ADMC Committee

Just last week, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority released its latest safety figures, showing a four-quarter consecutive decline in equine fatalities. Indeed, in the second quarter of this year, tracks operating under HISA reported 0.76 racing-related equine fatalities per 1,000 starts--significantly lower than the perennial national average. But on the flip side of these statistics is an ongoing concern among stakeholders that the enforcement arm of the national program is in certain areas proving too onerous, and that the penalties aren't always an appropriate response to the...

Following discussions with HISA's ADMC Committee, HIWU will no longer impose Provisional Suspensions on Covered Persons upon the service of an Equine Anti-Doping Notice for an Adverse Analytical Finding (i.e., positive test result) for Banned Substances that are recognized as substances of abuse in humans, the unit said in a release Friday. Examples that fall under this category include cocaine, methamphetamine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). If a Covered Horse's A Sample tests positive for one of these Banned Substances, a Provisional Suspension will not be imposed on the relevant...