As it was at this time last year, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority will be at the forefront of discussions when The University of Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program hosts its annual Global Symposium on Racing Dec. 5-7.
HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus will give remarks from 8:30-9 a.m. MST on Tuesday after Monday’s opening day of pre-conference industry meetings and workshops. Then on Wednesday afternoon, a panel will address HISA’s Racetrack Safety Program implementation and preparations for the launch of its Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program, set to take effect Jan. 1.
The legality of the act that authorized HISA also figures to be discussed following a Nov. 18 ruling from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that the act was facially unconstitutional.
“That’s the 800-pound gorilla in the room. People are going to want to know how they are going to proceed,” said Robert Hartman, chair of the UA RTIP, while noting HISA officials could be limited in their remarks due to the pending litigation.
An appeal of that court decision, as well as other legal cases involving HISA working their way through the legal system, could be tied up in the court system for months.
If the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling stands, it would not go into effect until Jan. 10 at the earliest, after the planned start of the ADMC Program at the beginning of the year.
Ann McGovern, HISA director of racetrack safety who oversees the ADMC Program, is among the speakers for the Wednesday afternoon discussion, along with Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit or HISA executives Kate Mittelstadt, Ben Mosier, Dr. Mary Scollay, and Dr. Susan Stover.
These speakers and other representatives from HISA or HIWU will be available for one-on-one conversations with attendees in the Santa Rita Room at the conference.
Though HISA will be a leading topic of conversation at the conference at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Ariz., it is just one of many subjects addressed during the symposium, which the RTIP calls the racing industry’s largest conference in the world, with approximately 550 attendees expected this year.
Robert Hartman, chair of the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program
Monday’s pre-conference industry meetings include a model rules winter committee meeting of the Association of Racing Commissioners International, a track surface meeting headed by Dr. Mick Peterson, the second annual racing secretaries summit, and a National Handicapping Championship workshop—which will include a simulated contest.
A keynote address from Mike Mulvihill, executive vice president and head of strategy and analytics for FOX Sports, kicks off Tuesday’s program before Lazarus gives her morning remarks and the panels begin.
Topics on the agenda for Tuesday include capitalizing on racing’s global footprint; advancing equine safety through technology; storytellers of the game—racing’s legendary announcers; life after the track—second careers and retirement; and integrating horse racing into the U.S. sports betting environment.
The storytellers of the game panel—in which retired greats Tom Durkin and Dave Johnson discuss their race-calling careers with moderator and current Gulfstream Park track announcer and RTIP graduate Pete Aiello—is likely to be among the most popular of the three-day conference. Aiello has pulled video clips of some of Durkin’s and Johnson’s most memorable calls to share with the audience.
“It’s going to be a really special moment to relive and take that walk down memory lane,” said Hartman, a graduate of the RTIP and in his second year leading the program.
Also Tuesday is an awards luncheon, in which Cody Dorman will be awarded the 2022 Big Sport of Turfdom award by Turf Publicists of America. Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Cody’s Wish is named after the teenager, who was born with the rare genetic disorder Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome and whose bond with Cody’s Wish was one of the feel-good stories of 2022. Dorman will be in attendance will his family to receive the award, Hartman said.
Wednesday’s program begins with three senior capstone presentations from three UA RTIP students and a 2023 legislative outlook from Tom Rooney, president & CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.
The panels then begin with racing’s success stories—the year in review; expanding racing’s reach: strategies for diversity and inclusion; illegal betting’s threat to the racing industry; a Turf Publicists of America workshop exploring the importance of social media in horse racing; and a horseplayers’ roundtable that precedes the ADMC Program discussion.
The panel exploring illegal betting’s threat to the racing industry will also address pool manipulation, which occurred in the quinella pool in the first race at Gulfstream Park Nov. 11, leading the track to eliminate offering that wager.
“I think you’re gonna hear a lot about really the role of tracking betting, monitoring betting—in all spaces, not just the legal market, but the illicit markets, too, and the role it plays and the threats that it poses to the industry,” Pat Cummings, executive director of Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, said in a UA-hosted videoconference that previewed the symposium.
Pat Cummings at the 2019 Global Symposium on Racing
Cummings is one of three speakers on that panel, moderated by Curtis Linnell, executive vice president of the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau.
Horseplayers will also have their moment during a roundtable, in which Pete Fornatale, co-founder of In the Money Media Network, serves as a panelist with bettor, horse owner, and economics professor Dr. Marshall Gramm. Jessica Paquette, who this fall became the track announcer at Parx Racing, moderates.
The symposium, held since 1974, attracts attendees representing racing and casino interests, both domestic and international. Speakers include many industry leaders and specialists from outside the field.
For those unable to attend the symposium, Roberts Communications Network will stream it on the Racetrack Television Network, with proceeds from the sales going back to the UA RTIP.