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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has published the resubmitted Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) rules to the Federal Register, initiating a 14-day public comment period, according to a press release from HISA Friday morning. The FTC now has 60 days to approve or deny the proposed rules.

HISA's draft ADMC rules were initially rejected by the FTC in late 2022 due to ongoing legal uncertainties. HISA resubmitted the rules for consideration by the FTC to give the agency more authority over HISA in order to address constitutional questions raised by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. That bill passed both houses of Congress in December and was signed into law by President Biden.

Now that the rules have been resubmitted and posted to the Federal Register, HISA said that they anticipated that its ADMC Program would go into effect March 27, 2023, pending FTC approval. The resubmitted rules include a small number of minor revisions from the version submitted in August, 2022. A clean version of the proposed rules is available on the Federal Register now and a red-lined version will be available on HISA's website within the next 48 hours, the Authority said. In its December, 2022 order, the FTC stated it would consider all previously posted comments on the Federal Register as well as any updated or new comments.

Upon implementation, the ADMC Program will be administered and enforced by the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU). The development of the ADMC rules included an initial public comment period, numerous open discussions and meetings with industry organizations and individuals, as well as the careful consideration of more than 200 comments submitted by racing participants and the general public.

Included in the rules package are the Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Protocol, the Prohibited List, Definitions, Arbitration Procedures, Equine Testing and Investigation Standards, and Equine Standards for Laboratories and Accreditation.

“The establishment of uniform, nationwide anti-doping rules in Thoroughbred racing will strongly enhance the safety and integrity of our sport and is a step many in our industry have long advocated for,” said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus. “The health and safety of horses is our paramount concern, and the consistent enforcement and efficient resolution of rule violations will transform how we protect our equine athletes. We deeply value the input we've received from racing participants throughout the development of these rules, and I encourage all participants to continue to share their thoughts with us moving forward.”

HISA's ADMC Program will advance and modernize anti-doping practices across the sport with components including out-of-competition testing, uniform lab accreditation, a uniform results management process, a robust intelligence and investigations arm and consistent penalties.

As HIWU prepares for the ADMC Program's launch, the organization will continue to publish and share educational material with industry stakeholders, available at hiwu.org, and will host meetings with groups of racing participants to further educate on the new rules and answer questions.

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University of California Davis released new research in the journal Scientific Reports exploring the relationship between training and bone health in racehorses in the US. The study reports that high-speed and intensity exercise may be associated with more damage and reduced robustness in injured lower leg bones in racehorses.

Among the findings, UC Davis's Sarah Shaffer and her colleagues explored the relationship between exercise and bone damage, while examining the proximal sesamoid bone (a bone in the lower leg) during the necropsy of 20 racehorses. The authors examined the fractured and intact proximal sesamoid bones from 10 horses who had suffered fatal fractures. They compared the bone mineral density, bone volume, and microdamage in this sample to intact proximal sesamoid bones of 10 control horses. Case horses had a bone lesion with high levels of microdamage and low bone volume. These observations were used to estimate the rate of remodeling occurring in the sesamoid bones.

The authors also modeled the relationship between bone damage and remodeling, and exercise intensity, time off from exercise (layups), and exercise levels between two and 10 months before the racehorse died. For injured horses, damage at the lesion site was associated with high-speed workouts in the four months prior to death, as well as greater time between races while the horse was in active training. Frequent high-speed exercise before death was also associated with lower bone density at the lesion site. However, at other locations, higher rates of remodeling were associated with more cumulative races in the 10 months prior to death.

To view the complete study, click here.

The post Study on the Impact of Training on Bone Robustness in Racehorses appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Having just last week been crowned the Longines World's Best Racehorse in London, 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) was named America's no-doubt-about-it Horse of the Year and champion dirt male at the Eclipse Awards, held Thursday evening at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida.

Bred in Kentucky by Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Equine, Flightline was a $1-million purchase out of the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, didn't start as a juvenile and didn't get to a starting gate until April of his 3-year-old season.

The negatives end right about there.

In a spectacular six-race stretch over the course of the following 19 months, Flightline never earned a Beyer Speed Figure inferior to his debut 105 and never started at odds longer than 90 cents on the dollar while winning those half-dozen contests (or, no-contests) by an average of just under 12 lengths. That included a breathtaking 19 1/4-length romp in the GI TVG Pacific Classic, good for a 126 Beyer Speed Figure, a performance that was difficult to put in any real context. His victory in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic came at the expense of fellow dirt male finalist Olympiad (Speightstown) after the third divisional finalist, the freakishly fast 'Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief), capitulated after taking it to Flightline for the opening mile. The Horse of the Year begins his second career as one of the most sought-after stallion prospects in recent memory this winter at Lane's End.

Speaking of superstar sires, Curlin–himself Horse of the Year in 2007 and again in 2008–was represented by a sensational three Eclipse Award winners Thursday from the 10 flat divisions. 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat and stablemate Nest, each trained by Eclipse Award-winning conditioner Todd Pletcher, took home the hardware in the older dirt female and 3-year-old filly categories, respectively. Elite Power was a somewhat surprising winner of the male sprint Eclipse courtesy of his success in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, while GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile hero Cody's Wish completed a Curlin exacta in the division.

John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale Farm celebrated a banner evening Thursday, as the nursery's stallions accounted for half the night's flat winners. In addition to the Curlin trio, 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) was a near-unanimous winner of the 2-year-old male Eclipse Award, while Ghostzapper's Goodnight Olive parlayed victories in the GI Ballerina S. and GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint into a statuette of her own.

The hotly contested 3-year-old divisional honors went to GI Runhappy Travers S. hero Epicenter, providing Taylor Made's Not This Time with his first U.S. champion, while 2-year-old Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) gave her all-conquering sire another champion in providing the Green Family's D J Stable with a second such title.

Chad Brown and Peter Brant fielded two-thirds of the finalists for champion turf female and the voters went for the body of work of Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom)–a fourth 'TDN Rising Star' to be recognized Thursday–over fellow 'Rising Star' In Italian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}).

Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) sewed up the male turf Eclipse with his dominating performance in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile for Godolphin, who was named outstanding owner and breeder. In the other human categories, Irad Ortiz, Jr. was crowned outstanding jockey and Jose Antonio Gomez champion apprentice.

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