HISA was created to implement, for the first time, a national, uniform set of integrity and safety rules that are applied consistently to every Thoroughbred racing participant and racetrack facility.
The rules and regulations drafted by HISA’s Racetrack Safety and Anti-Doping and Medication Control Standing Committees are designed to enhance the safety and wellbeing of both horse and rider while ensuring the integrity of the sport for the benefit of the industry, fans and bettors. A safer, fairer sport will also be a more popular sport for generations to come.
Congress passed a bill authorizing the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (“Authority”) as a private self-regulatory organization. The Authority must develop rules related to horseracing, including anti-doping, medication control and racetrack safety.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is given broad oversight over the Authority. The FTC, after providing an opportunity for public comment, must approve or disapprove any rule proposed by HISA. Civil sanctions imposed by the Authority for violations of its rules or standards may be appealed to the Commission for review by an Administrative Law Judge and by the Commission.
The Authority must also submit guidance it develops to the Commission. In addition, certain practices involving drugs are made unfair or deceptive practices under Section 5(a) of the FTC Act.
Francisco Uzal DVM, PhD, DACVP
Dr. Francisco Uzal has been coordinating the equine post-mortem program for the California Horse Racing Board for the past 20–plus years. He instructs veterinary pathologists on the specialized Thoroughbred racehorse postmortem examination establishing the standards for musculoskeletal and sudden death postmortem examinations. He has coauthored numerous papers in that role including several multicenter national studies and international research. He is a board-certified veterinary pathologist with special expertise in the diagnosis of diseases of horses and ruminants.
Mary Robinson, DVM, PhD, DACVCP
Dr. Mary Robinson is a Diplomat of the American College of Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology and a graduate of the Veterinary Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Pennsylvania, having obtained a Veterinary Medical Doctorate and a PhD in Pharmacological Sciences. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Veterinary Pharmacology at University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (PennVet) New Bolton Center. As the Director of the PennVet Equine Pharmacology Research Laboratory, she and her team study the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of banned substances in horses, as well as biomarkers of banned substances and disease processes in the equine athlete. Dr. Robinson is also the Acting Director of the Pennsylvania Equine Toxicology and Research Laboratory within the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, which performs equine drug testing on approximately 30,000 post-race samples per year.
Cristobal Navas de Solis, LV, PhD, DACVIM
Dr. Cris Navas is a clinician and researcher at University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center. He received his veterinary degree from the Universidad Cardenal Herrera -CEU University in Valencia, Spain, his PhD from Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain and his Master of Veterinary Clinical Medicine from the University of Illinois. He completed a residency in Equine Internal Medicine (University of Illinois) and a Fellowship in Cardiology and Ultrasound (University of Pennsylvania) and has been a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine since 2009. Before starting formal Internal Medicine training, Navas worked in equine ambulatory practice. Dr. Navas joined Texas A&M from 2015-19 and returned to the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 2019.
Dr. Navas’ clinical activity and research focuses on equine cardiology and ultrasound. His ongoing projects are designed to prevent injuries and exercise-associated deaths in equine athletes and to promote veterinary health and education using telehealth.
Allen Page, DVM, PhD
Dr. Allen Page is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Veterinary Science at the University of Kentucky’s Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center. Dr. Page received both his Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of California, Davis before moving to Lexington to complete a rotating internship at the Hagyard Equine Medical Institute and a PhD at the University of Kentucky. Among his research interests is the inflammatory response to exercise and injury in equine athletes across a variety of disciplines, including research to determine whether whole-blood messenger RNA expression can be used to assess fitness and predict impending injury in Thoroughbred racehorses.
Molly McCue, DVM, PhD, DACVIM
Dr. Molly McCue runs an equine genetics laboratory and serves as the Associate Dean of Research at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. McCue is recognized as a global leader in equine genomics and computational biology. She received both her bachelor’s degree and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine with honors from Kansas State University (KSU) in 1998 and 2000, respectively. She then completed a large animal internship at the University of Georgia from 2000–01 and an equine internal medicine residency at KSU from 2001–04. McCue additionally earned her Master of Science from KSU in 2004 and became board–certified in large animal internal medicine in 2005 before earning her PhD from KSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) in 2007. She was a postdoctoral associate and Morris Animal Foundation fellow at the CVM from 2007–08.
Laura Kennedy, DVM, DACVP
Dr. Laura Kennedy is a board-certified anatomic pathologist at the University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Lexington, KY. A native of Michigan, Dr. Kennedy received her Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University. Following graduation, Dr. Kennedy served as a resident veterinarian at the Hanover Shoe Farms in Hanover, PA, a 400-mare commercial Standardbred breeding farm. Dr. Kennedy then pursued a residency in anatomic pathology at Texas A&M University, achieving board certification.
