Latest news with #HISA
Globe and Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
The illusion of safety: Rethinking ‘risk-free' investments
In turbulent markets, investors often reach for reliable tools such as high-interest savings accounts (HISAs) and guaranteed investment certificates (GICs). They may hold these investments to maturity and realize the intended yield, but they may not understand their actual profit. These so-called 'risk-free' investments have long been considered cornerstones of conservative portfolios, but they deserve a closer look. While GICs, term deposits and HISAs can protect against nominal losses, they can also erode wealth in real terms, especially when inflation outpaces interest rates. That's because these investments set their yield on the overnight rate, which is tied directly to inflation. So, on an after-tax basis, there's no way to beat inflation with these assets aside from locking in rates for longer terms as inflation declines. With inflation potentially lingering, now is the time for advisors to revisit the conversation around capital preservation, inflation risk and what safety really means. Advisors are trained to evaluate investment options through various lenses, including risk tolerance, time horizon and objectives, but clients often anchor on the emotional comfort of guarantees. That's where the disconnect happens. The phrase 'risk-free' implies security but fails to account for other forms of risk. These include inflation risk, opportunity cost, reinvestment risk, and taxes. Educating clients on these less visible risks is essential. They may not feel as immediate as a market drop, but over time, they can be just as damaging, especially for long-term financial goals. True safety comes down to understanding an investment's 'real return,' which refers to the gain after accounting for inflation and taxes. Real return reflects the true value of the increase in purchasing power that the investment delivers. From a technical standpoint, investments such as HISAs and GICs carry minimal credit risk. But the real-world performance of these products tells a more nuanced story. Consider this example: a client invests $100,000 in a one-year GIC paying 4 per cent interest. At first glance, that seems like a solid return. But if inflation is running at 4.5 per cent over the same period, the client has actually lost purchasing power. Let's also not forget about taxes; interest income is taxed at a higher rate than dividends and capital gains. Therefore, the real return is negative. Over the longer term, the erosion of real wealth becomes significant. The client's account balance may grow nominally, but the lifestyle that money can support will be diminished. Clients may be receptive to innovative, inflation-conscious investment strategies when these alternatives are explained in terms of real, after-tax outcomes. Private real estate is one example. It has historically served as a reliable hedge by generating income and preserving purchasing power through rising rents and asset values. A key opportunity lies in shifting the conversation from just nominal yields to more tax-efficient ways of generating income and preserving purchasing power. Take capital gains, for instance. While equities come with market risk, they offer preferential tax treatment compared to interest income. Consider an investor who earns a 5.5 per cent return through capital appreciation. Only half of that gain is taxable. So, for an investor in a 40 per cent tax bracket, the effective tax is just 1.1 per cent. Subtracting that from the original 5.5 per cent return leaves a post-tax gain of 4.4 per cent. If inflation were at 3.5 per cent, the investor would be left with a real return of 0.9 per cent – significantly better than the negative real return generated by GICs taxed as interest income in a non-registered account. Return of capital (RoC) is another powerful strategy for investors seeking to generate cash flow in a tax-efficient way. Unlike interest or dividend income, RoC distributions are not taxable immediately. Instead, they reduce the adjusted cost base of the investment, with tax implications deferred until the asset is sold. Consider the example of an investor who earns a 5.5 per cent return. On a $10,000 investment in a private real estate investment trust (REIT), the investor would receive $550 in RoC distributions without triggering any taxes in the current year. After accounting for inflation at 3.5 per cent, the real return is 2 per cent. This tax deferral and the avoidance of annual tax drag make RoC one of the most efficient income strategies available, particularly for investors in higher tax brackets or those planning to withdraw funds during retirement when their tax rate may be lower. For clients willing to look beyond traditional fixed-income instruments such as GICs and HISAs, alternatives such as private REITs present a compelling path toward preserving wealth and maintaining purchasing power. Travis Forman is a portfolio manager at Strategic Private Wealth Counsel with Harbourfront Wealth Management Inc. in Surrey and Kelowna, B.C.
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.
