Horse Racing Integrity Act

With just over a month before the racetrack safety component of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) is set to go into effect, two separate lawsuits cast looming shadows over the program's legal and operational future. One of the suits challenging HISA's constitutionality was filed by the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA). In March, United States District Court Judge James Wesley Hendrix dismissed the suit finding that while HISA pushes boundaries of public-private collaboration, the law as constructed stays within the current constitutional limitation. The NHBPA subsequently...

Addressing the media Wednesday through a Zoom call, Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority Chair Charles Scheeler said that the authority will go to great lengths to clean up the sport and its efforts will include increased out-of-competition testing and investigative work that goes beyond the standard methods of drug testing. When asked whether or not rules and penalties under the authority may be stricter than they are currently with state racing commissions, Scheeler replied: "It's certainly a possibility in some areas." He continued: "We need to make it so...

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's nominating committee announced its board of directors and standing committees. The process was led by Nancy Cox, University of Kentucky vice president for land-grant engagement and dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, and Leonard Coleman, former president of the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs. The nine-person board includes five members from outside of the Thoroughbred industry and four industry representatives. The two chairs of the Authority's standing committees serve on the board of directors, and the board is expected to...

I read with complete bewilderment and disgust about the new HBPA suit against the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act. I've been involved as a breeder and owner for the last 20+ years. Over this time, I've watched our sport get black eye after black eye, while many with an authoritative voice (like the National and state HBPA's) continue to  argue amongst themselves and bury their heads in the sand. Cheating has become a matter of routine with negligible consequences to those who get caught.  Horse safety is scrutinized on a...

Darby Development CEO and Monmouth Park Operator Dennis Drazin issued the following statement Friday regarding the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act: As Chairman and CEO of Monmouth Park Racetrack and as counsel and advisor to the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NJTHA), I am pleased to announce Monmouth Park's support for the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act. I had the opportunity to listen carefully to the press conference at Keeneland where Senator Mitch McConnell announced his support for this historic legislation designed to improve the integrity and safety...

Clenbuterol is the most abused drug in our industry. For anyone who does not know what Clenbuterol is, please read this: a synthetic drug used in the treatment of asthma and respiratory diseases and also in veterinary obstetrics. It also promotes the growth of muscle and has been used illegally by athletes to enhance performance. This drug is banned by every major sporting body in the world. The Olympic Committee banned it more than 20 years ago, yet it is alive and well in the Thoroughbred industry. The mind-boggling thing...

Tired of all the bad news? So were we. So, in our new series, we focus on the positive, asking people from non-horse racing families two questions: how they get hooked, and how they'll hook someone else on horse racing this year. KERI BRION, ASSISTANT TO JONATHAN SHEPPARD What was the experience that made you fall in love with horse racing? I grew up down the road from a horse racing training and breeding farm and I used to walk down the road and feed the mares and foals carrots....

On this week's Writers' Room, Joe Bianca, Brian DiDonato, Bill Finley, and Jon Green discuss the upcoming hearing in Congress on the Horse Racing Integrity Act, and talk to Gulfstream's Mike Lakow about all things Pegasus. "With the new purse distribution and the purses themselves, we have full fields and the horsemen were very supportive of the changes," said Lakow, this week's Green Group Guest of the Week, of the reduction in the Pegasus purse to $3 million. "Keep in mind the horsemen were paying a half-million, or $400,000 to...