Overseeing national, uniform integrity and safety rules for Thoroughbred racing in the U.S.
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2025 Equipment Guidebook
2024 Attending Veterinarian Handbook
2024 Handbook for Veterinarians Practicing off the Racetrack
2024 Regulatory Veterinary Handbook
2024 Stewards Handbook
2024 Trainer Handbook
Join Our Team
Interested in working at HISA? Qualified applicants may email their resume and a cover letter to Niki Robb at niki.robb@hisaus.org.
Interested in serving on the HISA Board of Directors, the Anti-Doping and Medication Control Committee or the Racetrack Safety Committee? Complete and submit the Nominee Screening Questionnaire, along with a statement of interest and resume to Anjali Salooja at anjali.salooja@hisaus.org.
Trainers / Responsible Persons
HISA’s uniform rules and regulations include expanded requirements and responsibilities for trainers to make racing safer for the horses in your care, which include:
- Responsible Person requirements
- Record-keeping responsibilities
- Anti-doping and medication control compliance
- Adherence to Racetrack Safety rules
Responsible Person Requirements
In most cases, trainers are considered the Responsible Person under law, which means you are responsible for:
- Registering all Covered Horses in your care;
- Maintaining records of medication administration, vaccinations, therapeutic procedures, surgical procedures, and treatments for those horses; and
- Making those records available to regulatory veterinarians, stewards and HISA officials when requested.
Record-Keeping Responsibilities
The data gleaned from the following five record-keeping and reporting categories required under the Racetrack Safety Program will be used to inform regulatory veterinarians’ pre-race examinations of the horses in your care as well as the evolution of HISA’s rules to further enhance equine welfare:
- Health and vaccination records, which must be uploaded to the HISA portal;
- Daily treatment records;
- Daily layup records for horses returning from a layup period of 60 or more days;
- 30 days of offsite treatment records for horses shipping to racetracks from a layup or training at a non-HISA facility; and
- 60 days of treatment and veterinary exam records for claimed horses leaving your care.
Collaboration with attending and regulatory veterinarians to fulfill HISA’s expanded veterinary oversight protocols, including securing your horse’s removal from the Vet’s List when needed, is also a key component of your role under HISA. Access to this data is restricted to regulatory vets, your attending vet(s), relevant state racing commission personnel and the horse’s Designated Owners.
Anti-Doping and Medication Control Compliance
The ADMC Program’s uniform prohibited substances classifications, expanded testing protocols, quick adjudication processes, and consistent penalties that fit the severity of the violation simplify compliance and level the playing field for the vast majority of racing participants who play by the rules.
- For the first time, the same substances are prohibited at the same minimum levels no matter where you are racing or training.
- The Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) administers the rules and enforcement mechanisms of HISA’s ADMC program.