Dr. Kennedy is the program coordinator for the Kentucky Horse Racing Postmortem Program, which entails performing detailed postmortem examinations on all racehorses that are euthanized or die spontaneously at all regulated tracks and training centers in the state of Kentucky. Dr. Kennedy works closely with the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation, racetrack medical directors, referral hospitals and researchers at the University of Kentucky and throughout the country. In addition to the prevention of catastrophic musculoskeletal injury and exercise-associated sudden death, her dedication to the welfare of the racehorse includes providing for a healthy and happy second career following retirement from racing.
Lynn Hovda, RPH, DVM, DACVIM
Dr. Lynn Hovda has been Chief Commission Veterinarian for the Minnesota Racing Commission since 1994. She graduated from North Dakota State University with a degree in pharmacy and the University of Minnesota with a degree in veterinary medicine. Additionally, Dr. Hovda is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. She is currently an adjunct Clinical Professor at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, where she teaches toxicology. She has co-authored numerous lay and scientific publications and book chapters and edited toxicology sections in small and large animal textbooks.
Julie Engiles, VMD, DACVP
Dr. Julie Engiles is a Professor of Pathology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (PennVet), where she received her Veterinary Medical Doctorate in 2002. She completed a Surgical Internship at the New Jersey Equine Clinic prior to an Anatomic Pathology Residency at PennVet with ACVP boards certification in 2006 and her faculty appointment at PennVet’s New Bolton Center in 2007. As a diagnostic pathologist, Dr. Engiles provides autopsy and biopsy services through the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System, specializing in equine pathology with expertise in orthopedics, including laminitis, as well as equine neurologic and gastrointestinal disease. She has several publications concentrated on the diagnostic pathology of the horse and several multi-institutional, international collaborations involving translational large animal models of axial and appendicular musculoskeletal disease.
Craig J Goldblatt, DVM
Dr. Craig Goldblatt is a highly experienced regulatory racetrack veterinarian with a career spanning 38 years. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania in 1984, Dr. Goldblatt has dedicated his professional life to ensuring the health and safety of racehorses. For the majority of his career, he served as a regulatory racetrack veterinarian at Parx Racing and currently is a Regulatory Veterinarian at Colonial Downs. Dr. Goldblatt has worked as a relief Regulatory Veterinarian at several other racetracks, including Tampa Bay Downs, Monmouth Park, Delaware Park, Garden State Park, Atlantic City Racetrack, Freehold Raceway and Penn National.
Dr. Goldblatt has developed a special interest in the role of cardiac disease and its correlation with poor performance and sudden death in racehorses. His dedication to understanding and addressing this issue reflects his commitment to advancing the welfare of racehorses and improving the integrity of the sport. He remains steadfast in his mission to effectuate positive change within the industry.
Sian Durward-Atkurst, PhD, DACVIM
Dr. Sian Durward-Akhurst is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. She received her veterinary degree from the University of Glasgow and then pursued specialty training with a rotating equine internship at the Royal Veterinary College and a large animal internal medicine residency at the University of Minnesota. She also worked in equine ambulatory practice in the United Kingdom’s Peak District. She additionally earned a PhD in genetics in the Comparative and Molecular Biosciences program at the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Durward-Akhurst became a faculty member at the University of Minnesota in 2021. She has a strong interest in equine cardiology and her research focuses on improving methods of detecting Standardbred and Thoroughbred racehorses at high risk of developing exercise-associated cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. Her long-term goal is to reduce the frequency of sudden cardiac death in Standardbred and Thoroughbred racehorses using a combination of genetics and ECG analysis. This work has translational potential and is currently funded by a National Institutes of Health K12 career development award.
1. What is HISA?
Established when the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act was signed into federal law in 2020, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) is responsible for drafting and enforcing uniform safety and integrity rules in Thoroughbred racing in the U.S. Overseen by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HISA was created to implement, for the first time, a national, uniform set of rules applicable to every Thoroughbred racing participant and racetrack facility. HISA comprises two programs: the Racetrack Safety Program, which took effect July 1, 2022, and the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, which took effect May 22, 2023.
The Racetrack Safety Program includes operational safety rules and national racetrack accreditation standards that seek to enhance equine welfare and minimize equine and jockey injury. The Program expands veterinary oversight, imposes surface maintenance and testing requirements, expands jockey safety measures and resources, regulates riding crop use, and implements a void claim rule, among other important measures.
The ADMC Program establishes a centralized testing and results management process and applies uniform penalties for integrity violations efficiently and consistently across the United States. These rules and enforcement mechanisms are administered by a new independent agency, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), established by Drug Free Sport International (DFSI). HIWU oversees testing, educates stakeholders on the new system, accredits laboratories, investigates potential integrity violations and prosecutes rule breaches.
