FTC

Trainer Phil Serpe, who is fighting both in federal court and at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) appeal level to overturn a two-year suspension imposed by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) over a contested clenbuterol positive in one of his trainees at Saratoga Race Course in 2024, on Thursday had the judge in his lawsuit deny a request for a preliminary injunction for the second time in five months. In explaining his decision, the judge in charge of the case, David Leibowitz of United States District Court (Southern...

As part of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)'s Sept. 15 order staying the issuance of a $25,000 fine that had been imposed against Phil Serpe by an administrative law judge (ALJ) Sept. 12, the suspended Thoroughbred trainer was directed to file a brief by Oct. 16 that will serve as the first step in a "further review" that the FTC itself will undertake to adjudicate Serpe's year-old clenbuterol positive case. The case has so far been handled at the administrative level by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and...

The latest twist in the legal odyssey involving Phil Serpe and the agencies that regulate racing at the federal level was made public late on Tuesday, when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued an order staying the issuance of a $25,000 fine that had been imposed against the veteran Thoroughbred trainer barely one day earlier by an administrative law judge (ALJ). That ALJ, Jay Himes, had been assigned by the FTC itself to adjudicate Serpe's FTC-level appeal of banned-substance charges. In addition to re-imposing the fine that the Horseracing Integrity...

The administrative law judge (ALJ) handling Phil Serpe's appeal to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stemming from a two-year suspension imposed by a Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) arbitrator over a contested clenbuterol positive case has upheld the sanctions imposed against the veteran trainer. However, Jay Himes, the ALJ, also wrote in his Sept. 12 decision that he would "modify the award to add a $25,000 fine against Serpe," even though the ALJ also ruled that, "I hold without merit Serpe's argument that he is entitled to a jury...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Tuesday opened a two-week public commentary period for a number of proposed Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) rule changes. The modifications would affect the Rule 8000 Series, which outlines enforcement procedures, violations, sanctions, investigatory powers, and hearing processes for alleged violations of HISA regulations. Rules related to anti-doping and medication control are excluded from this round of proposed changes, because they are covered separately in the 3000 Series. Selected highlights of the proposed changes, as explained in the Sept. 9 Federal Register notice...

Trainer Phil Serpe, who has an appeal pending with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in an attempt to overturn a two-year suspension imposed in July by a Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) arbitrator over a contested clenbuterol positive case from last summer at Saratoga Race Course, is also seeking to renew his request for a preliminary injunction in a 10-month-old lawsuit against the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and the FTC. A key issue in Serpe's federal court filing is the fact that HIWU and HISA did not...

One day after an arbitrator ruled that Phil Serpe would be suspended for two years in a contested clenbuterol positive case from last summer at Saratoga Race Course, the 66-year-old trainer was back in federal court Tuesday seeking to renew his request for a preliminary injunction in his nine-month-old lawsuit against the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). At the same time, Serpe's legal team also wasted no time in filing an immediate appeal with the FTC to have his July 14 Horseracing Integrity...

In a federal court case involving the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) that is being closely watched because it involves a trainer's allegations of a wrongful denial of Seventh Amendment rights to a jury trial, a judge in Florida on Thursday denied conditioner Phil Serpe's request for preliminary injunction in a lawsuit initiated last October against the HISA and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The civil complaint involves "banned substance" sanctions stemming from the alleged detection of clenbuterol in an Aug. 10, 2024, Saratoga Race Course winner from the...

Six days after trainer Philip Serpe argued that an attempt by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) to drop its pursuit of a $25,000 penalty in his ongoing Clenbuterol positive case was an alleged end-around to prejudicially stymie his legal efforts in a lawsuit against the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a federal judge in Florida ordered that a letter about that non-pursuit that was issued by HIWU Apr. 23 is not enough to moot Serpe's contention that he has been wrongfully...

In its ongoing case against Philip Serpe for a Clenbuterol positive stemming from last August, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) will not pursue a fine against the trainer--what could have been a $25,000 penalty--as per a letter issued by the agency last week. Serpe, however, argues that this action was taken by HIWU to prejudicially stymie his legal efforts in a federal court case against the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which includes the contention that he has been wrongfully denied his...

For the first time in the United States since data has been recorded, the racing-related fatality rate at racetracks subject to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's (HISA) rules fell below 1.00 per 1,000 starts for a calendar year, the regulator said in a press release on Thursday morning. In 2024, 99.91% of starts did not result in a fatality. From January 1 through December 31, 2024, 47 racetracks across 19 states operating under HISA's rules recorded an aggregate racing-related fatality rate of 0.90 per 1,000 starts, an approximate 27%...

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority ("HISA") and its prohibited substance enforcement unit, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit ("HIWU"), are to be commended for withdrawing the TCO2 charges against numerous trainers with respect to a rash of positives in Pennsylvania, which, by inference, they allege are caused by so-called "milkshaking." "Milkshaking" is the practice of pumping baking soda into a horse's stomach, which is believed to prevent or slow lactic acid buildup in horses and allow them to run faster and for longer periods. The numerous positives coming out...