Latest news with #Anti-DopingandMedicationControlProgram
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
HISA Report Now Includes Classifications For Equine Fatalities
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has announced the publication of its 2025 First Quarter Metrics Report. This report provides a detailed analysis of key performance indicators related to the safety and integrity of Thoroughbred racing in the United States. During the first quarter of 2025 (January 1–March 31), racetracks operating under HISA's rules reported 0.85 racing-related equine fatalities per 1,000 starts, roughly consistent with the 0.84 racing-related equine fatalities per 1,000 starts reported during the same period last year and representing a 37 percent decrease as compared to 1.35 racing-related equine fatalities per 1,000 starts in the first quarter of 2023, the first year HISA collected such data. This also is 5.6 percent lower than the aggregate racing-related fatality rate of 0.90 per 1,000 starts for the 2024 the first time, in furtherance of its commitment to providing deeper insights into the causes of equine fatalities, HISA is publishing data on fatalities' subclassifications: musculoskeletal injury, sudden death and other causes (i.e., traumatic injury not related to musculoskeletal injury). Of note, 94 percent of the racing-related fatalities recorded this quarter were attributable to musculoskeletal causes, 3 percent to sudden death, and 3 percent to other causes. As HISA continues to expand its use of veterinary treatment records to identify injury risk patterns, it has begun issuing advisories based on those insights. HISA recently released its first-ever equine health advisory focused on risk factors for fatal proximal forelimb fractures, using data drawn from the HISA Portal. During the first quarter of 2025, racetracks reported 0.73 training-related fatalities per 1,000 workouts. Of the training-related fatalities recorded this quarter, 76 percent were attributed to musculoskeletal causes, 20 percent to sudden death, and 4 percent to other causes.'We're proud of the progress we've made as an industry and of the hard work being done every day to make Thoroughbred racing safer—but we also recognize that the work is far from finished, especially in training environments,' said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus. 'We must continue pushing forward with the same sense of urgency and commitment when it comes to workouts, as well as races. Our responsibility to protect the welfare of horses and riders must be upheld every day, in every barn and on every track.'HISA also determined that 23,167 unique Covered Horses either recorded a published workout or made a start in a Covered Race in the first quarter of 2025, meaning that the total racing- and training-related fatality rate for the Covered Horse population was 0.35 percent. The full report can be accessed here. The Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit will also release a separate quarterly report detailing metrics from the Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program. When the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act was signed into federal law, it charged the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) with proposing and enforcing uniform safety and integrity rules in Thoroughbred racing in the United States. Overseen by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HISA is implementing, for the first time, a uniform national set of rules applicable to every Thoroughbred racing participant and racetrack facility. HISA has two programs: the Racetrack Safety Program, which went into effect on July 1, 2022, and the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, which went into effect on May 22, 2023. The Racetrack Safety Program includes operational safety rules and national racetrack accreditation standards that seek to enhance equine welfare and minimize equine and jockey injury. The Program expands veterinary oversight, imposes surface maintenance and testing requirements, enhances jockey safety, regulates riding crop use and implements voided claim rules, among other important measures. The ADMC Program includes a centralized testing and results management process and applies uniform penalties for violations efficiently and consistently across the United States. These rules and enforcement mechanisms are initially administered by an independent body, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), established by Drug Free Sport International (DFS). HIWU oversees testing, educates stakeholders on the Program, accredits laboratories, investigates potential ADMC violations and penalizes any such violations, subject to the FTC's plenary review.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Kentucky Veterinarian Accepts Four Months' Ineligibility, Fine After Unapproved Substance Found In Truck
Kentucky veterinarian Dr. Benjamin Bealmear has accepted a four-month period of ineligibility and a $4,165 fine after the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit found an unapproved substance on his veterinary truck. According to a case resolution document released by the organization on April 24, officials with HIWU and the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation searched Bealmear's truck at The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington, Ky., in early October 2024. During the search, Bealmear identified two bottles for investigators which were labeled as "B Blend - Pelphrey." The bottles had been compounded by Boothwyn Pharmacy in Kennett Square, Penn. In 2017, Boothwyn received a warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration alleging it was producing drugs in violation of federal law, including failure to follow certain procedures to prevent contamination or assure sterility. The warning said Boothwyn was producing unapproved new drugs, and compounding drugs 'intended for conditions not amenable to self-diagnosis and treatment by individuals who are not medical practitioners.' The active ingredient in the bottles labeled B Blend is adenosine triphosphonate, commonly known as ATP, according to the HIWU documents. ATP is a naturally occurring substance in the body which fuels muscle cells. A synthetic version is commonly given by trainers hoping to improve muscle recovery, though it may also behave as a vasodilator. The substance is rated as an S0 banned substance by HIWU, meaning it is not addressed in the organization's rules, has no government approval for human or veterinary use, and is not universally recognized by veterinary regulators for valid use. All substances that meet these criteria are considered banned under the Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program. Bealmear told investigators the bottles were made by Boothwyn in June 2022 and expired in September 2022, and that he had used the substance on certain racehorses who were former patients of Dr. Rick Pelphrey until 2021. Bealmear said he had not used the substance on racehorses since September 2022, an assertion that was substantiated by records he provided. He also said he had cleaned out his truck prior to the implementation of HIWU but did not realize the product would be against the authority's signed an admissions and acceptance of consequences in the case. The decision from HIWU noted that he had cooperated with the investigation, has had no disciplinary history since being licensed in 1992, and readily admitted to possessing the substance. Find the full case resolution document here.
