On February 19, 2024, Attorney Peter Sacopulos presented at the Viticus Group WVC annual conference in Las Vegas. Mr. Sacopulos and co-presenter, Dr. Clara Fenger, board member and officer for the North American Association of Racetrack Veterinarians (NAARV) presented a program entitled “Recent Positive Tests Under HISA: How they are happening, how to avoid them, how to prepare to defend them”. The Viticus group is located in Las Vegas, NV and provides innovative veterinarian healthcare education worldwide having done so for over 90 years. Over 20,000 veterinarians attended this conference ..read more

Prior to May 22,2023, positive drug test results in horse racing were adjudicated by state racing commissions. Typically, the process was a merit hearing conducted by an administrative law judge followed by the right of judicial review in district court after exhaustion of administrative remedies. This system has been completely changed by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) rules for alleged Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) violations. That system has, as its basis, arbitration. Arbitration is one of the most common forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), i ..read more

The Horseracing Integrity Safety Authority (HISA) and Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) rules governing adjudication of disputes continue to be the subject of attack for denying the covered person required due process. “As the first series of alleged Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) violations progress through the adjudication process, HISA and HIWU have made exceptions and variations to regulations, without formal amendment, in an attempt to mitigate the due process challenges. This approach is problematic regarding consistency and application. Even more concerning is ..read more

Attorney, Peter Sacopulos, was a presenter at the 37th Annual National Conference on Equine Law. This conference was sponsored by the University of Kentucky and is held annually in Lexington, Kentucky. Mr. Sacopulos’ s presentation was: “The Horse Racing and Safety Act- Litigation Update”. Mr. Sacopulos presented to more than a hundred equine practitioners from more than thirty different states, as well as from Canada and the Netherlands.  Mr. Sacopulos is national counsel for the North American Association of Racetrack Veterinarians (NAARV) and authored an Amicus Brief on behalf of his ..read more

The 2023 National HBPA Annual Conference was held in New Orleans on March 6-10. The conference was held in conjunction with the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) Annual Meeting, allowing both organizations the opportunity to discuss the industry and where we are headed in 2023. The conference took place at the Hotel Monteleone located in the historic French Quarter. The conference was hosted by the Louisiana HBPA and included an afternoon of racing at Fair Grounds. To read a recap of the conference, check out the Spring issue of The Horsemen’s Journ ..read more

Saratoga Conference | August 14-16, 2023 The Racing and Gaming Conference at Saratoga is an intensive, premier forum for industry decision-makers, stakeholders, and racing and gaming patrons to analyze trends in all sectors – in New York and nationally – as well as to discuss critical issues and to share ideas. The RGCS is held at The Saratoga Hilton in Saratoga Springs, NY. This prestigious event will bring together gaming and racing industry leaders, academics, elected officials, lawyers, regulators, and racing patrons to examine the trends, challenges and critical issues facing the racing ..read more

Originally reported by https://paulickreport.com/ Written by Natalie Voss —— State regulators gathered at the annual Racing and Gaming Conference at Saratoga Aug. 16 to reflect on how the implementation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority has – or hasn’t – gone in their respective jurisdictions. Members of a three-person panel at the conference’s second day had varying perspectives, depending on the status of HISA in their locations. The speakers had slightly differing views on whether they welcomed the organization, but all cited concerns about the expense of the regulation. Da ..read more

The rollout of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) rules has been bifurcation, with the Racetrack Safety Program starting July 1, 2022, and the Anti-Doping and Medication Control rules becoming effective May 22, 2023. The implementation of these rules – with some provisions subject to “enforcement discretion”, or clarification by the Authority after their adoption, and absent the states of West Virginia, Louisiana, Texas and Nebraska – has been presented in articles and in the news. While some time and attention have been devoted to the differences between the preexisting a ..read more

The constitutionality of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety ACT (HISA) became less certain March 3 when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled the 2022 legislative amendment to HISA cured its unconstitutional defect. In contract to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision on November 18, 2022, that held HISA unconstitutional on its face due to its violation of the non delegation doctrine, the 6th Circuit held that HISA is constitutional, finding no violation of either the non delegation doctrine or the anti-commandeering doctrine. With the addition of HISA, the Associati ..read more

By Clara Fenger, DVM, PhD, DACVIM; Peter J. Sacopulos, JD; Kimberly Brewer, DVM, MSc; Jacob Machin, MS; and Thomas Tobin, MRCVS, PhD, DABT The relationship between the Food and Drug Administration and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority is complicated, to say the least. To help clear up some of the confusion, our team discussed the relationshipand some potential issues with Joseph J. Bertone, DVM, MS, DACVIM, Professor Emeritus of Equine Internal Medicine at Western University of Health Sciences and former reviewer at the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine. ACCORDING TO DR. JOSE ..read more