Cision Canada
20-05-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Evolve Announces May 2025 Distributions for Certain Evolve Funds
TORONTO, May 20, 2025 /CNW/ - Evolve Funds Group Inc. ("Evolve") is pleased to announce the distribution amounts per unit (the "Distributions") for certain funds (the "Evolve Funds"), as indicated in the table below. The ex-dividend date and record date for the Distributions of the High Interest Savings Account Fund ("HISA"), US High Interest Savings Account Fund ("HISU.U"), Premium Cash Management Fund ("MCAD") and US Premium Cash Management Fund ("MUSD.U") is anticipated to be May 28, 2025. For the distributions for all other Evolve Funds, the ex-dividend date and record date is anticipated to be May 30, 2025. Unitholders of Evolve Funds on record date will receive cash distributions payable on or about June 6, 2025. Evolve Funds Ticker Symbol Distribution per Unit Frequency Evolve Canadian Aggregate Bond Enhanced Yield Fund AGG $0.10000 Monthly Evolve Canadian Banks and Lifecos Enhanced Yield Index Fund BANK $0.11000 Monthly Evolve Global Materials & Mining Enhanced Yield Index ETF BASE BASE.B $0.20000 $0.20000 Monthly Monthly Evolve Enhanced Yield Bond Fund BOND BOND.B BOND.U $0.19000 $0.19000 USD $0.19000 Monthly Monthly Monthly Evolve US Banks Enhanced Yield Fund CALL CALL.B CALL.U $0.12500 $0.16000 USD $0.14000 Monthly Monthly Monthly Evolve Automobile Innovation Index Fund CARS CARS.B CARS.U $0.02000 $0.02000 USD $0.02000 Monthly Monthly Monthly Evolve Cyber Security Index Fund CYBR CYBR.B CYBR.U $0.01000 $0.01000 USD $0.01000 Monthly Monthly Monthly Evolve Cloud Computing Index Fund DATA DATA.B $0.01000 $0.01000 Monthly Monthly Evolve Active Canadian Preferred Share Fund DIVS $0.07000 Monthly Evolve Active Global Fixed Income Fund EARN $0.12500 Monthly Evolve European Banks Enhanced Yield ETF EBNK EBNK.B EBNK.U $0.14500 $0.14500 USD $0.14500 Monthly Monthly Monthly Evolve S&P 500® Enhanced Yield Fund ESPX ESPX.B ESPX.U $0.22500 $0.24500 USD $0.22500 Monthly Monthly Monthly Evolve S&P/TSX 60 Enhanced Yield Fund ETSX $0.18800 Monthly Evolve Active Core Fixed Income Fund FIXD $0.05500 Monthly High Interest Savings Account Fund HISA $0.10225 Monthly US High Interest Savings Account Fund HISU.U USD $0.33428 Monthly Evolve Future Leadership Fund LEAD LEAD.B LEAD.U $0.16000 $0.16000 USD $0.16000 Monthly Monthly Monthly Evolve Global Healthcare Enhanced Yield Fund LIFE LIFE.B LIFE.U $0.19000 $0.23000 USD $0.19000 Monthly Monthly Monthly Premium Cash Management Fund MCAD $0.22591 Monthly Evolve Enhanced Yield Mid Term Bond Fund MIDB MIDB.B MIDB.U $0.16500 $0.16500 USD $0.16500 Monthly Monthly Monthly US Premium Cash Management Fund MUSD.U USD $0.34635 Monthly Evolve Canadian Energy Enhanced Yield Index Fund OILY $0.11700 Monthly Evolve NASDAQ Technology Enhanced Yield Index Fund QQQY $0.32000 Monthly Evolve FANGMA Index ETF TECH TECH.B TECH.U $0.00160 $0.00160 USD $0.00160 Monthly Monthly Monthly Evolve Canadian Utilities Enhanced Yield Index Fund UTES $0.13800 Monthly Distributions for the funds will vary from period to period. For further information regarding the Distributions, please visit Commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with exchange traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds. ETFs and mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. There are risks involved with investing in ETFs and mutual funds. Please read the prospectus for a complete description of risks relevant to ETFs and mutual funds. Investors may incur customary brokerage commissions in buying or selling ETF and mutual fund units. Please read the prospectus before investing. Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information may relate to a future outlook and anticipated distributions, events or results and may include statements regarding future financial performance. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by terms such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "intend" or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. Actual results may vary from such forward-looking information. Evolve undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future events or other such factors which affect this information, except as required by law. About Evolve Funds Group Inc. With $7 billion in assets under management, Evolve specializes in bringing innovative ETFs to Canadian investors. Evolve's suite of ETFs provide investors with access to: (i) index-based income strategies; (ii) long term investment themes; and (iii) some of the world's leading investment managers. Established by a team of industry veterans with a demonstrated ability to succeed, Evolve creates investment products that make a difference. 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Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Keeping Pace: Say No Again, Congress, To This Terrible Horse Racing Bill
