Lisa Lazarus

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has named 16 regulatory and private practice veterinarians from across the country to serve as members on its Veterinary Advisory Committee, according to a press release from the organization on Thursday morning. The committee will commence regular meetings in early 2025 to provide feedback to HISA's executive team and standing committees. Advisement on topics would include the implementation and evolution of HISA's rules and protocols related to veterinary care, medication, racetrack safety, equine research and other relevant issues. Committee members will serve staggered...

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) released a third quarter metrics report that shows that the rate of breakdowns at HISA tracks continues to decline. The report covers the period of July 1 to Sept. 30 and marks the third consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines in the equine fatality rate. The third quarter fatality rate decreased approximately 21% year-over-year, with racetracks operating under HISA's rules reporting 0.93 racing-related equine fatalities per 1,000 starts as compared to a rate of 1.18 in the third quarter of 2023. At the recent...

It's understandable if you're not exactly a fan of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA). Since its inception there have been many bumps along the road. They didn't think things through when it comes to how they would handle drug positives and provisional suspensions, ignoring how likely it is that the positives were not the case of trainers trying to cheat but of environmental contamination. They went after some trainers who got positives but clearly weren't cheating. Some of the cases were heartbreaking. In October of 2023, colleague T.D....

Technological changes on the immediate horizon for the racing industry won't be so much of the gee-whiz or sci-fi variety. Instead, they'll be more like much-needed ease-of-use and cumbersome-task-simplifying tools that are currently being built and driven by massive collections of data. Tuesday's Global Symposium on Racing hosted by the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program in Tucson kicked off with Lisa Lazarus, the chief executive officer of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), articulating a significant data point--that as of Dec. 10, 2024, the fatality rate of...

On the eve that Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) and the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) were scheduled to appear at separate enforcement hearings in front of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority board to address disputes over their non-payment of assessment fees that are based partially on purses, those two prominent Thoroughbred track operators teamed up to sue the Authority and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in federal court, alleging that both the fee impositions and the attempted enforcement actions for non-payment are "illegal." According to the civil complaint...

Speaking publicly for the first time since he was caught on video striking the horse National Law (Constitution) in the face with his whip after the field crossed the wire in Tuesday's fifth race at Parx, jockey Paco Lopez posted a tweet Thursday in which he admitted he was at fault. "I take full responsibility for my actions," Lopez wrote. "I am aware that our sport is under a lot of scrutiny and I fully apologize to everyone involved in our sport--fans, horsemen, management, racing commissions, HISA and of course,...

Last week, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority announced that its Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) standing committee was replacing three outgoing members with new ones. Among them was David Ingordo, arguably the first hands-on horseman the group has seated. The committee is required by federal law to be composed of four independent members and three industry representatives. The committee plays a key role in advising and assisting HISA with the establishment of comprehensive rules and protocols for its ADMC Program, including the prohibited substances list, laboratory testing standards, and...

Edited Press Release Funding for a pair of research studies has been announced by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA)'s Exercise-Associated Sudden Death (EASD) Working Group. The group was formed in October of 2023 to advance research initiatives and collaborate with industry leaders on the critical issue of exercise-associated sudden death. The Working Group is made up of veterinarians and equine researchers focused on the scientific understanding and prevention of sudden, unexpected fatalities occurring during or closely following exercise in Thoroughbred racehorses. "The EASD Working Group is working diligently...

Edited Press Release David Ingordo, David Sykes and Jonathan Coyles have been added to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA)'s Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Standing Committee, HISA said in Monday release. A horse owner and bloodstock agent, Ingordo currently heads up Ingordo Bloodstock LLC and manages the Belladonna Racing Partnership among other equine-related roles. Sykes is an Australian-based veterinary consultant with strong ties to international racing and currently serves as the head of anti-doping for the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia and consults for Racing Victoria on the...

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority has announced the launch of HISA Horse In-Sight, a cutting-edge digital tool designed for regulatory veterinarians. Integrated within the HISA Portal, the platform combines a horse's career and medical history to provide a unique and holistic view of its health and performance. HISA Horse In-Sight was developed to empower regulatory veterinarians to make informed, timely decisions with greater efficiency and accuracy, ultimately enhancing horse health and welfare across Thoroughbred racing. "HISA Horse In-Sight represents a significant leap forward in how we approach equine care...

With three separate requests involving three different federal appeals court cases pending before the Supreme Court of the United States to take up the question of whether or not the Horseracing and Safety Integrity Act (HISA) is constitutional, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority on Wednesday told the nation's highest court that the one involving a lawsuit spearheaded by the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) is the one that should take precedence. In two separate legal filings Nov. 6, the Authority made its case for the Supreme Court...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Nov. 6 issued an order approving the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's $80-million budget for 2025. The Authority's proposed 2025 budget garnered only three public comments after it was first submitted to the FTC on July 31 and subsequently published in the Federal Register. The public commentary period closed Sept. 12. According to the FTC's order, "Two of the comments were brief and did not address the Decisional criteria that the Commission must apply in determining whether to approve a proposed budget. A third,...