Internal Adjudication Panel Members Announced; Group to Hear HISA ADMC Program Controlled Medication Rule Violation Cases

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) today announced the individuals who will comprise their Internal Adjudication Panel (IAP), which will hear Controlled Medication Rule Violation Cases under HISA’s Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program. Controlled Medication Rule Violations are defined in the Rule Series 3000: Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Protocol.

IAP members are appointed by mutual agreement of HISA and HIWU for four-year terms and serve as independent contractors to both entities. The individuals announced today, including state stewards, were selected for their deep equine regulatory experience. State stewards will be prohibited from participating in cases originating in their state of employment. All members of the IAP will receive training on HISA’s adjudication processes under the ADMC Program before they can hear cases and must complete continuing education on an annual basis to maintain their eligibility to serve.

“We are excited by the group we have assembled to hear Controlled Medication Rule Violation cases, which we expect to be the most common types of cases under the ADMC Program,” said Ben Mosier, HIWU’s executive director. “With their extensive and diverse experiences in equine regulation, we are confident that they will act fairly and consistently during the adjudication process.”

“The Internal Adjudication Panel will play a significant role in the enforcement of the ADMC Program given HISA’s distinction between medication overages and doping violations for the first time in our sport,” said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus. “As such, I’m thrilled by the depth of knowledge and expertise each individual who has agreed to serve on the panel will bring to our adjudication processes, benefitting the entire racing community.” 

Additional information about requirements for service on the IAP and adjudication procedures for Controlled Medication Rule Violations can be found in the Rule Series 7000: Arbitration Procedures from HISA’s ADMC Program regulations.

The members of the IAP are as follows, with their “prohibited states” in relation to hearing cases included in parentheses where applicable:

Rick Abbott (Pennsylvania) spent 40 years as a Thoroughbred sales agent and was a member of the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission from 1996 to 2009. He chairs the Appeal and Review Committee of the National Steeplechase Association (NSA).

Eddie Arroyo (Illinois) is a former jockey and served as the senior state steward representing the Illinois Racing Board for 32 years. He spent five years as the assistant to the chairman and president of Arlington Park and also served as general manager of Sportsman’s Park for five years. Arroyo is on the board of directors for the Racing Officials Accreditation Program (ROAP) and a recipient of the Pete Pederson Award.

Lisa Blackstone serves as vice president of the Arabian Horse Association, chair of the United States Equestrian Federation’s (USEF) Ethics Committee, and co-chair of USEF’s Hearing Committee. The Hearing Committee presides over horse show rule infractions, including drug violations and horse welfare issues. Blackstone is a founding member of the Equine Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia.

Barbara Borden (Kentucky) was first licensed as a Kentucky steward in 1993 and appointed chief steward for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission in April 2012, a position she currently holds. She participates on the License Review, Rules and Regulations, and Safety and Integrity Committees of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Borden, who began her racetrack career working with horses at various tracks around the country, has held numerous racing official positions, including licensing administrator, detention barn assistant, horse identifier, and administrator for the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.

Patricia Bowman (Indiana) is a 2017 graduate of Godolphin Flying Start and brings 15 years of experience in the horse racing industry. She has worked in various capacities on the backstretch and in racing offices and is currently a state steward with the Indiana Horse Racing Commission.

Lori Dinoto (Ohio) trained, owned, and bred Thoroughbred racehorses for 20 years before becoming a racing official in 2014. She currently works as a steward at Mahoning Valley Race Course and at Thistledown.

Connie Estes (New Mexico) has served in various roles in Texas racing, including licensing clerk, steward, director of licensing, interim executive director, and deputy director of operations at the Texas Racing Commission. As deputy director, she oversaw all track staff, including veterinarians, stewards, licensing agents, auditors, and investigators. Estes has worked for the New Mexico Racing Commission as a state steward and for the Breeders’ Cup as a safety steward.

Hilary Forde, director of HF Consult Sports Law, specializes in equine and sports law and has more than 12 years of experience working in anti-doping control and medication matters in equine sports. A native of Ireland, she currently serves as a tribunal clerk for the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI), in addition to other sports law consultancy roles for various international sports governing bodies.

John Herbuveaux (California) has been a steward for the California Horse Racing Board since 1983 and is a recipient of the Pete Pedersen Award.

Duncan Patterson (Delaware) has been involved in horse racing for more than 50 years as a trainer, amateur steeplechase jockey, owner, and steward for the NSA. He has been a racing commissioner since 1988. Patterson is currently chairman of the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission, chairman of the Drug Testing Standards and Practices Committee for the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI), and a member of the Stewards Advisory Committee for the NSA.

Diane Pitts practiced corporate, partnership, and securities law before becoming involved in the governance of equestrian sports through the United States Eventing Association and USEF. She is currently on the board of directors for the latter organization. In 2022, Pitts was reelected to a second term as a member of the Tribunal of the FEI, which has jurisdiction to hear claims in matters such as equine doping, equine abuse, safeguarding, and harassment.

Erika Riedl has vast experience in sports law, integrity, and governance matters. From 2012 to 2020, she was a clerk for the Tribunal of the FEI, where she oversaw more than 250 cases, including those concerning human and equine anti-doping. Riedl has acted as an arbitrator and panel member of various sporting disciplinary bodies and is a Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution-accredited mediator.

Kim Sawyer (California) has been licensed in the racing industry since 1968, holding a range of roles, including jockey, trainer, outrider, receiving barn tester, and racing official. She has been accredited as a steward since 1999 and employed by the California Horse Racing Board since 2005. She received the Pete Pederson Award in 2019.

Eric Smith (Indiana) is a ROAP Level I-accredited flat racing steward. He is currently the senior state steward for the Indiana Horse Racing Commission and has worked in Illinois, Virginia, West Virginia, and New Mexico, as well as for the ARCI.

Edward Weiss (California) is an arbitrator, mediator, and hearing officer with 35 years of legal and litigation experience. He has been a litigator in private practice, an assistant U.S. attorney, and general counsel of Ticketmaster.

About the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority

Established when the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act was signed into federal law in 2020, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) is responsible for drafting and enforcing uniform safety and integrity rules in Thoroughbred racing in the U.S. Overseen by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HISA was created to implement, for the first time, a national, uniform set of rules applicable to every Thoroughbred racing participant and racetrack facility. HISA is comprised of two programs: the Racetrack Safety Program, which went into effect July 1, 2022, and the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, which is anticipated to go into effect on March 27, 2023.

The Racetrack Safety Program includes operational safety rules and national racetrack accreditation standards that seek to enhance equine welfare and minimize equine and jockey injury. The Program expands veterinary oversight, imposes surface maintenance and testing requirements, enhances jockey safety, regulates riding crop use, and implements voided claim rules, among other important measures.

 The ADMC Program will create a centralized testing and results management process and apply uniform penalties for violations efficiently and consistently across the United States. These rules and enforcement mechanisms will be administered by a new independent agency, the Welfare Unit (HIWU), established by Drug Free Sport International (DFS). HIWU will oversee testing, educate stakeholders on the new program, accredit laboratories, investigate potential ADMC violations and prosecute any such violations.

About the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit

The Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) was established in 2022 by Drug Free Sport International to administer the rules and enforcement mechanisms of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s (HISA) Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program. The ADMC Program will create a centralized testing and results management process and apply uniform penalties for violations efficiently and consistently across all American Thoroughbred racing jurisdictions that HISA governs. HIWU will oversee testing, educate stakeholders on the new program, accredit laboratories, investigate potential violations, and prosecute any such violations. For more information, please visit hiwu.org.