Dear Congress:We want you to pass a new federal horse racing law to replace the current one, which is only a few years old and which we've never accepted. Why wait to see if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds or strikes down the current federal racing law? That ruling is about a year away, at least, and it's more likely than not that the justices in Washington, D.C., will vote to affirm it anyway. No, sir, what you need to do is to replace the current law with a new one, right now, this session. Don't worry, the fact that your elected colleagues from big racing states like Kentucky and New York and California don't support the measure doesn't mean that you shouldn' you enact the Racehorse Health and Safety Act to replace the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act you'll be endorsing a state compact system with rules and regulations negotiated between bureaucrats and other interested parties. Don't worry! Many of the same people who failed to solve some of racing's biggest problems over the past few decades are the ones who will be running this state compact. They are sure to get things right this time! The good news is that the RHSA will bring many more unelected bureaucrats into the process because, Lord knows, the more bureaucrats in an industry the smoother the industry asking you to endorse RHSA, we are asking you to go back to a system of racing rules and regulations that made the sport less safe for racehorses. It's true. Jurisdictions now operating under HISA have measurably better horse safety numbers than do the jurisdictions that have rejected the current federal law. So, sadly, more horses are likely to die when HISA dies. But you can tell your constituents, especially the animal lovers, that you promise that horses will ultimately be safer under RHSA, too, because the bill is aligned with some veterinarians who believe that they should be allowed to give more drugs to more racehorses closer to race Desperately Seeking Sponsors The RHSA is back, like a doomed creature that won't die, just in time for Triple Crown season. As I have written before, again and again, the RHSA takes some of the worst components of the failed state racing commission system, amplifies them, and pretends the past is the future. The arguments against this awful bill were sound two years ago, long before we knew for a fact that HISA has made racing safer. Those arguments are even sounder now. Congress shouldn't let horse racing in the U.S. wiggle its way out of the timely and meaningful regulation it's getting now in the form of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit. Congress shouldn't step back from the bold leap it took in passing how Daily Racing Form's Matt Hegarty wrote up news of the RHSA's return: 'The bill would establish the Racehorse Health and Safety Organization (RHSO), with a board appointed by state racing commissions, using an interstate compact. Under interstate compacts, state agencies can band together to pass common rules. While the RHSO would devise and approve the rules, state racing commissions would continue to enforce the regulations. Prior to the creation of HISA, the racing industry consistently explored the possibility of creating an interstate compact to align the rules in most U.S. racing states, without any success.' Indeed, the idea of an interstate compact to govern horse racing isn't a bad one. There was a time, until maybe a decade or so ago, when it might have been worth a shot. Now it's too late. The state racing commission system, with its uneven rules and regulations and medication standards, has failed so utterly to make racing safer and fairer for the past half century that it's ruined whatever confidence any of us might have had about the solution set forth in the RHSA. HISA exists today because enough members of Congress, and enough Thoroughbred industry stakeholders, recognized years ago that a state-oriented solution was really no solution at the bill's sponsors credit for candor on one point anyway. The 'RHSO will be granted the power to investigate rule violations, but the state racing commission of each participating state will retain enforcement power unless it requests the RHSO to assist with enforcement,' the bill's sponsors conceded last week. What they are saying here is that any state racing commission that doesn't want to aggressively investigate doping or other rules violations doesn't have to. What that means is a return to the same failed system Thoroughbred racing used to have (and harness racing still has) where state regulators simply aren't up to the job of regulating. It's rare to see a statute include such a self-own that this one are three sponsors of the RHSA. One sponsor is from a state (North Carolina) that does not have Thoroughbred racing, another is from a state (Louisiana) that successfully sued to avoid being regulated under HISA, and the third is from a state (Arkansas) that wants to get out from under HISA control. The press release issued last week in announcing the legislation, replete with quotes from its congressional sponsors, was almost laughable for its description of HISA. But the new bill has one thing going for it. The same propaganda machine that has torqued