The Federal Trade Commission on Friday gave its approval to a broad swath of national racing rules that were proposed by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority that largely deal with racing safety practices, including voided claims, prohibited practices, and use of the whip. The approval by the FTC means that the rules could begin to be enforced by HISA starting on July 1. Although many of the rules are similar to those already in effect in some shape or form in many states, others would represent new practices and protocols that could require a paradigm shift among some constituencies and racing jurisdictions. HISA is expected to enforce many of the new rules as of the starting date, but in a statement released after the FTC announced its approval, HISA acknowledged that “compliance with new legal requirements on day one is not realistic,” and the organization said that it “intends to work with individual racetracks and state racing jurisdictions.” The authority is expected to begin an educational effort on compliance with the new rules in the coming weeks, officials have said. The FTC was designated as the federal oversight agency of HISA when legislation establishing the authority was passed late in 2020. Under the legislation, the FTC has the power to approve, modify, or deny the rules drafted by HISA after posting the regulations for public comment and allowing HISA to offer responses to the comments. :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures According to documents detailing the comments received by the FTC and its assessment of them, the rules approved on Friday were almost invariably sanctioned in the form that HISA submitted in December. As a whole, the rules were approved by the FTC by a vote of 3-0, with one member, Christine Wilson, abstaining, the FTC said. The rules approved Friday deal with a large range of issues including veterinary oversight, surface maintenance and record-keeping, reporting of veterinary treatments, collection of racing surface and injury data, voided claims, and jockey safety rules. “The importance of this program cannot be overstated as we build on advances the industry has already made by implementing national, uniform rules and regulations, increasing accountability, and using data- and research-driven solutions to enhance the safety of our horses and jockeys,” said Liza Lazarus, who was named HISA’s chief executive officer earlier this year, in a statement. “We sincerely believe that this data will generate the information we need to help prolong equine and jockey careers.” The rules also nominally require all U.S. racetracks to be accredited by the July 1 implementation date, but HISA said in its release that all tracks currently accredited under an industry-led program will maintain their accreditation, while tracks that are not currently accredited will receive a provisional accreditation through at least July 1, 2023, and “be given a reasonable period to achieve compliance as long as they are demonstrating continuous progress” toward the accreditation standards. The accreditation standards are separate and apart from the rules that were approved on July 1. Although HISA spent most of the last half of 2021 devising new rules in order to submit the regulations to the FTC in time for them to go into force by July 1, the authority has encountered multiple setbacks in the past three months. Late in December, the authority announced that it had been unable to reach an agreement with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA ) to act as the enforcement agency for its medication control and anti-doping program, a separate regulatory prong from the racetrack safety program. USADA, a private, non-profit company, played a large role in crafting the rules for the medication control program, and the company had been touted for years by supporters of federal oversight of racing as an ideal enforcement partner. :: Want the best bonus in racing? Get a $250 deposit match, $10 free bet, and free Formulator with DRF Bets. Code: WINNING As a result of the inability to reach an agreement, the authority delayed the implementation of its medication and anti-doping program until the start of 2023 and told state racing commissions that they will continue to maintain their own drug-testing and enforcement programs through at least that date. The authority has not publicly acknowledged negotiations with any other partner since the negotiations were ended. In that same timeframe, a large number of racing commissions and horsemen’s groups have begun to openly criticize HISA’s lack of communication over the amount of money that will be needed to be raised to fund its operations. Although HISA has released an “assessment formula” based on the number of starts by horses in states, critics have called the formula vague and incapable of producing an accurate number for their financial responsibilities under the act. In the statement released by HISA on Friday, Dr. Sue Stover, a member of the authority’s Racetrack Safety Committee, said that “the next step in the process will be for HISA to share cost assessments with each of the states by April 1.” That cost assessment is expected to provide each racing jurisdiction with a precise amount for its funding responsibility. Meanwhile, two federal challenges to the constitutionality of the legislation that created the authority remain unresolved. The challenges, which were filed by horsemen’s groups, racing commissions, and breed organizations, are based, in large part, on alleged violations of the Constitution’s so-called “non-delegation clause” that prohibits the federal government from granting regulatory power to a private company. The cases are not expected to be resolved by July 1. The FTC noted in its approval document that many of the comments it received were related to questions about the authority’s power to enforce the rules and in regards to concerns about the funding requirements for racing states. However, the document noted that those comments did not relate to the FTC approval procedures in the enabling legislation of 2020. “The commission will not address these comments because they do not relate to the statutory decisional criteria,” the filing said. “Moreover, some of these complaints are currently being litigated in ongoing lawsuits over the act. They are thus of no moment as to the narrow question before the commission about whether to approve or disapprove” the rules. One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the enabling legislation is the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, and on Saturday, its chief executive, Eric Hamelback, was highly critical of the FTC’s approval of the rules. In a statement, Hamelback said that the blanket approval of the FTC underlined the allegations the association made in its lawsuit.  “The illusion of governmental supervisory control was clearly dispelled with the FTC approving all of the authority’s proposals without exception,” he said. “It also demonstrated that this private entity will make the rules without regard to the constructive comments of industry stakeholders. The FTC’s order affirms the significant concerns expressed in pending litigation that such a delegation of control is unconstitutional and that the input of those closest to the horseracing industry is no longer relevant.”  Among the approved rules are limitations on the use of the whip during a race that are substantially similar to the rules in place in California, which are considered among the most restrictive in the country (with the exception of New Jersey, where use of the whip is banned other than in instances to protect the safety of the horse or rider). :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports The rules limit jockeys to a maximum of six uses of the crop “on the hindquarters to activate and focus the horse,” in “increments of two or less” during the race. Jockeys can also use the crop “to preserve the safety of horses and riders” without limitation. The Jockeys’ Guild, whose co-chairman, John Velazquez, is on HISA’s Racetrack Safety Committee, recommended the adoption of the whip rules in Kentucky, which are more flexible, but the FTC adopted the rules as written. They are among the rules that are expected to go into effect on July 1 at every racetrack in the U.S. The rules also require that “all treatments” and injuries of horses be submitted to HISA for documentation and data analysis, to aid in the identification of pre-existing conditions putting horses at risk for catastrophic injuries. HISA officials have said previously that they are working with The Jockey Club to expand existing databases maintained by the organization to accommodate the rule. For claiming races, the rules allow the new owners of claimed horses to void the claim if the horse dies on the racetrack or is euthanized “before leaving the racetrack.” They also allow voided claims if a horse is vanned off at the direction of a regulatory vet or if a regulatory vet determines “within one hour of the race that the horse will be placed on the Veterinarian’s List as bled, unsound, or lame.” The owner of the claimed horse retains the discretion to accept the horse under any of those circumstances, however.