Proposed law will bring desperately needed oversight on safety, medication to horseracing

Horseracing, unlike the vast majority of other sports in the U.S., lacks a national governing body to insure uniform rules across state lines. Instead, racing works from a dysfunctional patchwork of 38 state-led racing commissions, each with their own set of rules and protocols.

Last week, after years of negotiation and grassroots efforts, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell introduced the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) in the U.S. Senate, marking a turning point in equine welfare in the United States. By creating an independent, self-regulatory authority and framework for nationwide oversight, HISA will provide the racetrack safety and drug and medication reform racing desperately needs.

It is obvious that after unfulfilled pledges to Congress and years of discussion and committee review, America’s racing industry can neither police the use of drugs and doping, nor hold accountable those who chronically violate the rules.

For our sport and industry to survive, racing needs this important piece of federal legislation. HISA supersedes state-run programs by creating one national independent authority to set uniform rules, testing procedures, and lab protocols in alignment with international standards. It doesn’t make sense to run an international sport under conflicting state rules.

In 2012, a handful of concerned owners and breeders founded the Water Hay Oats Alliance (WHOA) as a grassroots effort to confront the drug culture in racing head on. WHOA has given its members a collective voice as they stand together with the common goal of drug free racing. WHOA members believe that therapeutic drugs should be used to treat sick and injured horses, while healthy horses should run on their natural ability, competitive heart, and ‘water, hay, and oats’.

Over the last eight years, WHOA has advocated for federal legislation to bring about crucial drug and medication reform. Working hand-in-hand with Kentucky Congressman Andy Barr and New York Congressman Paul Tonko, WHOA has endorsed legislation that would appoint the experienced and independent United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to create and manage a gold standard anti-doping program for United States horse racing. Now, with the support of Senator McConnell, the HISA is moving in both houses of Congress and racing finally has a chance to get this legislation across the finish line.

The scourge of breakdowns across the U.S. over the last year has raised questions among horse racing’s most steadfast fans and insiders alike. FBI indictments against 27 trainers, vets, and others this past March further tarnished the sport’s reputation. Without federal legislation appointing USADA to spearhead an anti-doping program to “clean up” racing, the sport of American horse racing faces an uncertain future.

WHOA’s members look forward to the day when our great sport can rebuild its reputation with integrity and fair competition, protect the life and limb of our beloved horses and their jockeys, and reclaim racing’s place as one of America’s top spectator sports. The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act can take us there.

Staci Hancock is a manager member of the Water Hay Oats Alliance.

This story was originally published September 17, 2020 at 1:44 PM.