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 Daniel Franko has been suspended seven days after his trainee, Misty's Cat, tested positive for caffeine, when winning at Golden Gate Fields on Dec. 1 last year. He was also fined $1,000. Caffeine is a Class B controlled substance under HISA. The case was resolved without a hearing.   NEW HISA/HIWU STEWARDS RULINGS The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through...

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) have opened an investigation into the University of Kentucky's Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory's performance, according to a joint statement Tuesday by the agencies. On the 16th of last month, HIWU stopped sending samples to the UK Lab. Prior to that, the laboratory had been one of six drug testing facilities used under HISA's anti-doping and medication control (ADMC) program. Last week, Scott Stanley officially stepped down from his position as the UK Lab's director and has...

The Organization of Racing Investigators opened the final day of its Parx conference with another set of timely presentations. Topics included the impact of bush track racing, and a variety of legal and scientific case studies, which were all geared for the investigator's toolkit. With varied backgrounds in law enforcement and security, many attendees have experience growing up around horses. Investigators work for tracks and racing commissions, but they can never turn their backs on the chance to improve their techniques and plug into the ORI network fiber. Kassie Creed,...

With a strong first day program which ran the gambit from the centrality of horse racing's societal license to the destructive use of xylazine to an update from the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit, horse racing investigators at the annual Organization of Racing Investigators were immersed in some of the most pressing issues affecting the sport. Hosted by Parx Racing and sponsored by everyone from Keeneland to the Breeders' Cup, over 100 specialists who protect racetracks in America and several other countries, listened, asked questions and made connections, all in...

With an expected record attendance of over 120 participants, the 28th annual training and networking conference held by the Organization of Racing Investigators (ORI) is set for Sunday, Mar. 3 and will run through Wednesday, Mar. 6 at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. The TDN's CEO/Publisher Sue Finley will serve as the keynote speaker during the group's Monday evening dinner and awards ceremony, where her remarks will focus on horse racing, the media and integrity. Central to ORI is the pursuit of integrity and education for its members. Interactions among...

The case of Jeffrey Englehart, who bought a horse at an OBS 2-Year-Old sale in June who had given Clenbuterol sometime before being purchased by Englehart, has renewed questions about the role of the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and whether or not it would be in the sport's best interest for it to expand its jurisdiction to cover sales as well as racing. Currently, HISA has no authority over a horse until it has its first recorded public workout, which is when it becomes a "covered" horse....

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 Carlos Mancilla has been suspended for 15 days for a post-race Gabapentin positive from Sept. 10, and fined $1,000. Gabapentin, a Class B controlled medication, is an anti-seizure medicine for humans that is also used to treat complications from shingles. According to the final ruling by an internal adjudication panel, Mancilla said that the positive probably came about because of the horse, Cara...

Originally charged with administering Clenbuterol to his horse and facing a possible two-year suspension, trainer Jeffrey Englehart was cleared Friday by the Horse Racing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU). The positive was found in an unraced, unnamed horse out of the mare Fast Heart that Englehart purchased for $14,000 at the OBS auction on June 15. He argued that he did not give the horse the drug and that it was had to have been given to the horse prior to his purchase at OBS. Englehart and his attorney requested...

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 Jonathan Wong has been suspended for two years and fined $25,000 for a post-race metformin positive from last June. Wong told the TDN he has appealed the ruling which could now go before the Federal Trade Commission, head to federal court, or both. He also said that he would seek a temporary injunction against the ban. Trainer Kari Craddock was issued a seven-day suspension...

On the surface, the case against trainer Jeffrey Englehart seems pretty cut and dried. He had a horse test positive for Clenbuterol, the bronchodilator that is on the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) list of banned substances. Trainers found using banned substances can be suspended for up to two years. But Englehart, who races at the NYRA tracks and at Finger Lakes, is adamant that he never gave the drug to the horse in question. "We don't use Clenbuterol. Period," Englehart said. So is there more to this story?...

Trainer Mike Lauer is now a month past serving what he believes was an unjust 75-day suspension because a Thoroughbred under his care at Horseshoe Indianapolis tested positive last summer for metformin, a drug used to treat diabetes in people. With more 20 million patients taking it, metformin ranks as the nation's third-most-prescribed human medicine, according to the consumer healthcare website Healthgrades. Before Lauer's case made it to an official arbitration hearing, the 72-year-old conditioner with five decades of licensure was able to present enough evidence to the Horseracing Integrity...

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 Daniel Kenney has been banned18 months and fined $12,500 for possession of the thyroid drug, Levothyroxine, which HISA has listed a banned substance. Kenney's ban began on Oct. 5, 2023. In a brief explainer on the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) website, HIWU Investigators allegedly found the Levothyroxine—otherwise known as Thyro-L—in one of Kenney's tack rooms at Arapahoe Park in Aurora, Colorado on Aug. 25, 2023....