The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority takes its place Friday at the head of a limited new national regulatory scheme for horse racing in the United States, but it’s still in danger of being cut off at the legs.

Four U.S. Senators have sent a letter to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and its federal overseer, the Federal Trade Commission, asking the agencies to provide answers to a series of questions regarding its pending launch, including whether HISA would want its statutory deadlines to be delayed to a later date.

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, which conducts federal lobbying efforts on behalf of Thoroughbred racing and breeding constituencies, has hired Jordan Bonfitto to the newly created position of Director of Government Affairs as it continues to shore up its presence in Washington, D.C.

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority on Thursday issued several clarifications of its rules, including a one-day change in the requirement for registration to be eligible to start in races.

So-called “covered horses” and “covered persons” will not be required to be registered until July 2, the authority said in the clarification. HISA’s jurisdiction over racing begins on July 1, and the authority had previously informed racing licensees that horses, trainers, owners, and other persons would need be registered by July 1 to be eligible to race on that date.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Data collected through positron emission topographical [PET] scanning of racehorse limbs has begun to bear fruit in identifying horses that may be at high risk of a catastrophic injury of the fetlock or sesamoid bones, according to the administrator of a program at the University of California-Davis that has been using a new version of the machine to conduct lower-limb scans.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Wearable devices gathering data on horses’ vital signs and the characteristics of their strides have begun demonstrating promising new avenues to determine horses at risk of injury, according to speakers at the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit on Wednesday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A spike in the rate of 2-year-old fatalities in 2020 that has since receded was most likely attributable to a change in training patterns caused by the disruptions affecting the industry during the first six months of the coronavirus pandemic, officials said on Wednesday at the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit held at the Keeneland sales pavilion.

Marc Guilfoil, the executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission since 2016, has resigned from the position to accept a job as the Director of State Racing Commission Relations with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.

Guilfoil will fully begin in his new position on July 15, approximately two weeks after HISA takes limited jurisdiction over the enforcement of safety rules at racetracks in the U.S. The position is currently being filled on an interim basis by Tom DiPasquale, a consultant to HISA, who will stay on in the position until July 15.

LEXINGTON, KY. – A racetrack and casino company that re-opened Colonial Downs in Virginia has submitted an application for the last racetrack license in Kentucky, with designs of opening a Quarter Horse track and casino on the eastern border of the state.

William Nader, a former executive for the New York Racing Association who has served two stints overseas at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, will leave his current position at the HKJC in October and become the president and chief executive office of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, the two organizations said on Tuesday.

Nader, 64, will fill a position at the TOC that has been open since the resignation of Greg Avioli earlier this year. The TOC represents Thoroughbred owners in negotiations with racetracks and it advocates on behalf of owners in the state.