HIWU

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. Among this week's rulings, trainer Steve Klesaris has been suspended for 15 days and fined $1,000 due to his trainee, She's Awesome, testing positive for gabapentin after winning at Aqueduct Nov. 19 last year. Gabapentin is a class B controlled medication under HISA that is an FDA human-approved anticonvulsant used to treat conditions like epilepsy, postherpetic neuralgia and in the treatment of partial onset seizures. Klesaris told the internal adjudication panel...

A federal judge in Oklahoma on Thursday denied a request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) that eight licensed Remington Park horsepeople wanted put in place to keep the Horseracing and Safety Integrity Act (HISA) from being enforced in that state. Chief Judge Timothy DeGiusti of United States District Court of Oklahoma (Western District) wrote in an Aug. 8 order that, "the Court finds that Plaintiffs have failed to make a sufficient showing of irreparable harm to warrant the extraordinary remedy of injunctive relief, [and that] the imminent threat of...

Though officials within the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority have already made huge strides forward in terms of across-the-board equine safety standards, one ongoing concern among stakeholders is that when it comes to the enforcement arm of the national program, an inflexibility in the way some cases are handled and sanctions meted out means the penalties don't always fit the crime. To discuss these concerns, the TDN recently spoke with Alan Foreman, chief executive officer of the Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and national ombudsman on behalf of HISA and...

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: 08/06/2024 Licensee: Saul Morales, trainer Penalty: A fine of $3,000. Admission. Explainer: Intra-articular injection within 7 days of a timed and reported workout on the horse Condemnation.   Date: 08/05/2024 Licensee: Rodolfo Sanchez-Salomon, trainer Penalty: 7-day period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning...

Just last week, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority released its latest safety figures, showing a four-quarter consecutive decline in equine fatalities. Indeed, in the second quarter of this year, tracks operating under HISA reported 0.76 racing-related equine fatalities per 1,000 starts--significantly lower than the perennial national average. But on the flip side of these statistics is an ongoing concern among stakeholders that the enforcement arm of the national program is in certain areas proving too onerous, and that the penalties aren't always an appropriate response to the...

When a Bill Mott-trained horse named Authorize (Curlin) broke down and had to be euthanized after an Apr. 26 race at Aqueduct, the trainer thought the worst was over with. Having a horse break down is excruciating for any trainer, but Mott was ready to move on. Little did he know that his problems were just beginning. Tests were performed on Authorize and they showed that he was positive for the painkiller Flunixin, also known as banamine. Mott was incredulous. He did his own internal review, checking with vets, his...

On Friday--the final day of the National HBPA Conference at Prairie Meadows--a panel entitled "Establishing No-Effect Thresholds and the Importance for the Industry" was led by practicing equine veterinarian and researcher Dr. Clara Fenger. She cited the Horseracing Integrity & Safety Authority's enabling legislation that HISA-covered horses "should compete only when they are free from the influence of medications ..." (her emphasis added). Fenger's point: Testing many substances to limit of detection--if the lab can find it, it's a violation, no matter how tiny the amount and whether it impacts...

Vladimir Cespedes, an owner, exercise rider and stable employee based at Parx Racing was found in possession of an electrical device and illegal human narcotics on Monday, July 23, during an integrity sweep of the barn area which was led by Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission (PSHRC) investigators who were in coordination with the racetrack and the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (PTHA), according to a stewards' ruling (24172PP) posted on the Commission's portal. That same day, Cespedes was summarily suspended by the stewards for a potential violation of 7 PA...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. Among this week's rulings and outlined in Bill Finley's story, trainer Joseph Taylor has been banned for a total of eight years and fined $100,000 after two of his horses tested positive for the banned substances Methylphenidate and Clenbuterol in June of last year. Dalton Dieter has also been suspended for seven days after three of his trainees tested positive for the controlled substance Cannabidiol (CBD), an active ingredient in cannabis,...

Trainer Joe Taylor, a longtime fixture at Parx and the leading trainer there in 2019, has received an eight-year suspension handed down by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), after he had two horses test positive for banned substances. The story was first reported by Matt Hegarty of the Daily Racing Form. Taylor received a pair of four-year suspensions, one for each horse. According to postings on the HIWU website, the Taylor-trained Classy American (Uncle Lino) tested positive for Methylphenidate and Clenbuterol following a June 20 race at Parx....

The multiple-stakes-winning trainer Nevada Litfin, who has been licensed for 24 years and primarily competes in the Midwest, has been suspended five years and fined $2,500 for his role in a "paper trainer" violation under Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) rules. The penalties stem from a period last summer and fall when Litfin was suspended for a separate Horseracing Integrity Welfare Unit (HIWU) infraction and asked at least two subordinates to help operate his Canterbury Park-based racing stable in name only while Litfin continued to execute the day-to-day business....

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA)-related rulings from around the country. Among this week's rulings, several provisional suspensions have been handed out in cases pending a formal hearing. This includes trainers Frederico Villafranco and Diana Morici, who have been issued provisional suspensions for separate alleged methamphetamine positives. Trainer Francisco Ramos remains provisionally suspended with two additional alleged clenbuterol positives to go with four prior pending clenbuterol cases. Five of these cases--including the two most recent--were from out-of-competition tests. The other...