Southern California horsemen by representatives from the...