What HISA Has Gotten Right, and Why It Is So Important

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. Thornton wrote about small-time trainer John Pimental and his problems with HISA and HIWU. Here's what Thornton wrote: “Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) descended upon John's stable and upended his world: one of his horses had tested positive for 193 picograms per milliliter of methamphetamine, a street drug of abuse that is classified as a 'banned' substance in racing, meaning it is never supposed to be found in any horse.”

In the meantime, HISA, for the most part, has not caught any trainers whose miraculous transformations of horses that come into their barns suggest they are cheating. Where there is smoke there is fire and there's still a lot of smoke out there. They need to start catching the real bad guys and not four percent trainers who obviously are playing by the rules.

To its credit, HISA and HIWU have come to their senses and are no longer imposing draconian fines and suspensions on trainers who have had horse test positive for drugs that are used by humans or for other relatively minor offenses. Provisional suspensions are now reserved for much more serious suspensions.

Its many critics are still zealous in their efforts to get HISA declared unconstitutional by the courts, which would mean the end of HISA. Even NYRA and Churchill Downs, strong supporters of HISA since day one, have become thorns in the organization's side. The two tracks have filed suit against the organization in a dispute over the fees they are required to pay to support HISA.

So HISA is not perfect, but it is doing more good for the sport than harm. The one issue that most threatens this sport's future is animal welfare and how many horses die on the track. The public has no tolerance for this and it's not hard to see a day when the public demands that the sport goes the same way as greyhound racing. PETA and other animal rights groups breathe down the sport's neck every time there is another high-profile breakdown or a cluster of injuries at a particular track.

The threat is real, but horse racing, for the first time in decades, can now say that a corner has been turned and that the fatality rate is way down and that the sport has never been safer. A lot of people and organizations share in the credit, but none more so than HISA.

At last week's Global Symposium on Racing hosted by the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus revealed some very promising numbers when it came to the breakdown rate. Through Dec. 10, at tracks regulated by HISA, the number of breakdowns was .88 horse per 1,000 starters. At the same time last year, the number was 1.23. The Jockey Club began recording the number of fatalities in its Equine Injury Database in 2009, when the number was 2.00. Coming into 2024 the numbers had improved, but never has there been a shift like there has been so far this year. This will be the first time ever that the number of fatalities has dipped below 1.0 per 1,000 starters.

Again, it's more than just HISA. Many entities within the industry have done their part. But it's no coincidence that since HISA got up and running the numbers have never been better. If HISA is regulating a track and its safety measures, you can guarantee that no stone is unturned. Horses are constantly being examined by veterinarians and if the vets aren't 100 percent convinced that the horses are sound they will not be allowed to run or have a workout.

Colleague Dan Ross took a deep dive on this issue and provided evidence that the vets were largely getting it right, that many of the horses scratched pre-race were in fact experiencing problems that were about to send them to the sidelines. Here's what Ross had to say: “Indeed, in one dataset from the past five years, between one-quarter and approaching one-third of the scratched horses studied never made it back to race. In a comparable group of supposedly sound horses, this rate of attrition was in the low single digits.”

From HISA's critics you keep hearing that the law authorizing HISA is unconstitutional and that the authority must be disbanded. They have their reasons, but they are deliberately ignoring what is not conjecture but a very important fact. HISA has made this sport safer. The numbers don't lie.

It is not hyperbole to state that this sport is in a fight for its survival. Take away HISA and the safeguards it has implemented at racetracks across the country and we'll be right back where we were 10 years ago when the fatality rate was 1.89 per 1,000 starters. That can't happen and if it does racing's fight for survival might just turn into a losing battle. Nobody wants that.

The safety of the horses and their jockeys should be the sport's No. 1 priority. That's a lot more important than whether or not HISA is unconstitutional. The sport has made meaningful progress in that area and we can't go back now. To lose HISA could mean we move closer to losing our social license to operate. There's still a lot of work to be done and HISA can always do a better job, but this sport cannot allow it to go away, and it's time that its critics put safety first and stop their vitriolic challenges to something that is helping our beleaguered game.

Jose Ortiz On Fire
As well as he had been doing in the NYRA circuit, it seemed that Jose Ortiz would likely stay forever. But he decided to leave last year and ride in Kentucky and in Louisiana. Perhaps he was tired of being in his brother's shadow and/or having to battle Flavien Prat every day. But Ortiz clearly knew what he was doing. Through Saturday, he led the Fair Grounds standings with 26 wins, 14 more than runner-up Jareth Loveberry. Even more impressive, he is riding winners at a 38% clip. Jockeys just don't do that. His brother, Irad Ortiz Jr., is winning with 21% of his mounts this year. Prat, the favorite to win the Eclipse Award as the sport's top jockey, is winning at a rate of 22%.

Granted, Irad and Prat are facing tougher competition in Florida, New York and California than Jose Ortiz is in Louisiana. Nonetheless, Jose Ortiz is well on his way to having an historic meet at Fair Grounds while reminding people that he's not the only Ortiz who has a gift.

And You Thought You Had Seen It All in This Game
Could a puddle of urine cost a horse a race? It actually almost happened Thursday at Aqueduct. Jockey Romero Ramsay Maragh looked like he had he the race wrapped up as his mount Mama's Gold (Bolt d'Oro) was well clear of his rivals as the field neared the wire in the eighth race at the Big A. Suddenly, the horse propped and Maragh lost his balance and his feet fell out of the irons. He was hanging on for dear life as the field crossed the wire, but his horse was awarded the win because it carried all of Maragh's weight as it crossed the finish line.

So what happened? According to the original chart, “Mama's Gold was being urged to stay on before jumping a puddle of urine 70 yards from the finish.”

Since, the chart has been changed and the word “urine” has been changed to “debris.” Maybe someone was pissed off that the Equibase chart caller called it as he saw it.