lawsuits

A lawsuit spearheaded by the states of Louisiana and West Virginia that is trying to derail the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) via alleged constitutional violations was dealt a setback Wednesday when a federal judge recommended that an amended version of the complaint be stricken from the record. That recommendation, if it gets put into place by a final order, would bar 14 individual Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) affiliates, plus a wide swath of states, racing commissions, and individual racetracks from becoming parties to the 14-month-old lawsuit....

Barely six weeks into its existence as the sport's national rule enforcer, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has spent $1.8 million defending itself in four separate lawsuits currently pending or under appeal in federal court. But the true irony behind the spiraling costs of the anti-HISA litigation is that almost all entities--owners, trainers, jockeys, tracks, racing commissions and states--are going to have to pay twice, regardless of the final outcomes of those complex lawsuits. That's because plaintiffs like the Jockeys' Guild and various horsemen's associations will spend their...

The legal rabbit hole deepened on Tuesday in one of four lawsuits designed to derail the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act Authority (HISA), pulling jockeys Drayden Van Dyke, Miguel Vazquez and Edwin Gonzalez into the fray as plaintiffs alleged new harms resulting from rule enforcement they believe is in contempt of a court order. Plaintiffs led by Louisiana, West Virginia, and the Jockeys' Guild moved for a federal judge to issue an immediate order to enforce its July 26 injunction to keep Guild-member jockeys from being subject to HISA rules...

A group of entities associated with various racing-related industries in Texas, including the owners of Lone Star Park, has filed a new lawsuit against the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) in which declaratory and injunctive relief is sought along with a request for a preliminary injunction, according to court filing dated July 29. Submitted to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Amarillo Division, the suit focuses on the relative power of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority--the umbrella non-profit established by the Act--to implement...

by Andrew J. Mollica, Esq and Len Green, CPA What an industry! The recent, well-publicized ongoing legal sagas of both Ahmed Zayat and Ken Ramsey have brought issues surrounding owner-trainer financial relationships into clear focus. Yet, the truth is that no-pay or slow-paying owners probably have been a small, but existing part of racing since the game was invented. Despite its topical nature, the problem is not going away anytime soon, and the reason is simple: horse racing is a 21st-century industry that is based on an 18th-century business model....

We recently ran part one of our story on the challenges facing HISA. Today, we deal with lawsuits, adjudication, and more. This time next year, the machinery of horse racing in the U.S. may be almost a month into a radical system overhaul. But with scant few calendar pages between now and then, what do we know about how the cogs, wheels, and pulleys of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) will work together? To find out, the TDN reached out to Charles Scheeler, chair of the HISA board...