Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority

The team at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company does everything it can to run a clean sale. Under OBS's conditions of sale, no medication may be administered within 24 hours of a horse's under-tack performance, 10 to 15% of the horses who are going to sell are tested, and in 2019, OBS prohibited the use of bronchodilators like Clenbuterol at all of its sales. It may not be enough. The Jeffrey Englehart story has suggested that may be the case. Englehart bought a Classic Empire colt at the OBS auction...

As a Clinical Pharmacologist (human) and an avid horse player, I have grown tired of these instances of biologic samples from horses having banned substances found and the "interesting" explanations as to how the exposure happened. One recent example was a story of a horse in which three samples of blood had metformin (a drug used to treat type II diabetes in humans) detected. The explanation was that a groom and later the trainer was taking metformin and "touched the horse's face." This explanation is questionable from a clinical pharmacology...

Veterinarian Dr. Michael Hardy has joined the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's Horsemen's Advisory Group, the organization announced in a release Tuesday. The advisory group of racing industry participants was formed by HISA in 2022 to provide formal feedback to HISA's executive team and standing committees on the implementation and evolution of its Racetrack Safety and Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) regulations. "The Horsemen's Advisory Group continues to provide HISA with invaluable input, and we're thrilled to have Dr. Michael Hardy join the group," said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus. "In...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. Among the key rulings from the last week, trainer Bonnie Lucas was suspended seven days after a post-race Xylazine positive in a sample taken from Tankinator, who was injured and vanned off in a race at Parx Racing on Nov. 7. Xylazine is a Class B controlled medication under HISA that can be used to sedate racehorses. It remains unclear whether Tankinator was euthanized as a result of...

Both Charles Town Races and Mountaineer Park got approval Wednesday from the West Virginia Racing Commission (WVRC) to reduce live racing dates in 2024 compared to recent seasons. The Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) chapters at both tracks supported the diminished schedules based on available purse funds and projected horse populations. Right now the placeholders are 158 dates for Charles Town and 121 for Mountaineer. But the exact number of programs will ultimately be contingent on the outcome of several overlapping federal lawsuits that have to do with the...

HISA has launched MedEnt, an app designed to give veterinarians a streamlined process for entering treatments into the HISA portal on mobile devices, the organization said in a release Wednesday. The app reinforces HISA's commitment to working with veterinarians and other stakeholders to improve HISA's processes as well as its focus on leveraging technology to advance equine health. Attending veterinarians can use the app on their smartphones or tablets to access the list of horses under their care, add treatment reports and update protocols. In cases where they are giving...

A trio of law firms will now be available to provide pro-bono legal representation to eligible recipients under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA)'s newly established program. The program, open to covered persons who fall below a certain income threshold and are alleged to have violated HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, will match recipients with volunteer attorneys who have agreed to provide legal services without any expectation of compensation. The participating lawyers include Howard Jacobs, Jackson Kelly's Equine Group, and Wyatt Tarrant & Combs, LLP. "We are...

Following the Federal Trade Commission's approval to add iron dextran to the Banned Substances list under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's (HISA) Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program rules, the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) announced Tuesday that it will use the next 30 days as an educational period to give Covered Persons time to adapt to the new rule. Enforcement of the iron dextran rule will begin December 27, 2023. As a reminder, the use/attempted use, administration/attempted administration, possession, or trafficking of a Banned Substance constitutes an...

HISA has introduced U.S. Thoroughbred racing's first-ever recommended national concussion protocol for jockeys, the entity said in a release Thursday morning. Under HISA's Racetrack Safety rules, racetracks are required to implement a concussion protocol for jockeys. HISA's recommended protocol would become mandatory for all racetracks under their jurisdiction, when and if, the FTC approves the proposed changes, which were submitted last month. HISA's national concussion protocol was developed in consultation with leading experts to protect the health and safety of jockeys across the country and brings racing in line with...

Leroy Gessmann, who served as president of the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) from 2015 to 2021 and currently works as the Arizona HBPA's executive director, told commissioners at the Arizona Racing Commission (AZRC) meeting Thursday that regardless of the decision gets handed down by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, both the HBPA and its opponents in a 2 1/2-year-old lawsuit to nullify the Horseracing and Safety Integrity Act (HISA) agree that the nation's highest court will eventually have to be called upon...

Edited Press Release The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has submitted proposed rule changes to its Racetrack Safety Program to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for review. A red-lined document noting these proposed changes is available here. The FTC will subsequently post the proposed rules to the public register for public comment. Until changes to the rules are approved by the FTC, the previously approved version of HISA's Racetrack Safety rules, which took effect July 1, 2022, will remain in place. Those rules are available in full on HISA's...

If Golden Gate Fields is not licensed to operate beyond July 1 next year, proceeds from simulcast wagering in the north are funneled south when there is no racing in the northern half of the state, according to proposed legislation introduced in Sacramento. The rule of thumb is that proceeds from wagers made in the "northern zone" stay in Northern California to pay for purses and operational expenses, while the proceeds from wagers made in the "southern zone" stay in Southern California for the same purposes. According to California Authority...