SOA of NY stance against HISA law

Harness racing’s Standardbred Owners Association of NY (SOA of NY) has an interest in having the issues that are of concern to it, in the Board’s considered opinion, heard by the US Supreme Court regarding the current HISA law.

The Brief was filed earlier this month with the Court and was joined in by three United States Congressman also seeking direction for the future avoidance of drafting legislation that might be constitutionally infirm. The HISA legislation was inserted in an omnibus bill that no one could vote against. Now many of the thoroughbred elites who pushed the legislation are said to be having second thoughts while the HBPA’s rank and file have been vehemently opposed to it.

The SOA of NY has joined four other entities that have filed similar Amicus Briefs. While the arguments raised in the brief are legally too complicated for full dissemination here some of the more common-sense points are set forth from just one section as follows:

The Standardbred Owners Association of New York (“SOANY”) is a non-profit organization based in Yonkers, New York, that, among other things, represents the interests of Standardbred horses engaged in the sport of harness racing at Yonkers Raceway in Yonkers, New York, as well as their owners, trainers, drivers and grooms. Established in 1951, SOANY represents more than 900 members and provides a range of benefits to qualified trainers, drivers and grooms, including medical insurance and pension benefits.

SOANY and its members have a substantial interest with respect to the issue of the constitutionality of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020, 15 U.S.C. §§ 3051-3060 (“HISA” or the “Act”). At present, the Act covers Thoroughbred horses and Thoroughbred horseracing (15 U.S.C. § 3051(4)). However, the Act includes a provision enabling the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (the “Authority”) to expand its jurisdiction to include other breeds of horses, including Standardbred horses, on a state-by-state basis at the election of a State racing commission or breed governing organization. Id.

In the event that the Authority’s jurisdiction is so expanded, the detrimental impact on Standardbred horses and the harness racing industry would be substantial. For example – as demonstrated by the fateful HISA experience to date – costs and fees assessed by the Authority would likely be so high as to drive participants out of the industry.

This would lead to a reduction in breeding and racing and would otherwise substantially diminish an industry that directly or indirectly employs tens of thousands of Americans. A private entity exercising inadequately supervised and effectively unchecked regulatory power – which includes the ability to issue lifetime bans – could have devastating consequences for the harness racing participants, including the SOANY members.

Critically, misapplication of medication rules from one breed to another could have a harmful impact on our horses, the true stars of our sport, by denying them therapeutic medications proven to be important to their health and well-being. For all of these reasons, SOANY, along with similarly situated harness racing associations, has an interest in ensuring that any regulations covering its members, and the horses they care for, are constitutionally sound, and are not written and implemented by an unelected and unaccountable private entity, which may be comprised, in part, of competing industry participants.

by Joseph Farlado, for the SOA of NY