Chief executives of major state racing regulators have noted that crucial steps toward standardizing rules, enforcement and laboratory standards have benefited the sport since oversight of safety, drug control and anti-doping was transferred from state regulators to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority in recent years.
That sentiment, along with concrete examples of how this improved uniformity has helped their state programs, was shared by three of the four executive directors who participated in a panel on HISA at the Racing and Gaming Conference in Saratoga, NY, on Aug. 12. In tardy May, HISA celebrated its one-year anniversary as the leader of the sport's anti-doping and drug control efforts after it began overseeing safety issues in July 2022.
Louis Trombetta, executive director of the Florida Gaming Control Commission, said that before HISA was implemented, equestrian athletes in Florida who failed a drug test at the state lab after a race would willingly send partial samples to labs that he said did not test the samples as thoroughly. He said the equestrian athletes chose those labs to get a negative result, effectively closing their cases. Trombetta said this practice is indicative of the varying levels of testing across the country that are regulated from state to state regarding drugs and anti-doping in equestrian sports.
“I think the introduction of uniform standards for laboratories and testing has improved and that this is a good thing for the sport,” Trombetta said.
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Robert Williams, executive director of the Modern York State Gaming Commission, said that in states that already had high standards in terms of rules and policies on safety and drug testing, not much likely changed when HISA was created. He said that was the case in Modern York, noting that progress has already been made in those areas thanks to efforts like the Mid-Atlantic Plan to Reduce Equine Injuries and other efforts to standardize rules across the region.
While Williams believes greater consistency has been achieved, he would like to see HISA document these improvements in its reports.
“Importantly for HISA, it has led to a standardization of reporting of drug findings – they are all reported in the same way,” Williams said, noting that he would like to see reports that actually document this change.
Scott Chaney, executive director of the California Horse Racing Board, said horse owners who did not want to comply with the stricter safety regulations California implemented about five years ago simply moved to states with less stringent guidelines under the system, which varies from state to state. Chaney said HISA has become standard in most racing jurisdictions and the ability to leave California and move to less stringent states is no longer as uncomplicated, forcing horse owners to adapt to modern standards rather than finding race venues with less stringent standards.
Chaney also said HISA is well positioned to improve safety in the sport thanks to the impressive technology it uses to monitor horses.
“The technology used by HISA is featherlight years ahead of the technology most of us apply,” Chaney said.
While uniformity dominated much of the panel's discussion, the first issue addressed was whether there would be savings for the sport, as state regulators are expected to shrink their capacity as HISA takes on some of their biggest responsibilities. Patrick Brown, founder of the Racing and Gaming Conference and also a thoroughbred horse owner, said that issue came to mind as he reflected on the changing sport.
The compact answer: savings for sport are progressing slowly.
Chaney noted that government agencies are generally sluggish to respond, and that HISA's future is still being decided in a number of court cases, so it would make no sense for the CHRB to lay off employees until those cases are fully resolved.
Trombetta noted that Florida looked for ways to remain involved and has chosen to continue collecting samples after races. After those samples are collected, they are turned over to HISA. Trombetta noted that HISA handles the collection of all out-of-competition samples. Trombetta said the state has seen some savings in funding for the Florida lab, as well as some cuts on the legal side, since HISA now oversees and manages those areas.
Also on the panel was Amy Cook, executive director of the Texas Racing Commission. She said state law made it challenging for the state to implement HISA. Texas has chosen not to let HISA oversee sport safety, drug testing and anti-doping, which has resulted in the state's races being unavailable for off-track wagering outside of Texas.
