Meet HIWU Staff Enforcing HISA's Drug, Medication Rules

When Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit executive director Ben Mosier needs to hear about how a certain drug might be abused in racing, he can turn to a chief of science in Mary Scollay who has spent more than three decades regulating racing while rising to some of the highest positions in that corner of the sport.

If there are start-up concerns for HIWU, which began its role as the enforcement arm of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's anti-doping and medication control oversight on May 22, Mosier can discuss the issues with a chief of operations in Kate Mittelstadt who was with the United States Anti-Doping Agency at its 2000 inception and would spend six years as its director of doping control. If there's a legal issue, Mosier can turn to general counsel, Michelle Pujals, who spent more than 20 years in the NBA's legal department.

While horse racing regulation and anti-doping efforts in sport typically do not bring fame to individuals who pursue these lines of work, HIWU boasts a wealth of experience in the areas of racing regulation, anti-doping and medication control, drug testing, and, importantly, investigations. Those experiences have been forged in racing, equine sports, and other major sports. 

"I'm incredibly excited about the team we've been able to build, starting with our advisory council and continuing with our staff," Mosier said. "I mean, it's almost surreal with some of the names we have in place."

Once hired by HISA, HIWU has worked to shape its oversight of a sport that has some unique aspects when compared with other sports. Part of those efforts was ensuring that racing would be well-represented.

The aforementioned Scollay, as a regulatory vet in South Florida, launched a hard copy system to track equine injuries. That system would be the forerunner of The Jockey Club Equine Injury Database, which has provided the industry answers to critical questions on how its safety efforts are doing while delivering information that allows racing to pinpoint areas of concern.

Scollay would work 11 years as the equine medical director in Kentucky before serving as the executive director and COO of the industry's Racing Medication and Testing Consortium for three years. In that role, Scollay heard from all corners of the industry—owners, breeders, trainers, vets, jockeys, regulators, tracks, racing associations, and breed organizations—as it helped shape medication and anti-doping rules under the state-to-state approach through recommendations of model rules.

In 2020 Scollay was honored with the Distinguished Service Award by the American Association of Equine Practitioners.

"With her unwavering philosophy that the health and welfare of the horse remains paramount above all else, Dr. Scollay has provided many years of outstanding service to the veterinary profession, steadfast dedication to the equine industry, and deep commitment to the mission of the AAEP," said Patricia Marquis, who nominated Scollay for the award.

Prior to leading HIWU's launch, Mosier served as the vice president of business development for Drug Free Sport International and previously worked in drug testing of the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, PGA Tour, and NASCAR. After HISA failed to land a deal to oversee racing with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), it turned to Drug Free Sport International, which quickly realized it would need to spin off an entity if it were to oversee ADMC in racing.

DFSI has worked with major sports on the human side—the NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball to name a few—but in horse racing it would be working with equine athletes competing in more than 30,000 races throughout the United States. As Mosier entered the world of horse racing, he relied on Scollay's expertise early on and then was pleased to see her accept the chief of science position with HIWU in October.

"The very first person that I was introduced to, even before (DFSI) signed this agreement (with HISA), was Dr. Scollay," Mosier said. "I met her on a cold March evening at Turfway Park in Kentucky and that was my first time seeing a test barn and the racing associated with that. From that point on Dr. Scollay was integral to how I approached this. 

"And, I was kind of recruiting her to join our team down the road. ... When she joined, we had our industry expert (on staff)."

There's also no shortage of racing knowledge on the HIWU advisory council, where world-renowned equine surgeon Larry Bramlage is one of four members. Mosier said Bramlage, who was awarded The Jockey Club Gold Medal in 1994 and is a past chairman of the Research Advisory Committee of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, provides important insights from his years in racing.

"If you're in the horse racing industry, you know Dr. Bramlage. He just brings a wealth of knowledge across the board," Mosier said. "He's not necessarily a person who has spent a lot of time around drug testing or in anti-doping, but if we talk about testing needs in examining fatalities, or prohibited substances and how they might be used in various ways; he just always has a lot of great insight on what we're talking about."

Bramlage also has received the American Association of Equine Practitioners Distinguished Service Award twice and this year the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation has announced that Bramlage will be honored with the Dinny Phipps Award, which was launched by owner/breeder Earle Mack to honor individuals who have demonstrated a dedication to equine health.

"Dr. Bramlage's contributions to The Jockey Club and Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation are unmatched," said Stuart Janney III, chairman of The Jockey Club. "Not only is he one of the best surgeons in our industry, but he is one of the best advocates for our sport and our athletes."

For years Scollay and Bramlage shared their knowledge, insights, and views time and again at racing's many industry conferences, helping to shape new ideas that have improved the sport's safety and integrity in recent years. They now bring that experience to HIWU. 

ADMC Expertise

Besides the industry expertise of Bramlage and Scollay, the advisory council features some of the most-respected figures in ADMC. The advisory council is chaired by Jonathan Taylor, who previously chaired the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Compliance Review Committee. He also has experience on the equestrian sports and racing side as he provided long-standing outside legal counsel to the International Equestrian Federation and the British Horseracing Authority.

"He would be on a who's who list in the world of anti-doping. He's helped put together integrity units across the board. He's worked with the tennis federation, he works with world athletics, track and field, but he's also worked with FEI, equestrian sports, and the British Horseracing Authority. He has so much experience," Mosier said. "And he's still very much involved. I talk with him weekly.

"Most importantly I think, we've relied on his experience in prosecuting cases. His firm has contracted and consulted with many anti-doping associations on that issue for a long time. So that's great experience for us to lean on."

Larry Bowers, who played a significant role in developing the first international standards for WADA laboratories and established research funding programs for both USADA and the Partnership for Clean Competition, brings a wealth of knowledge on labs and testing. Rounding out the advisory council are members with more expertise in equine sports and investigations, respectively, in Sonja Keating, general counsel for the United States Equestrian Federation, and Gunter Younger, director of intelligence and investigations at WADA. 

Besides Mosier and Scollay, HIWU staff leadership includes chief of operations Mittelstadt, who has a wealth of experience in anti-doping efforts in sport. She previously served as the director of the IRONMAN anti-doping program, the first private, non-federation sports company to formally adhere to the WADA standards. She also served as the director of doping control for six years at USADA. Mosier noted that Mittelstadt helped shape USADA from the ground up, a useful experience as HIWU has launched in recent months.

HIWU general counsel Pujals previously served as a sports consultant under her Tautemo Consulting banner and prior to that was a member of the NBA's legal department for more than 20 years. Mosier said her experience in dealing with legal issues in sport will prove invaluable.

Mosier noted that the advisory board helped tailor its ADMC approach to horse racing and helped shape the staff, which brings expertise in a number of important areas.

"We obviously needed industry experience as we started really diving in deep to the rulemaking. We wanted to be sure that the rules applied realistically to the industry as much as possible," Mosier said. "We signed our agreement in early May last year, so to already have that council established was pretty incredible. They brought a lot of experience and knowledge as we started looking at the rules but also, their networks and contacts helped as we tried to build our initial team."