HISA

In advance of oral arguments scheduled Aug. 30 in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the two sides involved in the injunction appeal brought by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act Authority (HISA) have filed legal briefs that they hope will sway the court to their side of the case. Both HISA and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are defendants in an underlying lawsuit led by the states of Louisiana and West Virginia, plus the Jockeys' Guild, that alleges unconstitutionality and federal rulemaking procedure violations regarding...

Either trainer Burton Sipp is an unwitting pariah, or racing is his witting fool. Over the last 40 years, Sipp has faced allegations involving insurance scams and dead horses, animal neglect cases, race-fixing stings and regulatory malfeasance. Not all the accusations against him have stuck. Since the mid 1990s, Sipp has been barred from applying for a racing license in New Jersey due to swirling suspicions of fraudulent practices. So he moved his tack to more welcoming pastures. For the past few years, the trainer has been dogged by allegations...

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 July 1, the TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant HISA-related rulings from the same week.California Track: Del Mar Date: 08/11/2022 Licensee:  Derrick Brown, owner Penalty: Suspension Violation:...

By Scott Finley After an opening day of casino and conventional gaming panels, the focus of Wednesday sessions was on developments in racing, including a review of the newly launched Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act and a thoughtful panel on how fixed-odds betting can positively impact the American horseracing industry. Lisa Lazarus, newly appointed CEO of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) spoke of the challenges her organization has faced in launching the initial phase of the Federal Statute that created HISA. Of the 21 states that host live...

To help the exercise riders at Gulfstream Park and Palm Meadows comply with HISA regulations, the Florida Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (FTHA) and 1S/T Racing have joined forces to launch the Safety Equipment Voucher Program. The program will provide a $200 voucher toward the purchase of each helmet and a $200 voucher toward the purchase of each vest that is defective or not up to code to offset the cost of replacing equipment. Under HISA regulations, safety equipment is subject to inspection, and all helmets must meet one of the following...

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will now hear oral arguments Aug. 30--slightly earlier than expected--in the injunction appeal brought by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act Authority (HISA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Both entities are defendants in an underlying lawsuit that alleges unconstitutionality and federal rulemaking procedure violations regarding HISA's initial framework of regulations that went into effect July 1. The Appeals Court docket previously indicated a September oral argument date was being planned. At issue in the appeal is whether a lower...

Barely six weeks into its existence as the sport's national rule enforcer, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has spent $1.8 million defending itself in four separate lawsuits currently pending or under appeal in federal court. But the true irony behind the spiraling costs of the anti-HISA litigation is that almost all entities--owners, trainers, jockeys, tracks, racing commissions and states--are going to have to pay twice, regardless of the final outcomes of those complex lawsuits. That's because plaintiffs like the Jockeys' Guild and various horsemen's associations will spend their...

Led by 14 affiliates of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) and four racetracks, an alliance of entities seeking protection from the alleged harms of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act Authority (HISA) have asked a federal judge to allow them to participate in an existing lawsuit that claims HISA and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) violated the Fourth and Seventh Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, plus the process by which federal agencies develop and issue regulations. On Friday, the anti-HISA parties filed what is known as a "motion...

The Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) announced three appointments to its executive leadership team-Ben Mosier to the role of Executive Director, Kate Mittelstadt to Chief of Operations, and Michelle Pujals to General Counsel. Both Mittelstadt and Pujals will report to Mosier. The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), in consultation with HIWU, is preparing to submit draft regulations for the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for review ahead of implementation of the Program Jan. 1, 2023. Mosier joined Drug Free Sport International...

During one of the most politically polarizing times in our country's history, Congress passed the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020 (HISA) with bipartisan support. What did this rare display of unity say about the health of the Thoroughbred racing industry? To say it kindly: the industry needed help. HISA handed over the reins for regulating Thoroughbred safety and anti-doping and medication control matters to a private, self-regulatory organization named the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (Authority). Before HISA, Thoroughbred racing in the United States was regulated by a...

Defending itself against contempt-of-court allegations for purportedly violating an under-dispute preliminary injunction order by imposing riding infraction penalties upon Jockeys' Guild members nationwide, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act Authority (HISA) fired back in federal court Tuesday with a filing that stated the plaintiffs' argument "fails the straight-face test." At issue is the still-disputed nature of the wording in a July 26 injunction order out of United States District Court (Western District of Louisiana), which stated that HISA rules would be enjoined in two plaintiff states until a June 29...

A panel of three judges from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a new, more fine-tuned order Monday in the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act Authority (HISA) lawsuit that narrows the scope of an "administrative stay" that same court had issued five days earlier. The Aug. 8 order now means that instead of the entire slate of HISA rules being re-activated in Louisiana and West Virginia (as per the Aug. 3 Appeals Court order that trumped a preliminary injunction issued July 26 by a lower...