up horse people to oppose HISA will torque them up again to support the RHSA. None of this means that HISA has been an unqualified success. There are legitimate concerns about contamination positives, which federal regulators have begun to address, and there are still questions about how to allocate the costs of the federal program. Tougher enforcement measures have angered 'covered persons' for the same reasons regulations throughout history have always bothered and annoyed the regulated. What do the HISA and HIWU folks have to show for their labor? Headline after headline that says that Thoroughbred racing in the U.S. has become safer since the feds took over from state racing it's much harder to oppose federal legislation when: 1) it's shown to be working in a key metric, and; 2) the alternative being proposed has already proven to fail. What part of the proposed 'state compact' in the RHSA will be free from many or any of the institutional problems that doomed state racing commissions? Are the bureaucrats working in these commissions suddenly going to aggressively enforce high standards of medication rules? Of course not. The folks backing the RHSA think that the feds' medication standards are too strict. Are the state bureaucrats who for decades looked the other way at doping cases suddenly going to become braver than the FBI and ferret out cheaters? Of course not.(article continues below) Dear Congress:If you want to clean up horse racing, and keep it clean, thank the sponsors of the RHSA for their time and then toss their piece of legislation in the garbage where it belongs. Any state system of racing is a failed system of racing. Any system pushed for laxer medication rules is no system you want to defend to your constituents. The way to protect the industry from itself, and to protect horses from those within it willing to hurt them, is to continue to back the work of federal regulators, and HISA and HIWU, as the law enters a crucial year before Supreme Court review. Y'all backed the right horse three years ago when you passed HISA. Y'all backed it again when you tweaked the initial law to make it better. Don't switch off now. NOTESThe Preakness. Great race. Courageous horse. Nice connections. No catastrophes that I know of. Good coverage. The video of Bob Baffert fixing D. Wayne Lukas' handkerchief ought to be played on a loop at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Meanwhile, we learned a day before the race that the whipping controversy surrounding Junior Alvarado and his ride on Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby is actually a broader story of an industry reluctant to be regulated in this area. From a smart USA Today piece, we've learned that the 'crop rule' has been enforced by HISA more than 2,500 times in less than three could look at that astonishing figure and ask: Why are so many jockeys willing to violate that rule? Is the sanction not high enough? Should the regulators allow jockeys eight hits on their horses instead of 6 or ten strikes instead of eight? Or you could look at it and ask: When so many people are violating a rule in this fashion perhaps it is time to review whether the rule should be in place at all? Alvarado's lack of remorse isn't just disappointing and self-defeating. It's also quite telling and it points to a broader problem for HISA: How do regulators disabuse jockeys of the notion that striking a horse in the middle of a race doesn't hurt the horse? I look at that 2,500 figure and see a world in which jockeys continue to use their whips as often as they think necessary to push their horses to go faster and then worry about the fines afterward. And you don't have to be a sociologist to acknowledge that there are still many people within the racing industry, including trainers and jockeys, who fundamentally disagree with the idea that there should be any limits on whipping. The argument that jockeys need their crops for their own safety and for the safety of their horses doesn't even fly with Jerry Bailey, the Hall of Fame jockey, who says "the reins are the best thing to use for safety by far.'' Maryland, my Maryland. Sara Gordon posted a great piece in Thoroughbred Daily News on Friday about The Maryland Thoroughbred Partnership, an initiative designed to promote the sport long after the bugle has sounded on the Preakness. 'We're not marketing something that you can really measure,' said one of MTP's founders. 'Instead, we're putting out there to the people of Maryland this sort of underappreciated component of their everyday lives. That is the horse farms that they pass, where they may stop and pull in the driveway to see a foal, but they really don't know what goes on behind the scenes, behind the gates of those farms,' he said.'We have the best stories in sports. We should be promoting our stories more, letting people know what goes on every day and what the industry does. From the number of people who are employed, to the economic benefits for open space and the environmental impact, with land being the best filter that the Chesapeake Bay has,' another MTP founder told TDN's Gordon. 