West Virginia Racing Commission

The West Virginia Racing Commission (WVRC) on Tuesday opted to take no action either way on whether to collect and remit fees on behalf of the new Authority created by the federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA). States are facing a May 1 deadline to declare "in or out" middleman status pertaining to the safety portion of the HISA program that will go into effect July 1. This first phase-in of oversight does not include HISA's drug testing and medication control programs, which aren't expected to be up and...

Mountaineer Park will expand its 2021 racing season by eight dates, tacking on Dec. 5-8 and 12-15 to its existing calendar. "We had five cancelled days due to lack of entries. But honestly, we wanted to finish out [with] a full [racing] week," said Jim Colvin, Mountaineer's manager of racing operations. "So we applied for eight racing days, which would give us a total of 133 for this year instead of 130." Approval was granted during Tuesday's monthly West Virginia Racing Commission meeting.

After a failed attempt last year to adopt a group of drug-related model rules that every other racing jurisdiction in the mid-Atlantic region has already implemented, the West Virginia Racing Commission (WVRC) on Monday voted 2-0 to advance to the state legislature new regulations concerning medication abuse and stepped-up penalty scales. The July 12 passage of new rules concerning clenbuterol, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, intra-articular injections and the adoption of the most current Uniform Classification Guidelines for Foreign Substances list did not come without drama and several detours. In fact, much...

A second and separate federal lawsuit that would attempt to keep the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) from being implemented on grounds of alleged unconstitutionally continues its way through the legal pipeline. Different from the March complaint filed by various Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Associations against members who represent the HISA "Authority" and the Federal Trade Commission, this yet-to-be-filed lawsuit is being spearheaded by the Oklahoma Attorney General in conjunction with that state's racing commission. Various other racing commissions are apparently being courted as co-plaintiffs, and on Apr. 20...

Although he stopped short of saying that a surface change at Charles Town Races might soon be mandated by state racing regulators, West Virginia Racing Commission (WVRC) chairman Ken Lowe Jr. made it clear during Tuesday's meeting that he will be advocating for a synthetic surface to replace the traditional dirt that comprises the track's six-furlong oval. Lowe's Apr. 20 comments came against the backdrop of 11 equine fatalities at Charles Town so far in 2021. The track is closed for racing Wednesday through Saturday this week to perform maintenance...

Mountaineer Park will be adding 12 dates to its current race meet while Charles Town will drop 10 programs. Both moves were approved Sept. 17 via telephonic meeting of the West Virginia Racing Commission (WVRC). "The action that causes this was the cancellation of the West Virginia Derby card," WVRC executive director Joe Moore explained to commissioners prior to the 3-0 approval vote for the Mountaineer increase, which will tack on the dozen programs between Dec. 6 and 23. "Now the $500,000 approved for the West Virginia Derby cannot be...