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's (HIWU) "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Among this week's rulings, trainer Efren Loza Jr. has been suspended an additional four years and fined a total of $38,000 (including arbitration costs) for a Clenbuterol positive stemming from last September, adding to an 18-month suspension he is already serving, again for a Clenbuterol...

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...

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 Date: 05/28/2025 Licensee: Brad Cox, trainer Penalty: A fine of $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Final decision by internal adjudication panel. Explainer: Vets' list medication violation for the presence of Phenylbutazone—a controlled substance (Class C)—in a sample taken from Nyquick on 3/19/25. Date: 05/27/2025 Licensee: Stephen Trevino, trainer...

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 Date: 05/20/2025 Licensee: John Servis, trainer Penalty: 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 $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Final decision by HIWU. Explainer: Medication violation for...

It has been two years since the launch of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's (HISA) anti-doping and medication control program. During that time, one of the struggles federal officials have been open about is getting all the laboratories onto the same page in terms of drug-testing approaches and methodologies, after decades of different state commissions requiring of their contracted laboratories a range of standards. In this regard, U.S. horse racing is years behind its counterparts in human athletics, which seriously grappled with the same issues around the turn of...

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. Resolved ADMC Violations Date: 05/13/2025 Licensee: Abel Ramirez-Rodriguez, trainer Penalty: 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 $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Admission. Explainer:...

An 81-year-old Penn National-based veterinarian charged in February by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) with allegedly intentional, conspirational and repeated violations of intra-articular injection rules designed to safeguard the health of horses has consented to an "agreed order" of a lifetime ban of practicing medicine on Thoroughbreds covered by HISA. Allen Post Bonnell, a veterinarian who has been practicing for 45 years, signed the consent order May 7, according to documentation provided by HISA. Beyond his work as a veterinarian, Bonnell is barred from "participating in any activity"...

The stewards at Charles Town Races on Wednesday issued a ruling that will not impose penalties against the licensure of trainer Curtis Bass after deeming that a "trace level" of a cocaine metabolite detected in a $5,000 claiming mare who won Apr. 10 was the result of "inadvertent exposure" to that drug. It's the second time in eight months that the Charles Town stewards have made that type of  determination on a cocaine positive, disqualifying the winning horse but not penalizing the trainer. Although West Virginia's Thoroughbred medication testing 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 (HIWU)'s "pending" and "resolved" cases portals.   Resolved ADMC Violations Date: 05/07/2025 Licensee: Javier Moran, trainer Penalty: 30-day period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on May 8, 2025; Disqualification of Covered Horses' Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender...

The TDN article "In Lab Variability, Horse Racing Playing Catchup With Human Sports" raises some important issues and, although its consideration of them is fair, it only does this from a USA perspective. While this is understandable, it is also relevant to look at the achievements made in this space internationally, much of which has been pioneered by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA), which is the global leader for Thoroughbred racing. Firstly, I want to congratulate HISA/HIWU on their significant progress in enhancing testing standards in racing laboratories...

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 Date: 04/30/2025 Licensee: Candalario Villamar, trainer Penalty: 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 $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Final...

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...