The HISA Newsletter

April 30, 2024

Dear Thoroughbred racing participants,

Our industry is busily preparing to kick off the 2024 Triple Crown with the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby. While there is a spotlight on racing over the next two months, HISA’s mission is to underscore the importance of year-round care of our horses.

This Triple Crown will be the first to run fully under HISA’s Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, which took effect 11 months ago. These uniform rules ensure that horses running at HISA tracks have been subject to one national set of medication rules, testing protocols, adjudication procedures, investigative operations, and laboratory standards. And the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) has been hard at work this year, conducting more than 70,000 sample collection sessions since launch.

Similarly, our Racetrack Safety Program has instituted a myriad of national uniform rules, including requiring thorough pre-race inspections and other expanded veterinary protocols. Moreover, HISA’s Track Surfaces Advisory Group, established in September 2023, can now be deployed at racetracks as needed to analyze dirt, turf and synthetic surface consistency. This Advisory Group has reviewed the track at Churchill Downs ahead of the Derby and will do the same at Pimlico and Saratoga in the coming weeks. Additionally, HISA’s pre-meet inspection at Churchill and other tracks includes a review of existing protocols and available equipment.

Thanks to uniform veterinary and safety reporting requirements, we are now in a position to utilize AI and advanced data analytics to better identify horses that may be at greater risk for injury. As a first step, HISA is partnering with Palantir Technologies to build a platform for analyzing the comprehensive data contained in HISA’s online database to help veterinarians more efficiently identify which horses may be at heightened risk. HISA is also working with the American Association of Equine Practitioners on a process to explore the integration of wearable biometric technology to support equine injury detection.

We’re encouraged by the progress we’ve made so far, as detailed in HISA’s and HIWU’s recently released annual reports. However, we’re still in an all-hands-on-deck moment to protect the health and safety of horses. I hope that you will continue to work and collaborate with HISA as we advance this mission together.

Yours in racing,

Lisa

HISA Releases 2023 Annual Metrics Report 

HISA recently announced the release of its inaugural Annual Metrics Report. This report reflects HISA’s ongoing commitment to accountability and the progress it has made toward promoting the safety of U.S. Thoroughbred racing’s equine and human athletes. The full version of the report is available here.

The Annual Metrics Report provides stakeholders with key data collected in 2023 at 50 racetracks in 20 states as part of HISA’s Racetrack Safety Program, which went into effect on July 1, 2022.

As evidenced by its 2023 metrics, HISA has made meaningful advances on implementing national uniform practices, building out the HISA Portal, which contains a broad spectrum of equine treatment and other health records, and driving collaboration and cooperation across the industry.

Highlights of HISA’s Annual Metrics Report include:

• Racetrack Accreditation: In 2023, HISA completed accreditation visits at 21 tracks, leading to many significant safety improvements, including investing in new and more advanced track surface maintenance equipment, taking daily measurements related to track surface conditions, updating stable gate in/out procedures and convening safety committees to review incidents and identify risk mitigation strategies.
• HISA’s Data Platform: HISA has, for the first time, created a centralized online database of horses and people involved in the sport, enabling treatment records and other information to be accessed by racetracks and officials across the country. HISA is using this unprecedented access to consistent, uniform data to develop tools informed by machine learning to help further advance equine safety.
• Racing Participant Registration: As of December 31, 2023, approximately 33,000 Covered Persons, 55,000 Covered Horses and 1,000 veterinarians actively involved in the daily and specialized care of equine athletes were registered with HISA.
• Equine Fatalities: As previously announced, racetracks operating under HISA’s rules reported 1.23 racing-related equine fatalities per 1,000 starts in 2023. That rate is down from the rate reported by The Jockey Club in its Equine Injury Database (EID) in 2022 (1.25 per 1,000 starts) and is lower than the national rate reported in The Jockey Club's 2023 EID (1.32 per 1,000 starts). The Jockey Club's 2023 EID also shows that non-HISA tracks reported a rate of 1.63 racing-related equine fatalities per 1,000 starts.
• Use of Riding Crop Violations: In 2023, HISA reported 4.40 crop rule violations per 1,000 starts, which is down from 5.09 violations per 1,000 starts in 2022.

HISA Announces Membership of Next Generation Advisory Group 

Earlier this month, HISA announced the members of its Next Generation Advisory Group, who were selected from a diverse pool of almost 200 applications. The Advisory Group will convene monthly to provide feedback to HISA’s executive team and Standing Committees on the implementation and evolution of HISA’s Racetrack Safety and Anti-Doping and Medication Control programs.

