HIWU

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA)-related rulings from around the country. The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU)'s "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Among this week's rulings, trainer Carlos Acosta, Jr. has been banned a combined four years and fined a combined $25,000 after out-of-competition hair and blood samples taken in April from his trainees, Storm Leader and Tucum, tested positive for Albuterol, a banned bronchodilator. At the time...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Resolved ADMC Violations Dates: 12/23/2025 Licensee: Jesus Nunez, trainer Penalty: 7-day period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on December 24, 2025; Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a fine of $1,000; imposition...

What will racing look like in 10 years? We asked some of racing's best and brightest to give us their predictions. Want to submit an answer? Email suefinley@thetdn.com NAJJA THOMPSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NEW YORK THOROUGHBRED BREEDERS, INC. By 2036, I envision a Thoroughbred breeding and racing industry that has emerged stronger and more sustainable after confronting--and resolving--many of the structural challenges we face today. While the continued retraction of operating racetracks is likely unavoidable over the next decade, the remaining venues will be more strategically aligned with year-round...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Resolved ADMC Violations Dates: 12/04/2025 Licensee: Michael Catalano, trainer Penalty: A fine of $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Admission. Explainer: Vets' list medication violation for the presence of Phenylbutazone—a class C controlled substance—in a sample taken from Mr Sandman on 10/24/25. Pending ADMC Violations 12/10/2025, Carlos Martin, trainer: Pending...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has stayed trainer Eusebio Juarez's two-year suspension and combined $18,000 fine (including arbitration costs) handed to him in October by a Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) arbitrator for possession of the banned substance diisopropylamine. As a consequence, a further evidentiary hearing will be held. During this, Juarez will have the chance to present a witness, not present at a prior hearing, who allegedly has evidence of "significant exculpatory potential" in the case, according to FTC administrative law judge Jay L. Himes in a written...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Among this week's rulings, trainer Angel Sanchez-Pinero has been handed a two-year suspension and $10,000 fine after his trainee Gone Boy tested positive for the bronchodilator Albuterol (Salbutamol) after winning at Aqueduct on April 19. Albuterol is a banned substance. The ruling came from an...

All this week, the TDN has been trying to nail down concrete details surrounding the studies performed for the Racing Medication & Testing Consortium's (RMTC) Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) into the way metformin behaves in Thoroughbreds. It turns out that the first of the three papers stemming from this study was published Wednesday in the online journal, Drug Testing and Analysis. In short, the study finds a "prolonged detection time" for the drug. This first study involved 12 Thoroughbreds aged between two and seven years of age. It was broken...

Back in the summer of 2024, the ubiquitous type 2 diabetes drug metformin was having an oversized impact on the sport. As a banned substance, a metformin overage came with a maximum two-year ban and $25,000 fine. Among the seven metformin cases adjudicated by June of last year, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) had meted out three hefty suspensions including one for the maximum two years. The crux of the controversy was this: While regulators said that they had received intelligence metformin was being abused as a potential...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) "pending" and "resolved" cases portals.  Among this week's rulings, Antonio Meraz has been banned two years and fined $5,000 after his trainee, First Kitten, tested positive for banned Cobalt Salts after winning at Mahoning Valley on February 12. His suspension began on Nov. 12. Cobalt is a substance that's naturally present in a horse, generally in very low...

Emerald Downs on Friday was approved to race 51 dates in 2026, the same number of programs that the suburban Seattle track was granted in 2025. Back in March, Emerald's president, Phil Ziegler, had said that the '26 race meet at the lone remaining commercial track in the Pacific Northwest could be in jeopardy because the fees imposed by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) were expected to be nearly doubling under a new assessment methodology. Although the track's assessment for '26 did go up, Emerald had a better-than-expected...

All race day test samples (post-race and TCO2) collected from contenders in the 2025 Breeders' Cup held Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club have been cleared by the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) and purse distribution has begun accordingly, the organizer said in a press release on Friday. In 2025, the Breeders' Cup was run for a third year under the full jurisdiction of the Horseracing Integrity & Safety Authority (HISA), including the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, which took effect in May of 2023 and...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Resolved ADMC Violations Dates: 11/07/2025 Licensee: Elizabeth McCue, trainer Penalty: A fine of $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Admission. Explainer: Vets' list medication violation for the presence of Betamethasone--a class C controlled substance--in a sample taken from Prince Khozan on 9/30/25. Dates: 11/07/2025 Licensee: Robert Baze, trainer Penalty: 7-day...