In a post on his website and social media on January 25, classics award-winning coach Dale Romans said it’s time for the industry to come together and work with the Safety Authority and Integrity in Horse Racing, instead of continuing to oppose it through litigation.
His full post follows.
No one should be surprised when a provision in the recently passed federal spending bill corrects a constitutional weakness in the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act, passed in 2020. Lawsuits against HISA exposed this problem and Congress rightly corrected it. As far as I can tell, the judges ruling on HISA are no different from the law, and so it makes sense to strengthen the bill’s constitutionality.
What doesn’t make sense anymore is how some in the industry are committed to continuing to fight HISA in court. Instead, they should be on the streets, or warehouses, fighting to make HISA better. The industry needs to get together now and work with HISA, not against HISA, to give it a chance to succeed.
Trainers have legitimate concerns about how the drug rules from HISA will be implemented and where those increased costs will come from. But I also know that horse owners have a genuine concern about whether the playing field is always level. HISA will do a lot to address those concerns. Along those lines, I highly recommend that the president of the widely respected National Horsemen’s Protection and Benevolence Association (and equestrian veterinarian), Doug Daniels, has been invited to join the Trial Group. HISA’s Horseman Question. His input has made a significant impact.
A lot of money is currently being spent on paying lawyers to attack and defend the law. Let’s now dedicate some of that treasure to making sure the law works in every racing jurisdiction and that the real day-to-day concerns of riders are addressed fairly. We need to support HISA and HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus. I have spent a lot of time with Lisa and she is working tirelessly to understand our industry and implement HISA in a fair and practical way.
We riders know we love horses, but outsiders often see a different picture. It didn’t help that the horsemen leading the charge against the horse protection law didn’t help.
Let the lawyers out of work. Let’s unite and work with HISA to make this new system the best it can be.
I know I intend.