HISA selected 16 members who represent a broad range of views and experience from across the American horse racing community. Included among them are horsemen, veterinarians, jockeys, and horseplayers, as well as representatives from horsemen’s groups, racing offices, and racing syndicates. Members will serve 18-36-month terms to stagger changes in the composition of the group.

The full list of members of the inaugural Next Generation Advisory Group is available here.

Comprehensive Emergency Preparedness Initiative with Sports Medicine Concepts

HISA has partnered with Sports Medicine Concepts, Inc. (SMC), a leading provider of elite sports emergency care training and emergency action planning services, to develop emergency action plans across Thoroughbred racetracks operating under HISA’s rules.

Through the partnership with SMC, HISA will help improve each racetrack’s emergency preparedness by supporting the development of an emergency action plan (EAP) template, identifying weaknesses in any existing EAPs and providing an opportunity for tracks and first responders to collaborate further on how to prepare and train for, and respond efficiently to, emergencies.

The partnership with SMC is the latest in a series of steps undertaken by HISA towards promoting health and safety initiatives in U.S. Thoroughbred racing. This initiative aims to bring all tracks up to a best-practice standard through structured policy implementation.

The program is set to commence in the second quarter of 2024 and will continue with a series of strategic implementations throughout 2024 and 2025.

HISA to Announce New Horsemen’s Advisory Group Members

HISA plans to announce the newest members of its Horsemen’s Advisory Group (“HAG”), as five current members rotate off the committee. Racing participants were asked to submit applications to join the HAG from March 14 to April 5. In the weeks since, HISA has been reviewing the candidates’ qualifications in coordination with the HAG’s current members.

HISA formed the HAG in 2022 to provide formal feedback to HISA’s executive team and standing committees on the implementation and evolution of its rules and regulations. Participation in HAG is on a rotating basis to facilitate the introduction of new perspectives. Another application window will open in advance of the HAG’s next membership rotation in November.

The HAG has been responsible for recommending a number of substantive modifications to HISA’s rules that were ultimately approved by HISA’s Board of Directors, including proposed amendments to the horseshoe rule, provisional suspensions, transfer testing and inadvertent contamination caused by human medications. Its membership includes trainers, owners and veterinarians, who collectively represent a variety of viewpoints across racing

Rollout of Palantir AI Tool to Identify Horses at Risk of Injury

HISA and Palantir Technologies are currently working with a select group of racetracks – including NYRA and CHRB tracks, Churchill Downs, Pimlico and Laurel Park – to beta test a data-enabled tool to assist industry stakeholders in identifying horses at risk for injury before they race. As HISA previously announced, the tool will generate a daily report for each racetrack, flagging any horses entered in that day’s races who may present potential risk factors for injury. This enables identification of at-risk horses with increased efficiency and accuracy to help inform the hands-on pre-race inspections of each runner.

HISA anticipates working to roll out the tool for wider use within the industry as more racetracks convene meets over the course of the year.

HIWU Update

From the desk of Ben Mosier, Executive Director, Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit:

Earlier this month, HIWU was thrilled to release our first Annual Report. It is available as a flip book link here or as a PDF that can be downloaded here.

The Annual Report details HIWU’s organization-wide activities as the independent enforcement agency of the ADMC Program. Among the highlights are statistics on testing, results management, the adjudication of cases, investigations, and educational efforts. The report illustrates the tremendous team effort that was required to bring the ADMC Program to life and administer it nationwide, as well as the support and collaboration of industry groups and horsemen who have worked with us to help make the program successful.

I encourage all industry participants to read through the report to see the progress that our sport has made in the realm of anti-doping and medication control. It also demonstrates that the overwhelming majority of horsemen are complying with the ADMC rules and protecting the safety and welfare of the horses in their care. We look forward to continuing to work with and educate all stakeholders so that they are equipped to succeed under HISA.

Next week, all eyes will be on Churchill Downs, which will be hosting the first Kentucky Derby under ADMC Program rules. HIWU has been preparing for this weekend for months and is in frequent communication with Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. This supplements our coordination with other racetracks and state racing commissions in jurisdictions that offered points races.

HIWU’s intelligence-based testing strategy surrounding the Derby includes identifying horses in and out of competition for testing from the beginning of the prep season up through the day of the race. Several members of the HIWU team, including multiple investigators, will be on-site at Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week to ensure smooth operations.

While I am extremely proud of our work in 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, HIWU’s focus is pointed ahead toward ensuring a successful implementation of the ADMC Program in all three Triple Crown races and every Covered Horserace nationwide.

Thank you again for all you do to ensure that we're moving forward together. 

Lisa Lazarus
CEO
HISA