Ready or Not – What Awaits Racing come July 1 thanks to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020
By Clara Finger, DVM, PhD, DACVIN; Peter J. Sacopulos, JD; Kimberly Brewer, DVM, Mac; Jacob Machin, MS; and Thomas Tobin, MRCVS, PhD, DABT
ORIGINALLY reported by the Horseman’s Journal, Summer 2022
Efforts to exert federal jurisdiction over horse racing date back to 2011, when the Interstate Horseracing Improvement Act was introduced by former U.S. Senator Tom Udal (D-NM). The bill in its various iterations stood a less than 10 percent change of passing for years. Then, in December 2020, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) carried the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) of 2020 through the Senate as part of a larger omnibus spending bill, and the legislation was signed into law by President Donald Trump, largely unread by Trump or most members of Congress. This act of Congress adds a layer of bureaucracy to racing and comes with a high price tag.
In part because of its high price tag, takeover of the regulation of horse racing from the states and other arguments, several lawsuits have been initiated to fight HISA’s implementation.
While the ultimate result of these lawsuits remains pending, a section of the HISA regulations, the 2000 series titled “Racetrack Safety Program”, was unquestionably set to become law July 1.
The remaining sections appear to be a work in progress with the draft ever-changing but destined to be in place January 1, 2023.
Our industry is about to change, and this article will explore and analyze accreditation and enforcement under HISA’s racetrack safety regulations, which were already adopted by the Federal Trade Commission. More importantly, while we cannot predict all of the consequences of the implementation of section 2000 of HISA, we will cover some of the responsibilities and changes that horsemen and women and veterinarians will have to incorporate into their daily lives effective July 1.
Racetrack Safety Standing Committee
The racetrack safety program has been developed by the Racetrack Safety Standing Committee. That committee consists of four independent members and three industry members along with one member of the Horseracing Integrity and Racing Authorities’s board of directors. All members have been appointed by HISA’s Nominating Committee. These are its seven members:
1. Susan Stover is the chair and an industry director. Stover is a professional of surgical and radiological science at the University of California, Davis and an expert in clinical equine surgery and lameness.
2. Lisa Fortier is an independent member from New York. Fortier is the James Law professor of surgery, Equine Park faculty director and associate chair for graduate education and research at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Her primary clinical and translational research interests are in equine orthopedics surgery, tendonitis, arthritis, and regenerative medicine.
3. Peter Hester is an independent member from Kentucky. Hester is an orthopedic surgeon.
4. Noah Cohen is an independent member from Texas. Cohen is a distinguished professor and the Pasty Link chair in equine research at Texas A&M University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
5. Carl Mattocala is an independent member from North Carolina. Mattacola is dean of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro School of Health and Human Sciences.
6. Glen Kozak is an industry member from New York. Kozak is senior Vice President of operations and capital projects for the New York Racing Association’s facility and track operations, which include Adueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course.
7. John Velazquez is an industry member from New York. Velazquez is an accomplished and respected jockey. He is North America’s all-time leading money-earning jockey and a member of the sport’s Hall of Fame.
This committee prepared recommended regulations that govern racetrack safety. Those regulations were then published and provided to industry members for comment. Despite extensive industry comment and recommendations, the FTC rubber-stamped the committee’s recommended regulations. The Racetrack Safety Standing Committee and the HISA Authority have assured industry participants of future modifications and the opportunity for input, but that seems unlikely based on the lack of incorporation of any of the proposed comments into the regulations.
To read more of the changes coming in July 1, 2022, make sure you download the publication in full.
