Jockeys' Guild to Drop its Litigation Opposing HISA

Confident its voice will be heard on issues that impact its members, the Jockeys' Guild has decided to drop out of litigation opposing the implementation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's oversight of the sport's safety initiatives.

"The Jockeys' Guild has made the decision to withdraw as a plaintiff in the Louisiana litigation following a meeting of its board of directors on Dec. 9," said Guild president and CEO Terry Meyocks. "We have asked our attorney in the Louisiana litigation to effectuate the Guild's withdrawal from the lawsuit."

HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus believes the Guild arrived at the decision to drop the litigation after seeing over the last several weeks that HISA is fully committed to improving jockey safety.

"We are obviously pleased and appreciate that the Jockeys' Guild has made this decision," Lazarus said. 

Lazarus said that while there are no specific rule changes regarding jockey safety issues at this point, HISA and the Guild have engaged in talks on some of the riders' leading concerns, which include having two ambulances on hand during race days, requirements that paramedics are in place during training and racing, riding crop rules, riding crop equipment rules, insurance issues, and return-to-riding protocols following concussions and other injuries. 

"They realize that we're committed to listening to their input on these issues," Lazarus said. "We've had good cooperation the past few weeks."

The Guild had joined a lawsuit led by Louisiana and West Virginia opposing HISA's oversight of racetrack safety rules, enforcement rules, and assessment methodology. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Lafayette Division, saw Judge Terry Doughty in July put an injunction in place enjoining HISA from moving forward on those safety initiatives in those two states.

In all states except Louisiana and West Virginia, HISA launched oversight of the industry's safety standards July 1 and is scheduled to begin oversight of anti-doping efforts, medications, testing, and labs beginning Jan. 1. An appeals court decision in a different federal case threatens that anti-doping/medication oversight in 2023 although further legal maneuvers as well as updated federal legislation aiming to clarify HISA's relationship with the Federal Trade Commission to address the court's concerns, could keep HISA moving forward to full implementation in 2023.

Industry Leaders React to HISA Amendment Approval

That updated legislation, included in an omnibus appropriations bill, was passed by the U.S. Senate Dec. 22 and the House on Dec. 23 and will now go to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. The Guild's decision to drop out of the lawsuit was not related to the updated legislation.

KING: Senate Passes Spending Bill With HISA Language in Place

The Jockey's Guild, which boasts about 1,270 members—making it the largest voice for active, retired, and disabled Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse jockeys in the country—initially had supported the creation of HISA. Even after it joined the lawsuit, the Guild noted that it did not harbor any ill will toward HISA.

But ahead of the HISA safety standards going live last July, the Guild's board voted to join the lawsuit because it thought that many of its concerns had remained unaddressed.

"The Guild joined the original suit, which was filed on June 29, to draw the attention of HISA and other industry stakeholders to the fact that jockeys' voices had been ignored in HISA's promulgation of certain rules and to protect our members," Meyocks said. "The Guild now feels its objectives can best be achieved outside of the litigation context."

Guild co-chairman John Velazquez abstained from that vote to initially join the litigation as he's also a member of HISA's safety committee. He also abstained from voting at the December Guild board meeting that approved dropping the litigation. In a statement Friday, the Racing Hall of Fame rider noted that the Guild feels like it now has a voice.

"As a member of HISA's Racetrack Safety Committee, I want to thank Congress for reaffirming HISA as there is still a lot of work to be done to improve safety for horses and riders," Velazquez said. "HISA has committed to working closely with the Jockey's Guild on revisions to the racetrack safety rules and I am optimistic that we can make great progress working together."

Meyocks also sees that potential for improved safety for riders.

"The Guild has long recognized that uniform horse racing rules will benefit jockeys and the industry as a whole," Meyocks said. "The Guild looks forward to working with HISA and the rest of the industry to ensure that jockeys' unique position and perspective are heard and valued."

On Friday HISA applauded Congress' inclusion of the update to the HISA legislation in the omnibus appropriations bill and noted that it would work with industry groups to shape rules and put them in in place.

"We are grateful to Congress for their ongoing, bi-partisan efforts to affirm their support for HISA in order to advance safety and integrity in Thoroughbred racing," HISA said in a release. "We at HISA look forward to engaging with all racing participants so that we can work collaboratively towards the smooth and effective implementation of the Racetrack Safety and the Anti-Doping and Medication Control Programs."