'I've never seen an industry that sells itself so well to itself and doesn't sell itself to anybody else.' I am rooting for MTP's success. There should be a similar initiative in every racing state, a group that can work with horsemen's groups to better market and promote the sport. Commish. Let me just add a few words to the chorus sounding off on NBC Sports' Mike Tirico's comments about the Triple Crown and the need for a 'commissioner' in racing. Here is the Tirico quote that has drawn so much attention from within the Thoroughbred industry: "But if you can't follow this idea with anything that works right now in the sport, then we're hurting the sport. So it would behoove everyone involved. The problem is Maryland does its own thing. So does Kentucky, so does New York, so does California, so does Florida. You talk about college football needing a commissioner? This sport needs a commissioner.'It would be great if there were a commissioner over racing with the power to force all of the many and disparate industry stakeholders to give up some of their power and authority for the greater good of the game. I just don't see it happening, for all of the reasons I have discussed over the decades we've argued about it. But that doesn't mean Tirico is wrong. He is right as rain about the need to change the schedule of the Triple Crown to conform to today's training practices and take advantage of the marvelous marketing opportunity a new schedule would bring. Good for him for having the courage to speak out. There a national database of job listings for judges and stewards and vets. I got a nice email last week from Keeping Pace reader Eddie Arroyo, who responded to my note last week about the shortage of stewards, vets and other racial officials. I lamented the lack of a national database of job listings and I was wrong. There is such a database, Arroyo told me, via the Racing Officials Accreditation Program, which offers it on their webpage. Arroyo should know. He's the chair of ROAP. Here is the list of actual job postings as of this past weekend. The most impressive part is the list of sponsors at the bottom of the page. ROAP is a program endorsed by both HISA and the USTA, for example, proof that there is always room for common ground.
USA Today
17-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Junior Alvarado's crop controversy reveals rampant violations before Preakness Stakes
Junior Alvarado's crop controversy reveals rampant violations before Preakness Stakes Show Caption Hide Caption Sovereignty Captures 2025 Kentucky Derby Sovereignty triumphed in a rain-soaked 2025 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, overcoming tough conditions and a competitive field. Junior Alvarado, the jockey who rode Sovereignty to victory in the Kentucky Derby on May 3, has sparked controversy after race stewards said he used his riding crop in excess of the allowable limit of six strikes during the race. Alvarado faces a $62,000 fine and two-day suspension for allegedly striking Sovereignty eight times, in violation of the so-called "crop rule." It has been violated more than 2,500 times in less than three years, according to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), which regulates Thoroughbred racing in the United States. The crop rule took effect when HISA's Racetrack Safety Program began in July 2022. 'I am surprised to see that high of a number (of violations),'' said Ramon Dominguez, a retired jockey and 2016 inductee to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. 'At the same time, (jockeys) are adapting or changing. Most jocks certainly want to conform and follow these rules.'' In a sport reeling from declining public interest and concerns over animal welfare, along comes another potentially divisive issue. But industry leaders such as Lisa Lazarus, CEO of HISA, told USA TODAY Sports it's an opportunity to educate the public, even with Sovereignty's team skipping the Preakness Stakes and pointing toward the Belmont Stakes on June 7. Lazarus said 90 percent of the crop-rule violations have resulted from jockeys striking their horse seven times, one over the limit. 'I'm not minimizing the importance, but it's essentially a jockey like miscounting, just losing track,'' Lazarus told USA TODAY Sports. 'They still broke a rule. We still enforce it, but we do look at the one-over quite differently than we do more-than-one over (the limit).'' Why are crops allowed in horse racing? Not everyone believes the crop is necessary. Sweden and Denmark essentially restrict its use for anything but safety reasons, and Norway generally does the same. In 2021, the New Jersey Racing Commission (NJRC) imposed a rule allowing the crop only for safety reasons such as steering a horse to avoid interference with another horse or to avoid an accident. But starting in July 2022, New Jersey and all other states began operating under the rules and regulations of HISA, which allows for the use of crops. 'A riding crop is a tool,'' said jockey Mike Smith, who won the Triple Crown in 2018 on Justify. 