In late March, the new federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority implemented a universal anti-doping program for thoroughbred racing. Five days after the rollout, a judge paused the program. The program is now set to resume this month.
HISA rolled out its Anti-Doping and Medication Control program on March 27th. In its first five days, about 700 samples were collected; however, due a court order, HISA’s labs were not allowed to analyze the collected samples.
A judge in Texas ordered a pause in the program to allow for a procedural waiting period. HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus said the ruling did not take issue with the constitutionality of the anti-doping program — formed by Congress after years of work to standardize a national hodgepodge of racing oversight — itself.
“The court ruled that the FTC should have given stakeholders in the industry 30 days to adapt to the new rules and the new program. So they just simply said, ‘Everything's fine. There's no issues, just here's your 30 days and then 30 days, you're back in business,’” said Lazarus.
On April 27th, the Federal Trade Commission ordered HISA to resume the ADMC on May 22nd. Again, Lazarus...
“Obviously, this reprieve gave us some time, to, you know, make sure that we had dotted all our I's and cross all our T's and improve any processes that we thought still were ripe for improvement. So, you know, there's been some benefits in that regard. And I think, you know, the vast majority of horsemen are really looking forward to the program resuming because the idea of, you know, the vast majority of trainers compete fairly and cleanly, and they want to know that the person they're competing against is doing the same,” said Lazarus.
The resumption of the program will occur in the middle of the Triple Crown season, after the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, but before the final leg at New York’s Belmont Park in June.
Lazarus explained the first two Triple Crown races, in Kentucky and Maryland, will follow their existing pre-race and post-race testing procedures. HISA will oversee testing for the Belmont Stakes. The resumption of the ADMC on May 22nd avoids some potential logistical issues with the major races.
“Had the program gone into effect May 1, what have happened is the pre-race testing for the Derby, which is, you know, a couple of weeks leading up to the Derby, would have been under Kentucky Horse Racing Commission rules and procedures, but the post-race testing, which would have been on May 6th, would have been under HISA’s rules and procedures, which really, you know, created some concerns and red flags. And if they had done the same, which is to have started right after the Derby, the same would have been the case for the Preakness. But because there's a bigger gap between the Preakness and the Belmont, there's enough time for HISA to come in and do all of the pre-race testing for the Belmont and the post-race testing,” said Lazarus.
The ADMC is not the only horse racing safety update rolled out since HISA’s formation last year. The agency’s Racetrack Safety Program went into effect last July. This will be the first Triple Crown season where all three tracks operate under the uniform standards.
Under the ADMC pause, the New York Racing Association reverted to its existing anti-doping system overseen by the New York State Gaming Commission. NYRA advocated for the establishment of the federal agency, which creates a uniform set of rules across the country.
NYRA spokesperson Pat McKenna says the organization is “eager” for HISA’s full implementation of the ADMC.
“HISA has been the subject of much debate, some consternation in certain quarters, but here in New York, we are confident that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, its rules and regulations, are a welcome change and will be a welcome change for a sport that has long been subject to a patchwork of regulations across 37 different states,” said McKenna.
Racing at Belmont Park begins on Thursday. The Belmont Stakes is June 10th. After the spring/summer meet on Long Island ends July 9th, the 2023 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course opens July 13th and runs through Labor Day.
