HISA

Christine Tuma, who formerly worked as an association veterinarian jointly employed by Hawthorne Race Course and the Illinois Racing Board (IRB), on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit against those two entities claiming her efforts to scratch over 80 lame or injured Thoroughbreds during the 2022 and 2023 race meets were met with an alleged conspiracy to overturn her actions so the unsound horses could be entered in races. The lawsuit further contended that when Tuma reported this alleged conspiracy to state and federal government regulators, she was fired "in retaliation...

On June 26, trainer Jorge Duarte, Jr 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. Duarte was indeed concerned, but he insisted he had done nothing wrong, that cooler heads would prevail and that he would not be penalized. Three-and-a-half months later, he has already started serving what could be a lengthy suspension. The problem is that when there is a drug positive, Duarte says the position of the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. NEW HISA/HIWU STEWARDS RULINGS The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the HIWU "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Resolved ADMC Violations Date: 09/10/2024 Licensee: Joe Tye, trainer Penalty: A written Reprimand (per 9/26/23 HISA Guidance). Final decision by HIWU. Explainer: Vets' list medication violation for the presence of Omeprazole (GastroGard)-controlled Medication (Class C)--in a sample taken from Wear the Crown on 7/26/24. Date: 09/10/2024...

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...

Eight days after turf racing was halted at Parx amid pressure from horsemen and HISA, HISA officials released their evaluation of the turf surface, saying that the holes had been filled, but the surface was noticeably dry. Causes Trouble (Creative Cause) broke down on the grass in the Aug. 24 Parx Dash, leading his trainer, Harold Wyner, to walk the course and release a video that showed numerous holes, some of them up to a foot deep. Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's President Bob Hutt said he was ignored when he demanded...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. NEW HISA/HIWU STEWARDS RULINGS The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the HIWU "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Resolved ADMC Violations Date: 09/04/2024 Licensee: Johanna Urieta, trainer Penalty: Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a fine of $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Admission. Explainer: Medication violation for the presence of Methocarbamol— Controlled Medication (Class C)—in a...

The stewards at Charles Town Races on Wednesday issued a ruling that will not impose penalties against the licensure of trainer Justin Nixon after deeming that a "trace level" of a cocaine metabolite detected in a winning first-time starter he trained in March was the result of "inadvertent exposure" to that drug. West Virginia, along with Louisiana, are the only two states in America where Thoroughbred medication testing and enforcement are not subject to oversight by the Horseracing and Safety Integrity Act (HISA) and the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit...

The Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) has granted a temporary stay of enforcement to connections in six pending total carbon dioxide (TCO2) cases, all of which are out of Pennsylvania. In total, 11 of the 14 pending and resolved TCO2-related cases reported since the advent of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) have concerned horses that ran in Pennsylvania. Of the three other TCO2-related cases, one ran in California and two were out of Ohio. When asked about the reason behind the temporary stay of enforcement, HIWU spokesperson...

As renovations continue at Belmont Park, The New York Racing Association (NYRA) divulged a plan July 1 to conduct approximately three months of winter racing annually at Belmont exclusively on an all-weather surface. A one-mile Tapeta track is currently under construction at Belmont, while the facility is scheduled to reopen in 2026. Lisa Lazarus, the CEO of the Horseracing Integrity & Safety Authority (HISA) provided a letter Friday to NYRA in support of the decision. The letter appears in full below. To Whom it May Concern: The Horseracing Integrity and...

Pennsylvania's Parx Racing has issued a statement following news the turf course at the Bensalem track has been closed due to dangerous conditions. For background on the situation, which included the breakdown of Causes Trouble (Creative Cause) Aug. 24, please click here. HISA released a statement earlier Thursday indicating a series of tests will be run. Thursday afternoon, officials at Parx released their own statement. It appears in full and unedited below: "The recent spurious comments made by the President of the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horseman's Association, Bob Hutt, regarding the...

On Wednesday, Aug. 28 it was reported that HISA and the local horsemen's group pressured Parx management to close down its turf course. Now the racetrack is planning to put the surface through a series of tests, according to a statement issued by HISA on Thursday. Parx management has informed the oversight organization that they have arranged for Racing Services Testing Laboratory (RSTL) to test and evaluate the turf surface. Additionally, HISA has requested that members of the Track Surface Advisory Group visit in the coming days to assess its...

This letter originally appeared on the Walking L Companies website and is republished in the TDN unedited and with permission. I believe that we are all involved in whichever corner of the Thoroughbred Racing Industry we each occupy because of our love first and foremost for the HORSES and that we all want to see racing grow and thrive for decades to come. Of course, there are many problems and challenges within our industry and many things that we need to fix in order for it to continue, let alone...