'It's not to hurt (the horse). It's just to get their attention. 'I mean, they're 1,200 pounds of muscle, man. And sometimes they'll just pull back against you. Show them the riding crop or tap them with it, even behind by their back end. And it's not out of pain, it just kind of scares them, gets their attention.'' Terry Meyocks, president and CEO of the Jockeys Guild, said he thinks using a crop for safety and to encourage the horse are intertwined. "When you're going through a hole at the top of the stretch, you want to use the crop to get through that hole so no horse or rider gets injured,'' Meyocks told USA TODAY Sports. But Jerry Bailey, a Hall of Fame jockey who won the Kentucky Derby twice, said he doesn't believe the crop is used for safety. "I never have,'' Bailey told USA TODAY Sports. "The reins are the best thing to use for safety by far.'' On the crop being used for safety and encouragement, Bailey added, "This is the mantra that the jockeys took collectively when this (numerical limits on strikes) was first implemented several years ago. And of course I've been retired for 20 years now, but I had the sentiment then, and I have it now, that the reins are the best devices that a rider has to keep a horse straight and to maintain a safe trip.'' How a crop is used during a race is also enforced. HISA's Racetrack Safety Program Rulebook provides specifics, such as: "A rider shall not raise the crop with the Jockey's wrist above the Jockey's helmet when using the crop or use the crop on any part of the horse's body other than the shoulders or hindquarters. Also, a rider may use the crop only on the hindquarters or the shoulders to activate and focus the horse and a jockey must allow at least two strides for the horse to respond before using the crop again." What did Junior Alvarado say? Alvarado, 38, did not respond to USA TODAY Sports' messages left with his wife and agent but did speak out on a podcast hosted by C.L. Brown, a columnist for the Louisville Courier Journal. Alvarado said he was not thinking about how many times he was hitting Sovereignty during the race. He also said he 'forgot it was a rule." "I was seeing my dream coming true right in front of me,'' he added. "The whip rule was the last thing I had on my mind.'' Alvarado's agent has indicated the jockey will appeal the disciplinary action. "I would like to just get it over with and put it behind me; I don't want to carry this one extra day, but at the same time, I don't want to give up that easily like they were right,' Alvarado told the Daily Racing Form last weekend. 'I would like to move forward and fix something. As everybody can see, it's unfair the penalties we're facing. Maybe (by appealing) we can get something good out of this.' He also told the Daily Racing Form, 'I didn't abuse the horse. Nobody can tell me, even if they can prove that I hit the horse two extra times, it was in an abusing way – it's just ridiculous. The punishment doesn't fit the crime, and I don't think there was any crime.' Marc Guilfoil, director of stewarding for HISA, is adamant that Alvarado did not abuse Sovereignty with the whip. 'There wasn't a blemish on the horse,'' Guilfoil said. 'Junior Alvarado is an excellent rider and a good person. But he broke a rule and so we are enforcing the consequences for that rule.'' Do crops hurt the horses? Rick Arthur, former equine medical director for California, addressed the issue of whether crops hurt horses in 2019, while he was speaking at the 53rd International Conference of Horseracing Authorities in Paris. 'There are those who argue that whipping doesn't hurt … but that's nonsense and we all know that,'' Arthur said at the time. 'Whips are noxious stimuli. They hurt. That's why they're used. Run faster or I'll hit you again. More importantly, for a sport that relies on public support, whipping simply looks abusive.'' This week, Arthur told USA TODAY Sports that based on systematic post-race inspections that began about 15 years ago in California, there has been an 80% drop in visible welts and cuts inflicted from crops, and advances in crop technology then dropped those injuries to "virtually nil.'' Despite the progress in crop technology, Arthur said he thinks crops should be used only for safety reasons. Lazarus and others in the industry hail the new crop as a game-changer. 'The materials that we now use on crops are incredibly light,'' she said. 'They're almost like Styrofoam. They're very unlikely to hurt a horse.'' All crop models are tested by Susan Stover, a professor emeritus of surgical and radiological sciences at the University of California at Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Among other things, Stover said, she looks at the crop's stiffness 'to make sure that it's not too rigid (and) … has a greater chance of injuring the horse.'' Eight crop models have been approved for use by HISA, according to Ann McGovern, HISA's director of racetrack safety. In a statement provided to USA TODAY Sports, McGovern said before HISA enforcement began, 'some regional bootleggers made crops because some riders preferred thicker handles, longer shafts and harsher materials.'' Dominguez, the retired jockey, manufactures the 360 Gentle Touch (360 GT) Riding Crop approved by HISA. He said the crops used in the U.S. began to evolve in 2007. 