HISA

The Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) has issued a new list of horses that have been provisionally suspended for violating the rules regarding intra-articular injections and it includes Grade I winner Art Collector (Bernardini). The Paulick Report was first with the story. Under new rules put in place by HISA that went into effect in May, horses who have had an intra-articular injection are prohibited from running within 14 days of the injection and cannot have a published workout within seven days of the injection. Art Collector, who is...

The Anti-Doping and Medication Control Standing Committee (ADMC) of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority ("HISA") has re-considered the Intra-Articular injection rule and has issued new guidance regarding its enforcement. HISA ADMC Rule 4222 prohibits Intra-Articular injections on Race Day, within 14 days prior to Post-Time and within seven days prior to any Timed and Reported Workout. Effective July 16, 2023, the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) will sanction the Responsible Person of any Covered Horse that violates the prohibition on Intra-Articular injections within 7 days prior to a...

As the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's (HISA) drug and medication control program has rolled out over the past couple of months, various questions have been raised over the mechanics of the new law. As such, the TDN has decided to maintain a Q&A on this new program comprising questions raised by readers, and answers fielded by representatives from either HISA or the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), which implements HISA's anti-doping and medication control (ADMC) program. The first set of responses can be read here. Note: This is not a...

The most recent of five separate legal attempts within the past two years to derail the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) via alleged constitutionality claims hit a roadblock Tuesday when a federal judge in Arkansas denied a motion for a preliminary injunction that sought to halt HISA's oversight and its Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program. The plaintiffs, led by Bill Walmsley, president of the Arkansas Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA), and Jon Moss, the executive director of the Iowa HBPA, had asked a judge in United States...

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. The TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from the same week. These will include decisions from around the country. California Track: Los Alamitos Date: 07/08/2023 Licensee: Rene Amescua, trainer Penalty: $2,400...

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's (HISA) drug control program has encountered some choppy waters since its launch on May 22, encapsulated by events surrounding the law's rules on intra-articular joint injections. At the end of last month, HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus explained that the Authority--the non-profit umbrella broadly overseeing implementation of the federal law--had temporarily suspended full enforcement of its rules surrounding intra-articular joint injections prior to workouts. Under HISA's rules as written, trainers are prohibited from giving their horse intra-articular joint injections within 14 days prior to the...

by Bill Finley and Dan Ross A day after telling the TDN that it was not obligated to make public the names of horses who were ineligible to race or work because they were found to have had an intra-articular injection within seven days of a timed workout, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) reversed course Friday and published a list on its website of the 19 horses that were provisionally suspended. Horses that violated Horseracing Safety and Integrity Authority (HISA) Rules 3313 and 4222, which cover intra-articular injection...

With the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) issuing provisional suspensions in what seems like a rapid-fire manner, attorney Alan Pincus has been busy. He is representing trainer Mario Dominguez, who was hit with a provisional suspension after a horse he trained allegedly tested positive for cobalt, and has worked with trainer Jonathan Wong on his case. A Wong-trained horse allegedly tested positive for the banned substance Metformin. Pincus joined the TDN Writers' Room podcast sponsored by Keeneland to discuss his cases and to express his views on what has...

Attorney Alan Pincus Discusses HIWU Suspensions on the TDN Writers' Room.

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. The TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from the same week. These will include decisions from around the country. New York Track: Belmont Park Date: 06/27/2023 Licensee: Manuel Franco, jockey Penalty:...

Attorney Drew Mollica understands that his client trainer Doug Nunn violated Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) Rule 3313, which prohibits trainers from running a horse within 14 days of an intra-articular joint injection or working them within seven days of the injection. What he doesn't understand is why his client has been suspended while at least 15 other trainers have been let off the hook for the same violation. "This is the height of hypocrisy," Mollica said. "He has been victimized by a system that is flawed." On June...

With oral arguments tentatively scheduled for the first week in October, the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) and 12 of its affiliates told the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Wednesday that the rewritten version of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) remains "patently unconstitutional," and that the Authority overseeing the sport "is basically a private police department" whose sweeping powers equate to "oligarchic tyranny." As the appellants in a lawsuit that has persisted in the federal court system for more than 27...