2. Who is in charge of HISA?
HISA is led by CEO Lisa Lazarus and governed by a nine-member Board of Directors which consists of five individuals from outside the equine industry (independent directors), and four individuals selected to represent various equine constituencies (industry directors). The Board is chaired by Charles Scheeler.
HISA’s programs are led by committees of experts in their fields from inside and outside of the Thoroughbred racing industry; the ADMC Standing Committee is chaired by Charles Scheeler, and the Racetrack Safety Standing Committee is chaired by Dr. Susan Stover, DVM, Ph.D.
3. When did HISA begin governing the racing industry?
HISA’s Racetrack Safety Program took effect July 1, 2022. Its ADMC Program took effect May 22, 2023.
4. What changes can racing fans see as a result of HISA’s oversight?
The Racetrack Safety Program includes safety rules along with operational standards for racetrack accreditation. For example, under HISA’s surface maintenance and measurement standards, tracks are required to execute pre-meet inspections, monitor and test racing surface conditions on a daily basis, and make condition reports and test results available to horsemen and HISA.
Under the ADMC Program, fans see centralized testing and results management processes, shorter turnaround times for investigations/adjudication and uniform penalties that are applied consistently across the country.
5. Why is the Racetrack Safety Program important?
The importance of the Racetrack Safety Program to HISA’s mission to protect the wellbeing of equine and human athletes cannot be overstated. The Racetrack Safety Program’s national accreditation standards and safety regulations require:
- Expanded veterinary oversight
- Surface maintenance and measurement standards
- Enhanced reporting requirements
- Collection and analysis of medication, treatment, injury and fatality data
- A void claim rule
- A uniform riding crop rule
- The transfer of claimed horses’ medical information
- Jockey concussion and medical care reporting
This 360-degree approach will help vets, horsemen and all racing participants determine every horse is fit to race before setting foot on the track while also increasing understanding of the conditions that contribute to both equine and human injuries and fatalities.
6. Why was Drug Free Sport International (DFSI) chosen to administer and enforce HISA’s ADMC Program?
HISA chose DFSI as its partner to establish and implement the Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program because of its exemplary record of success in its drug testing and enforcement partnerships with leading sports organizations, including the NFL, NCAA, NBA, LPGA, PGA Tour, NASCAR and MLB. DFSI is an established leader as demonstrated by its success and ongoing engagement with U.S. and international sports organizations and leagues.
7. What is the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) and how does it work?
HIWU, established as a division of Drug Free Sport International in 2022, administers the rules and enforcement mechanisms of HISA’s ADMC Program. HIWU oversees testing, educates stakeholders on the new system, accredits laboratories, investigates potential integrity violations and prosecutes rule breaches.
HIWU is led by Executive Director Ben Mosier, who has more than a decade of experience working for DFSI and has overseen anti-doping programs for the NBA, PGA Tour, MLB and NASCAR. A full list of HIWU staff and members of HIWU’s Advisory Council is available on the HIWU website.
8. Are members of the horseracing industry able to provide input to HISA?
HISA and its Standing Committees continue to seek input from a wide range of industry stakeholders, including state racing commissions, racetracks, owners, trainers, breeders, jockeys, equine veterinary groups, horsemen’s groups and others. HISA seeks feedback on its rules both formally and informally, including via the HISA Horsemen’s Advisory Group, which is made up of horseracing industry veterans from across the country who represent a broad range of views and experiences. Included among them are trainers, owners and veterinarians, as well as representatives of racing offices, backstretch employees, farriers and aftercare initiatives.
HISA greatly values input from across the racing as part of its efforts to continue to improve HISA’s programs. Comments and suggestions can be sent to feedback@hisaus.org at any time.
9. How are HISA’s Board and standing committees structured?
HISA’s Board of Directors consists of nine individuals, five of whom were selected from outside of the equine industry (independent directors), while the other four were selected to represent various equine constituencies (industry directors). The Board is chaired by Charles Scheeler.
The ADMC Standing Committee is chaired by Charles Scheeler, an independent director of the Board, and comprises four independent members and three industry members.
The Racetrack Safety Standing Committee is chaired by Dr. Susan Stover, DVM, Ph.D, an industry director of the Board, and comprises four independent members and three industry members.
In order to conduct their work in an ethical and independent manner, directors and members are subject to strict conflict of interest restrictions in order to serve in their specific roles.
10. How do I serve on HISA’s Board or standing committees?
Complete and submit the Nominee Screening Questionnaire, along with a statement of interest and resume to Anjali Salooja at anjali.salooja@hisaus.org.
11. Is HISA funded by the federal government?
No. HISA is funded by racetracks, horsemen’s groups and other racing participants.
