National HBPA and its affiliates granted their wish on Friday. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) was unconstitutional. Therefore, HISA is on life support and is most likely ending. Within hours of the decision being announced, the National HBPA won, declaring it a victory for riders across the country.
“Today’s ruling shows that HISA regulations are not in the best interest of purebred race participants and, as Judge Doughty noted, will harm participants,” said the Director. HBPA National Executive Eric Hambelback said in a statement.
That’s what Hamelback and anti-HISA forces have been saying for a long time, while never really clarifying the potential harm that HISA can cause. They don’t admit that horse racing has serious integrity issues and that cheaters are winning. HISA is designed not to hurt riders, but to take out the worst in the sport and, in the process, protect the majority of owners and coaches who abide by the rules of the game.
Don’t we learn anything from the FBI investigation and subsequent arrests of Jorge Navarro, Jason Servis and more than two dozen others? According to the indictment, Servis and Navarro gave almost every horse in their stables performance-enhancing drugs and did so for many years. They won with 30% of the starts not because they were super horsemen but because they, supposedly had strong potions available.
Servis and Navarro operate under a system run by state racing commissions. They have never been caught and will never be. It has been proven that the racing committees have done a bad job and are powerless to catch the bad guys. That’s because for most, the main tool they use is a post-race drug test. The same tests never gave a result more serious than an overdose of a therapeutic drug. With hundreds of undetectable drugs available, it’s all too easy to beat the system. However, the National HBPA basically says they are fine with the status quo.
HISA is set to replace the old system with a new one under the supervision of the Horse Racing Integrity and Welfare Unit, which will go beyond drug testing and have a number of practical benefits . The plan included working with the 5 Stones Intelligence, the organization that played a key role in the investigation into the arrest of Servis and Navarro.
“The Equestrian Integrity and Welfare Unit is also building up their own internal capacity, their own internal investigative team, which is very strong and will include a number of well-known and well-known faces.” HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus said. “I think maybe the reason why you asked the question, and it really struck me, is that you want to know if the new show is based on a lot of intelligence and investigations. It won’t just be based on conducting a lot of testing. If you look at all the top programs in the world, in equestrian and other programs, you’ll see that the successful programs that actually bring integrity to their sport depend a lot on into investigations. So great. What the 5 Stones have discovered over the past few years has really changed this industry for the better. They really have. They certainly did a great job and we are lucky to have them as part of the sport.”
If HISA can’t find a way to overturn the decision declaring it unconstitutional, we’ll go back to the old way, with state racing commissions taking the lead while not doing the job of fully regulating the sport. this sport.
HISA will never wipe out all cheating in sports, but it represents a huge step in the right direction and will certainly make breaking the law a lot harder. HISA will be looking for the same people, the HBPA members, who were robbed every time Jorge Navarro won a race, deceiving hundreds of owners and coaches. Who is looking for them now?
“It is the duty of the National Association for Mercy and Protection of Horsemen to protect horsemen across the country and that is not a responsibility I take lightly,” Hamelback said after the court ruling.
He’s right. But that means doing everything possible to ensure there is a level playing field and that HBPA members who abide by the rules are never at a competitive disadvantage. That should be priority number one. If the National HBPA really wanted to “protect the horsemen across the country” they would support HISA, not try to sabotage it.
Why did Flightline vote for my Horse of the Year
Lawn writer Gary West posted in a blistering letter to the editor for TDN last week in which he wrote that he would not vote for Flightline (faucet) for Horse of the Year because he didn’t want to reward his owners after they had retired him after just six career starts.
“Whenever the owners give in to greed and whenever they focus on the sales loop rather than the track, the sport narrows down a little more,” he writes. And horse racing will continue to be meaningless if its leaders, or so-called leaders, do not sacrifice their personal interests for the sake of the sport. That is why I cannot and will not vote for Flightline.”
West makes a valid point and it is not good for the sport of racing stars to rush to retire. That means you may not be happy with the ownership group, but it doesn’t mean you should penalize the horse.
Although he only races three times a year, Flightline’s achievement demonstrates what it means to be Horse of the Year. He was brilliant and dominating and he was as passionate about the sport as no horse had ever been since the Secretariat. As most people would do if they were in the same position, the owners have chosen to make their money on the road to making millions of dollars from a career in breeding stallions. That’s unfortunate but it’s also the reality of what horse racing has become in the modern era. And it doesn’t take away from what Flightline has achieved. He will be a well-deserved Horse of the Year.
