National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association

The annual National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association Conference concluded Wednesday in Safety Harbor, Florida with a session on how retired racehorses are transforming the lives of first responders and military members, as well as school children of backstretch workers, and a session  showcasing products using cutting edge technology to provide 24/7 security for stables and state-of-the-art software to help trainers do their jobs. Sally Jane Mixon, a Canterbury Park backstretch chaplain, exercise rider and mental-health counselor with a BS in Human Development Studies and an MS in Professional Counseling,...

Damon Thayer, who recently completed a 22-year tenure in the Kentucky State Senate, delivered the keynote address Tuesday at the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association Convention in Safety Harbor, Florida. With a theme of "cooperation is always better than extinction," Thayer's 35-minute address focused on the importance of horsemen in every racing jurisdiction building relationships with their state legislators. "It's mind-boggling what a legislator has to absorb every day, and if an industry isn't aligned, the easiest thing for a legislator to do is to wash their hands of...

In response to news reported by several outlets on Monday, Nov. 18 that the Birmingham Race Course would be sold to PCI Gaming, a subsidiary of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, Alabama's HBPA expressed hope for the future of the state's long-dormant horse racing industry, the association said in a statement released on Wednesday. After more than 25 years since racing was last held in Alabama, the sale of the Birmingham Race Course marks what the organization says is a potential turning point in efforts to revive the sport....

The Supreme Court of the United States Monday officially intervened in the 3 1/2-year legal odyssey in which the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) and 12 of its affiliates are trying to wipe out the Horseracing and Safety Integrity Act (HISA) as an allegedly unconstitutional law. That intervention took the form of a Sept. 23 Supreme Court order signed by Justice Samuel Alito, Jr. directing the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit not to issue its pending mandate stemming from a recent Fifth Circuit opinion that...

Forty-five days after the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit declared that the Horseracing and Safety Integrity Act (HISA) is unconstitutional because its enforcement provisions violate the private non-delegation doctrine, both the HISA Authority and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) petitioned for a rarely granted "en banc" procedure that asks for a rehearing before all 17 of that court's judges instead of just the panel of three that issued the July 5 opinion. The HISA Authority's Aug. 19 filing asked for the rehearing based on three main...

Eight individual owners, trainers and other Thoroughbred industry licensees in Oklahoma on July 24 filed what is now the sixth federal lawsuit in three years to try and get the Horseracing and Safety Integrity Act (HISA) declared unconstitutional. As in previous lawsuits that have similarly targeted the HISA Authority and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as defendants, the Oklahoma horsemen want declaratory judgments, injunctions, and restraining orders imposed that would invalidate HISA rules and prohibit the HISA Authority, the FTC, and the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) from enforcing the...

On Friday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a decision finding that while "nearly all" legally contested aspects of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) were constitutional, they determined the HISA Authority's broad enforcement powers unconstitutional. In the process, the Fifth Circuit split with the Sixth Court Circuit's Court of Appeals which recently had found the Congressionally amended version of HISA constitutional. The Supreme Court subsequently declined to hear a challenge to that decision filed by Oklahoma, Louisiana and West Virginia. "HISA's enforcement provisions...

Nine-time winner Uncaptured Storm (Uncaptured)--who changed hands five times last year, winning at least once for each owner--has been selected the 2023 National Claiming Horse of the Year by the National Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association. The NHBPA presents the award annually to shine the spotlight on horses that are exceptional at their level of competition, with claiming horses comprising the largest segment of racing across America. Uncaptured Storm and his connections will be honored at the NHBPA annual conference to be held at Iowa's Prairie Meadows in July. Uncaptured...

A total of 90 horses spread over eight races were entered Saturday for next Saturday's 25th Claiming Crown, to be held for the first time since 2011 at New Orleans' Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. Trainer Mike Maker--whose all-time record 21 Claiming Crown victories include two last year at Churchill Downs--and Robertino Diodoro lead the way with seven entries apiece. For Maker, that includes four in the 12-horse $150,000 Claiming Crown Emerald at 1 1/16 miles on turf, headed by GI United Nations winner Therapist (Freud). Diodoro's trio in...

A 2 1/2-year-old legal fight led by the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) to try and overturn the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) based on alleged constitutional flaws got distilled into one hour of oral arguments on Wednesday in the case's second go-round before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans. As expected, lawyers for the two sides stuck to the finer points of constitutionality law, and there were only several passing references related to horse racing. The arguments centered on...

The North American Association of Racetrack Veterinarians (NAARV) is arguing for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to overturn the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) on constitutional grounds because the law allegedly "places the racetrack veterinarians at a greater risk than other covered persons" from a due process standpoint. Chief among the assertions made by the NAARV in a 51-page "friend of the court" brief filed July 14 are that "initial findings of wrongdoing by a member of NAARV, pursuant to HISA, result in a...

The Texas judge handling the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) constitutionality lawsuit that is trying to halt the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) on Wednesday refused to grant an injunction that would delay the May 22 implementation of the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program. In issuing his order, United States District Court Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas (Lubbock Division) pointed out that it is the second time in two weeks that he has informed the plaintiffs in a court order that...