Get answers and raise concerns about the rapid launch of a federal program to regulate track safety and ultimately drug testing and enforcement, which has attracted hundreds Kentucky Trainers, Veterinarians and Owners Join Churchill Downs directly and almost June 20.
The meeting was hosted by the Kentucky Association for Mercy and Defense and was streamed online via Zoom and on the organization’s YouTube channel.
While many participants expressed appreciation for being able to answer their questions directly to Lisa Lazarus, Executive Director of the Equestrian Integrity and Safety Authority, many also said they are frustrated by the lack of concrete answers that can be provided to HISA’s growing governing body for Thoroughbred racing.
HISA, established by the US Congress and signed into law by President Donald J. Trump in December 2020, has given the new agency the power to draft rules and oversee sport safety regulations sports — as well as anti-doping, drug and laboratory surveillance efforts. The law requires the program to be launched by July 1.
Tight deadlines are in place for drafting new rules, securing a partner to handle drug testing and enforcement, negotiating deals and budgets with state racing commissions, Simultaneously registering racing industry participants is the task of the guy Lazarus and her team and has led to frustration for those that HISA will oversee.
Some of the themes expressed throughout the Churchill meeting were: begging for HISA to delay the effective date of July 1 to remediate points of conflict, and the desire for greater participation from the participants. racing industry on drafting the rules.
“There is a nomination committee that has been appointed. Who here voted for anyone on the nominating committee? No one. There was a designated body. Who here voted for the members? The two subcommittees (have been formed) —anti-doping and Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National Knights Protection and Mercy Association, said at the start of the meeting. . “So, in my opinion, they need to ask the people in this room what is important to the owners, trainers, and participants in this industry; people who do this every day. It’s who needs to be at the table and whether they are, to be honest, there would be less confusion in the implementation if we could agree on how to get to this point. “
Drugs at the racecourse
HISA is rolling out its rules in phases. More safety initiatives will launch on July 1, followed by anti-doping and drug control initiatives that will go into effect January 1, 2023. This includes pre- and post-race veterinary checks, increased monitoring of track surface maintenance, emergency preparedness planning and an autopsies program. The July 1 launch also brings new riding crop usage rules and new claims rules. Also required is registration with HISA by any state-licensed individual and all “insured horses.”
Drafted rules for anti-doping and drug control initiatives are now available and are being consulted by the public. They need to be reviewed and approved by the Federal Trade Commission before taking effect early next year.
Some meeting attendees spoke of frustration with registration, but Lazarus said the efforts of riders and other racing organizations have helped bring 25,000 people and horses registered so far.
“We are at the benchmark we need, so that we have everyone registered who wants to race and plan to race on July 1,” Lazarus said at the meeting, Lazarus said at the meeting.
For more than three hours, Lazarus raised a series of questions including who would become “responsible” for the “covered horse” when the horse was transported from the racecourse to a private facility and how the transfer is managed if a trainer tries to assign that responsibility to the owner and the owner doesn’t accept it, which is required by the rules; and, how the workers in the rear have to participate in the continuing education requirements when many cannot read or write. Others have questions about what treatments or supplements a horse can receive in the 48 hours from the race, who determines what is allowed, how it will be enforced; and, if a horse can be banned from racing if it experiences three “unsafe” runs within a year, what is considered unsafe and who makes that decision.
With so many unresolved issues, Hamelback said, delaying the rollout of the HISA program could be beneficial, just as HISA did with pushing back the introduction of drug control and anti-doping rules to day 1. January.
Lisa Lazarus
“The timelines are definitely positive, and no one feels that more than those of us at HISA who are working basically 20 hours a day doing what we can to do the job as best we can.” this goes as smoothly as possible on July 1,” Lazarus said. “The delay is beyond my authority and there is no interest or desire for a delay from Congress or from the FTC.”
She added that the delay in implementing the anti-doping and drug control program was approved by the FTC because of the loss of time when HISA was unable to ensure the US Anti-Doping Agency was the testing and enforcement partner that had been envisaged. predict. Instead, HISA reached an agreement with Drug Free Sports International, but it wasn’t until June.
“We delayed rollout to crops and horseshoes but it was HISA’s internal decision to delay enforcement because of supply chain issues, not to delay the rule itself. . That’s different from delaying the whole show. We’ve been working in the areas where we can make the transition smoother and more achievable.”
Hamelback said frankly that registrations have not gone smoothly, the best way forward is to give HISA and the industry more time.
“For now, the delay means a lot. Whether you agree with HISA or not, everyone agrees on national unity and HBPA has been campaigning for that for a lot longer than I did. All we all want but want to be done right and we want due process to be resolved.”
The Kentucky HBPA said it is aggregating all unanswered questions from meeting attendees and participating via Zoom and will refer those questions to HISA. All questions and answers, when provided, will be posted on the organization’s website.
At the end of the meeting, Lazarus emphasized that HISA’s guiding philosophy was educational, not punitive. She promised to sit down with the riders before anti-doping drugs and controls go into effect and do line by line what they will be required to do to comply.
