Lisa Lazarus named executive director of Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority

Lisa Lazarus, a former top official for the international governing body for equestrian sports, has been hired by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority as its first chief executive, the authority announced on Tuesday.

Lazarus, who presently leads the equestrian practice as a partner at Morgan Sports Law, will take the position beginning Feb. 15, four and a half months before the July 1 operating date for the authority established by the legislation that created it. She was selected after the authority, known as HISA, retained Russell Reynolds to conduct an executive search for the position.

Prior to joining Morgan Sports Law, Lazarus was the general counsel and then the chief of business development and strategy for the Federation Equestre Internationale, the Switzerland-based international governing body for equine events (not including horse racing). Prior to that, she was the Labor Relations Counsel for the NFL, where she represented the NFL’s team owners in collective bargaining issues and in contesting arbitration, including violations of the league’s anti-doping policies.

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“I look forward to working with the impressive and diverse array of independent and industry experts at HISA to make racing safer and fairer for all,” Lazarus said, in a statement. “As someone who has worked with the industry over the course of my career, and as a horse lover, I’m honored to be taking on this role.”

Lazarus will be stepping into a new role at an entirely new organization. According to its enabling legislation, the authority will be in charge of developing and enforcing rules governing the sport of Thoroughbred racing in all participating U.S. racing jurisdictions, including the implementation of a national anti-doping and medication control program.

Although a large number of powerful organizations within racing support the authority, a number of horsemen’s groups and racing commissions have filed federal lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of its enabling legislation, and heads of major racing commissions have voiced frustrations about the lack of guidance they have received from the authority on the costs that they will incur to participate in the new regulatory scheme.

In addition, the authority ran into a major stumbling block when it announced late last year that it had failed to reach a contractual agreement with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, a private, non-profit company, to enforce its medication policies, investigate violations, and adjudicate cases. The USADA had played a large role in crafting the rules for the new medication policy and had the backing of major supporters of the authority.

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As a result of the break-off in contractual talks, the authority has already announced that it is delaying the implementation of its medication-control program until 2024. It has already submitted rules to the Federal Trade Commission dealing with various safety issues within racing, and those rules are expected to go into force at the July 1 starting date.

Lazarus will succeed Hank Zeitlin, who has been the interim executive director of the authority since June of last year. Zeitlin was formerly the head of the racetrack trade group Thoroughbred Racing Associations.

“The significant progress achieved in just a short period of time is a testament to Hank’s professionalism and intimate knowledge of the racing industry,” said Charles Scheeler, the chairman of the authority, in a release.