Wall Street Journal: The uneasy birth of horse racing’s national regulator

A new federally created body is set to enforce uniform standards for doping and other safety issues—if it can fight off legal challenges about wresting control from the states

The following article written by Jim Chairusmi and Louise Radnofsky appeared May 19, 2023 on wsj.com.

The case challenging HISA was filed in Texas by the National Horsemen’s Benevolent Protective Association, a trade group for thoroughbred owners, trainers and backstretch personnel.

Daniel Suhr, the lawyer representing the association, said he sees a legal issue that could ultimately get the case in front of the Supreme Court: HISA’s role as a private corporation, empowered by Congress to develop and implement rules for the industry, in a way that he says isn’t democratic or constitutional.

“The Constitution creates three branches of government. There is no fourth branch called ‘private industry regulatory organizations,’” he said. “Do we want multibillion-dollar nationwide industries to be regulated by private organizations of economically self-interested actors?”

Read the full article on wsj.com.