USTA Opposes Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020 (HISA)
September 9, 2020, from the USTA Communications Department
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Columbus, OH – The newly introduced Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020 (HISA) is, like its predecessors, a Thoroughbred bill written by
elite Thoroughbred interests in an attempt to address
elite Thoroughbred problems. Indeed, Senate Majority Leader McConnell’s bill did not include Standardbreds or other breeds, and the press release that announced the bill repeatedly cited only Thoroughbred racing and its interests.
So glad the writer is not biased.... it's not thoroughbred interests, it's ELITE thoroughbred interests. The bill has since been bastardized by an array of outside interests, and harness racing again has been pulled into the mix.
if harness racing wasn't included the story would probably be that the ELitE Runner industry excluded us A review of the revised language reveals that the bill now is a virtual clone of H.R. 1754 (Horseracing Integrity Act of 2019), and will harm, not help, Standardbred horses and the harness racing industry. Harm ?
yeah cuz the industry has done so much to help the sport the last decades,,,, but I'm sure leaders were ready to figure it out. 
While the United States Trotting Association (USTA) strongly supports state-regulated, breed-specific, uniform medication rules for horse racing, the USTA strongly opposes
another funny one -- USTA the record keeping business that has done so much for the integrity and growth of the sport for the last 30+ years. the HISA for a number of reasons and sees several areas of significant concern to the Standardbred racing industry.
Lasix (Furosemide)
The legislation seeks to ban the race-day use of Lasix, a universally-accepted therapeutic medication.
Universally accepted ? so you are saying that horse racing around the world agrees and every country races horses on lasix ? Veterinarians endorse Lasix as the only known treatment for Exercise Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage (EIPH), a condition that causes varying amounts of bleeding in the lungs of racehorses as well as horses in the wild. Both the American Association of Equine Practitioners and the North American Association of Racetrack Veterinarians support the use of Lasix and oppose this legislation.
Proponents of the ban on the use of Lasix have purposely disseminated misleading information on the percentage of horses that suffer EIPH when they say that only five percent of horses “bleed” during racing. That statistic is the percentage of horses that suffer epistaxis, the most severe form of EIPH involving patent hemorrhaging from the nose. In fact, about 90 percent of horses bleed into their lungs during racing, how are there enough horses around the world that race in other countries that ban lasix ? with each bout of EIPH causing irreparable damage to lung tissue.
Lasix is not performance enhancing not ?
well if a horse that needed lasix didn't race on lasix they probably are NOT going to be as fast without lasix - so with lasix they are faster, performance enhancing and, due to the very sensitive capabilities of testing, it cannot be used to mask illegal medications.
Unspecified Funding Mechanism with Extremely Inequitable Costs to Harness Racing
Various proponents of this legislation have indicated that a newly created, private Horse Racing Anti-Doping and Medication Control Authority would be funded by a surcharge to the owners and trainers of every horse in every race.
Standardbreds are a different breed with a significantly different racing performance model than Thoroughbreds. Since the average Standardbred races 19 times per year while the average Thoroughbred only six, that fee structure would result in three times the cost to Standardbreds compared to Thoroughbreds.
so standardbreds have 19 opportunities to earn money as opposed to runners only having 6 opportunities. If I went to McDonalds 19 times per year and my neighbor went 6 times per year -- should my neighbor pay an adjustment to me for me using it more ? This newly created regulatory body will have to impose additional fees and costs on the industry with no oversight mechanism in place. Harness racing horsemen will be hit particularly hard because most of them are working-class people. It will drive many of them out of the business.
The writer of this story is completely delusional to think that there is not a huge percentage of thoroughbred owners, trainers, jockeys and grooms who are just making it in the industry..... Basically with the authors use of the word ELITE --- he is writing this as the Kentucky Derby people vs the harness industry. Some Thoroughbred tracks racing Saturday -- Albuquerqe, Camarero, Charles Town, Delaware Park, Golden Gate, Lethbridge, Lone Star, Laurel, Los Al, Lousiana, Prairie, Remington, Sweet Water, Will Rogers --- you know those ELITE runners that do not have "working-class people."
Testing and Oversight
The bill mandates a drug-testing authority that has
no background in animal testing.
A test is a test, you tell the machine what to test. Do you think that your local track vet is sending your blood sample to an equine only testing site ? No, they're sending it to your local Labcorp or whatever local company in town. The testing authority will be done by a private business – USADA – which tests certain human athletes. Oh No -- USADA ? The company that tests the blood of Olympic athletes --- what the heck do they know ? [/color]
Nowhere in the bill is there mandated ANY consultation requirement with the National Veterinary Service Labs for drug testing or the USDA Veterinary Services.
The bill snatches legitimate authority away from the states,
this is a bad thing ? or do we like that states have different levels to trigger a positive or different penalties forcing them to cooperate, and illegally delegates Congressional authority to a private company that is accountable to no elected official.
The USTA promotes and insists upon the humane and ethical treatment of its horses.
yet you condone racing horses that neeare structually unable to race without lasix - to do so.. Let's dehydrate him so we can him on the track... Despite its inaccurate title indicating that it will make horses safer, this bill does the opposite. Whether it is right for Thoroughbred racing – its intended target – is not our concern. It most certainly is wrong for harness racing,
will harm our industry,
apparently the writer doesn't know that he is sailing on the Titanic, dude, you're sinking already. and put our horses and participants at risk.
Great hack job from the USTA --- we don't do anything --- we haven't done anything --- we won't do anything --- but we have it all under control.. 