'The difference is night and day between 2007 and today,'' he said. Crop controversy creates a gap Between the first quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of this year, crop violations have decreased by 6%, according to HISA. That may call into question whether the disciplinary action is serving as an effective deterrent. But the $62,000 fine levied against Alvarado has triggered outrage from the Jockeys Guild, which represents Thoroughbred and quarter horse jockeys. 'This is absurd,'' the Jockeys Guild's Meyocks posted on his X account May 9. Lazarus said, 'There's definitely been a meaningful gap between the public's reaction and those who've been in racing a long time. … The public's reaction was very positive in that they saw HISA was serious. We enforce our rules whether it's a Wednesday at Parx (Casino and Racing) in Pennsylvania or at the highest level of horse racing that we have.'' HISA rules called for Alvarado to be fined 10 percent of the jockey's portion of his winnings from the purse – $31,000 of his $310,000. Because Alvarado had another crop-rule violation within 180 days of the Kentucky Derby, the fine was doubled. It could have been worse for Alvarado, who won the Kentucky Derby for the first time. If he'd struck the horse two more times, Sovereignty would have been disqualified from the race, based on HISA's rules. Alvarado is scheduled to serve his two-day suspension May 29-30. He must appeal by the end of Monday, 10 days after the stewards met with Alvarado and issued the order of his violation. Alvarado, who ranks sixth among leading riders based on purse money won, has nine crop-rule violations, according to HISA's website. No other rider in the top 10 has more than five violations, according to HISA's website. But Tyler Gaffalione, who ranks 16th, has 19 violations and Francisco Arrieta, who ranks 14th, has 20 violations. Slightly more than 3.4% of riders have 10 or more violations of the crop rule, according to HISA's website. Seven of Alvarado's violations were for seven strikes, one over the limit, and the eighth violation was for exceeding the limit by one to three strikes, according to records on HISA's website. When crop changes began In 2007, jockeys in Britain were required to use newly developed padded whips. Those whips made their way to U.S. tracks and changes began. That included a push to call a whip a crop, according to Meyocks, who recalled a Jockey Club safety meeting he attended with Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron. 'Chris basically said we got to change the terminology, and we were talking about perception,'' Meyocks said. 'And I've been saying this for years, it's not OK to spank kids anymore or whip kids anymore. Why is it OK to use the terminology of whipping on horses with horses? We changed it to riding crop.'' When talking about limits on crop strikes, Guilfoil cited Victor Espinoza's victorious ride on American Pharaoh at the 2015 Kentucky Derby. 'I was working for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission when American Pharaoh came down the stretch and got hit 28 to 32 times depending on how you count,'' Guilfiol told USA TODAY Sports. 'I remember I called the test barn and I said, 'Go over that horse with a fine-tooth comb and make sure there's not a blemish on that horse.' … So we know, I know, that the horse wasn't abused. 'But somebody out there with their family and they see a horse getting hit 32 times coming down the stretch. I tell people all the time, if you did that to a dog, you'd be in jail." 'A matter of opinion' Bailey, who won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Rider seven times, said Alvarado had a "great'' ride at the Kentucky Derby and did a good job staying out of trouble. Bailey also said he saw this issue coming with the limit of six strikes. "I'm fully aware of the anti-whip sentiment from groups around the country, specifically PETA,'' Bailey said. "I'm fully aware of let's protect our horses. I feel the same way. But I've said this from the beginning: It is really, really difficult, if not impossible, to keep count of how many times you use the riding crop in any race, much less a race like the Kentucky Derby. It's just really hard.'' But he also said he supports the rule limiting strikes. "I truly understand the reason behind it, and I think our sport has become better with HISA,'' Bailey said. Someone else who still supports the rule: Bill Mott, who trains Sovereignty. He said he watched the replay of the race dozens of times and saw Alvarado strike the horse only six times, not the eight the stewards said they saw. "I think it comes down to sort of really it's a matter of opinion,'' Mott said. "I thought it was a picture-perfect ride, of course.'' Contributing: Dan Wolken 151st Kentucky Derby page print
