HISA explains rule revisions in Monday town hall meeting

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority hosted a town hall meeting Monday afternoon on Zoom. The meeting reviewed existing rules and pointed out several revised rules that went into effect Monday after being approved by the Federal Trade Commission.

Changes discussed included revisions to voided claim rules, expanded opportunities to run under the waiver claiming rule, increased stand-down periods after corticosteroid injections in fetlocks, changes to procedures for horses working off the vet’s lists and stricter rules on freeze-firing and pin-firing.

Voided claim rule

Marc Guilfoil, HISA’s director of stewarding and state racing commission relations, discussed revisions to the void claim rule. Under the rules in effect Monday, a claimant can choose to void a claim if there is a post-race positive test if they notify stewards in writing within 48 hours of that finding being released.

If the claim is voided, the claimant gets the claiming price back, as well as “documented and reasonable expenses related to the care and training of the horse since the date of the claim,” unless the horse has raced for the new connections, the new connections failed to exercise due care, the horse has been materially altered (such as, for example, being gelded after a claim) or the horse has died. Guilfoil, the former executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, mentioned that Kentucky has had a similar rule about documented expenses being reimbursable after a voided claim and said he is optimistic that those settlements will be similarly smooth under HISA.

Waiver claim rule

Ann McGovern, director of racetrack safety for HISA, focused on the change to the waiver claiming rule. Under the original HISA provisions, a horse could waive the claiming tag if they had been laid off for 120 days or more since their last start, they were in for a tag for their previous start and they were returning for a tag equal to or greater than the previous start.

Those provisions remain in effect, but HISA amended the rules to strengthen the incentive for connections to lay off and treat horses who need it. Under the new rules, as long as the horse did not win its first start back and the majority ownership has not changed between the first start back and the second, the horse can make a second start with a waived tag. Just as with the first start back, the horse must be in a race with a claiming price equal to or greater than their last start.

Veterinary rules

Dr. Shari Silverman, an equine veterinarian with experience as a racing vet in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, discussed changes to several rules, including the vet’s list and banned treatments.

Under Monday’s rule changes, horses who have had corticosteroid injections in fetlocks cannot breeze for 14 days and cannot race for 30 days. Rules are unchanged for all other injections. Horses who have non-corticosteroid injections to the fetlock, as well as any permitted injections in other parts of the body, still have a seven-day stand-down period before a breeze and a 14-day period before racing again. Violations of injection protocols also now will be published via HISA, not the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit, which previously published injection violations.

The rules that went into effect Monday imposed a seven-day stand-down period for horses who are placed on the vets’ list as unsound, injured or with epistaxis (bleeding).

The new rules also tightened the regulations for working off of the vet’s list. A horse now needs samples taken under the HIWU protocol in order to work off the HISA vet’s list. So, if a horse is put on the HISA vets’ list in a HISA state and then moves to a non-HISA state, the horse still will have to work off the HISA vets’ list once they return to a state covered by HISA. Working off the unsound list requires a signed statement from the trainer and the attending veterinarian that the horse is ready to work. For any reasons other than unsoundness, intra-articular injections and shock wave, the horse will need a clearance record from the attending veterinarian before being allowed to work.

The new HISA rules also change the handling of pin-firing, freeze-firing, neurectomies, blistering and vesicants. Original HISA rules banned both pin-firing and freeze-firing on the shin but permitted both on other parts of the body. Under rules in effect Monday, freeze-firing is still permitted in places other than the shin, but pin-firing is prohibited everywhere.

Furthermore, foals born in 2023 who have ever been pin-fired anywhere, freeze-fired on the shins or given a neurectomy anywhere on the body will not be allowed to breeze or race. During the question-and-answer session, Silverman reasserted that, even if a horse born in 2023 was accidentally pin-fired or freeze-fired on their shins, the horse would be banned from racing or breezing.

As for blistering and vesicants, only topical use of these treatments was prohibited under HISA rules before Monday. The rules in effect as of Monday ban not only topical use, but also internal blistering and the injection of stifles or ligaments with blistering agents or vesicants.

Question-and-answer session

After discussion of the rules, the HISA representatives took questions, both previously submitted as well as questions submitted during the course of the meeting.

A common theme in the question-and-answer session was the importance of documenting veterinary treatments and information in the HISA portal. Even though a horse does not become covered under HISA until it have its first published work, a horse can be registered as soon as it is registered with the Jockey Club. Lisa Lazarus, chief executive officer of HISA, noted that, for example, having a record that a horse had been administered clenbuterol with a prescription would avoid a violation if it was found a few months later in a hair test. Pregnancy was another example cited in the session. Silverman explained that having a HISA record that a mare was in foal would explain a higher testosterone level, one that is normal if a mare was in foal but would be an adverse finding if a mare was not in foal.

Multiple questions during the session concerned the crop rule and about owners forfeiting their share of the purse if the jockey goes over 10 strikes in a race. Lazarus said that in the feedback HISA got from jockeys when crafting the crop rules, many jockeys mentioned that owners would tell them not to worry about the crop rules and that they would pay the fines. Lazarus noted that violation of crop rules was both a public reputation issue and a horse safety issue, and nothing would change if there were not consequences for people who have the resources to impact the situation.

When discussing crop rules, Guilfoil also noted that jockeys have a fair opportunity to explain whether the crop was used for safety. Before imposing crop penalties, jockeys have the opportunity to meet with stewards, watch race film and explain if strikes were used for safety reasons. Guilfoil noted that stewards have lowered classes of crop violations before because the determination that some strikes were used for safety and that HISA would not reverse those determinations by stewards who were present for the race and able to talk to jockeys.

In response to another question about the cost of HISA to the horse-racing industry, Lazarus suggested that HISA was looking into alternative sources of funding. She noted that the law sets it up such that HISA relies on the racing industry to pay its costs but said HISA is concerned about the cost to the industry and is exploring other solutions such as public money, donations or commercial revenue. “Ultimately the goal is to get to a point where a considerable amount of the cost is borne outside the industry,” she said, but she provided no timeline for such changes.