Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit

A new HISA computer model to identify at-risk horses is being used by Churchill Downs officials to complement existing track safety nets, representatives from the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) announced during Tuesday's press conference on equine safety protocols in place for this year's GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks. "It's essentially a model that looks at 44 potential risk factors that might cause a horse to be at risk for injury," said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus, who added that the...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. Among this most recent set of rulings, trainer Jorge Diaz has been suspended a total of 37 days and fined $3,500 for two separate violations. Diaz was suspended for 30 days after his trainee, Melina's Dream, tested positive for an alkalinizing agent (TCO2) after finishing seventh at Parx Racing on Jan. 3. High total carbon dioxide (TCO2) levels could be an indication of bicarbonate loading--or milkshaking--which can neutralize...

Parx-based trainer Monte Gelrod has been notified by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) that a horse he trains named Ratified (Constitution) tested positive for Cobalt after racing Feb. 19 at Parx. His suspension has been put on hold while HIWU awaits the results of a B sample test. If the B sample also shows the presence of Cobalt, Gelrod faces a suspension of up to two years. Gelrod's positive was the second recorded at Parx in a short period of time. On Feb. 6, the Patricia Farro-trained Deplane...

HISA's mission is to protect the integrity of competition and the welfare of horses in the Thoroughbred racing industry. The Banned Substances list, set forth under HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, is one of the many ways HISA advances this mission. Under HISA's ADMC Program, substances with no legitimate, medically justified use in Thoroughbreds are among those classified as Banned Substances, just as they are under the anti-doping programs being run by other equine sports' governing bodies. Many "non-approved substances" on the Banned Substances list have not been...

The team at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company does everything it can to run a clean sale. Under OBS's conditions of sale, no medication may be administered within 24 hours of a horse's under-tack performance, 10 to 15% of the horses who are going to sell are tested, and in 2019, OBS prohibited the use of bronchodilators like Clenbuterol at all of its sales. It may not be enough. The Jeffrey Englehart story has suggested that may be the case. Englehart bought a Classic Empire colt at the OBS auction...

Trainer Mike Lauer is now a month past serving what he believes was an unjust 75-day suspension because a Thoroughbred under his care at Horseshoe Indianapolis tested positive last summer for metformin, a drug used to treat diabetes in people. With more 20 million patients taking it, metformin ranks as the nation's third-most-prescribed human medicine, according to the consumer healthcare website Healthgrades. Before Lauer's case made it to an official arbitration hearing, the 72-year-old conditioner with five decades of licensure was able to present enough evidence to the Horseracing Integrity...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. Among this week's rulings, trainer Daniel Kenney has been banned18 months and fined $12,500 for possession of the thyroid drug, Levothyroxine, which HISA has listed a banned substance. Kenney's ban began on Oct. 5, 2023. In a brief explainer on the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) website, HIWU Investigators allegedly found the Levothyroxine—otherwise known as Thyro-L—in one of Kenney's tack rooms at Arapahoe Park in Aurora, Colorado on Aug. 25, 2023....

When Jimmy Corrigan was informed after an Oct. 7 race at Belterra Park that his horse Stay Lost (Bernardini) had tested positive for the banned substance methamphetamine he was shocked. The native of Ireland had been training in the U.S. since 1992 and had never had a drug positive of any kind. He said he is careful who he hires and that he's sure that no one in his barn had ever touched the drug. But, at least initially, these things don't matter under the rules of the Horseracing Integrity...

Cases against trainers Keri Brion and R. Lane Hendriks for benzoylecgonine (BZE) positives in covered horses have been withdrawn, according to a release from the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU). The Brion-trained Chasing After You (Speightstown) tested positive for cocaine after winning a $25,000 claimer at Presque Isle Downs Sept. 19. The former Jonathan Sheppard assistant was provisionally suspended by HIWU Oct. 14, but the suspension was postponed since the conditioner had yet to request a split sample or to inform HIWU that she was waiving her right to...

In a statement Thursday, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU)--the enforcement arm of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA)--said that an internal review of the six accredited laboratories used by the agency had unearthed different limits of detection in blood for metformin, a banned substance at all times under HISA. "Following this review, which was conducted in collaboration with the laboratories, it was determined that not all applied the same Limit of Detection in analyzing samples for the presence of Metformin. HIWU has since met with all six...

Trainer Keri Brion, who was provisionally suspended by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) after a horse she trained allegedly tested positive for cocaine, has been cleared. The suspension was lifted pursuant to HIWU Rule 3247 (e). The rule reads: "...if it considers it appropriate to do so on the specific facts of the case, the Agency may lift the Provisional Suspension." Suspensions that had been issued to R. McLane Hendriks, Carlos Milian, Javier Morzan and Guadalupe Munoz Elizondo were also lifted. A full hearing in all five cases...

Every week, the TDN publishes a round-up of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. The TDN also posts a round-up of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from the same week. These include decisions from around the country. NEW HISA/HIWU STEWARDS RULINGS The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit's "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. RESOLVED ADMC VIOLATIONS Original date: 09/16/2023 Licensee: Keith...