HIWU

Trainer Jonathan Wong has been provisionally suspended after being alerted late Wednesday that the B Sample confirmed the presence of Metformin in a post-race test taken from his trainee, Heaven and Earth (Gormley). Heaven and Earth broke her maiden at Indiana Grand June 1 but subsequently tested positive for the prescription drug Metformin, a type 2 diabetes treatment classified as a banned substance by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA). During a conference call Thursday morning before representatives from the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) and a judge,...

As the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's (HISA) drug and medication control program has rolled out over the past few months, various questions have been raised over the mechanics of the new law. As such, the TDN has decided to maintain a Q&A on this new program comprising questions raised by readers, and answers fielded by representatives from either HISA or the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), the enforcement arm of HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program. The first set of responses can be read here. The second...

Editor's Note: This week, we start a series in the TDN where we attempt to clarify a HISA regulation that has been the subject of confusion in the early days of the rollout. This week, we discuss the test barn, where we have received letters to the editor saying that sample collection personnel may not be practicing proper hygiene, nor wearing gloves. What do the rules say, and what should you do if you observe this? HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus answers us below. Sample collection procedure requirements in the test...

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." --Daniel Patrick Moynihan Letters to the editor are, by definition, opinions. You can disagree with an opinion, but you can't exactly say it's wrong. But when "facts" that are not facts are offered in support of an opinion, that is disinformation. The writer of the July 26, 2023, Thoroughbred Daily News letter to the editor slamming HISA could be the poster child for that. Over the past week I reviewed his criticisms with executives with HISA and HIWU...

With oral arguments in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit looming in less than two months, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority defendants in a two-year-old lawsuit spearheaded by the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) asserted in a legal brief Friday that the panel of judges should "dismiss this appeal or affirm the judgment" from a lower court that ruled the 2022 rewrite of the HISA law was constitutionally compliant. "Congress, the Executive, and all three federal courts that have considered the...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A panel on computer-assisted wagering (CAW) and its pros and cons, and another on trainers' reactions to the new Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) regulations, took center stage at the 2023 Jockey Club Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing held in Saratoga Springs, New York on Thursday. Patrick Cummings, the moderator of the panel on CAWs, is the Executive Director of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, a racing-industry think tank. Cummings took the panel through a brief history of parimutuel wagering and the changes...

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...

Edited Press Release A mobile HIWU (Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit) app to assist stakeholders in the Thoroughbred industry with the components of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's (HISA) Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program has been launched, the organization has revealed. The free app is highlighted by a Prohibited Substances database, through which users can look up any of the substances that comprise HISA's Prohibited List of more than 1,300 banned substances and controlled medications. Each substance listing is populated with information about the substance such as HISA...

When "Big Money" Mike Smith got the call on Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) in Saturday's GI Haskell S., it was the culmination of a lot of planning and a bit of stalking. "I've had my eye on this colt for quite a while," admitted Smith on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast, presented by Keeneland. "If you have seen him, you've seen that he's such a good-looking horse," said Smith, who talked about watching him through his early races. "And when I got the call that I was...

by Brent J. Malmstrom I am the owner of a small stable with 35 horses in training split between multiple states. I wanted to share my first-hand experience on what happens when your trainer has been provisionally suspended, as well as my own thoughts on what is happening within our beloved industry. HISA/HIWU testing and enforcement went live roughly 60 days ago. Every week, there is news in the trade publications of trainers who have been provisionally suspended or have had an unfavorable test result. The rules continue to be...

As the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's (HISA) drug and medication control program has rolled out over the past couple of months, various questions have been raised over the mechanics of the new law. As such, the TDN has decided to maintain a Q&A on this new program comprising questions raised by readers, and answers fielded by representatives from either HISA or the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), which implements HISA's anti-doping and medication control (ADMC) program. The first set of responses can be read here. The second set of...

The Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) has updated its list of trainers that have been provisionally suspended after their horses have allegedly tested positive for banned substances, and the new names are Natalia Lynch, David Reid, Javier Morzan and Mary Pirone. Lynch, who is based in New York and had a winner Sunday at Saratoga, was sanctioned for allegedly having a horse test positive for Altrenogest. According a 2018 press release from the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC), Altrenogest is a progesterone receptor agonist used to control estrus...