LOUISIANA HBPA STATEMENT REGARDING PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AGAINST HISA IN LOUISIANA U.S. DISTRICT COURT
New Orleans, Louisiana - (July 27, 2022) The Hon. Terry A. Doughty of the Western District of Louisiana has issued a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Regulations (Rules under 2000, 8000, and 8500 Series) in the States of Louisiana and West Virginia, as well as against all Plaintiffs in the matter of The State of Louisiana et al. v. Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority et al. The Louisiana HBPA(LAHBPA) is a Plaintiff in the case.
Additional Plaintiffs include the State of Louisiana (Attorney General Jeff Landry), the State of West Virginia, Louisiana State Racing Commission, Louisiana Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association, Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association, West Virginia Racing Commission, Benard K. Chatters, Edwin J. Fenasci, Larry Findley Sr. DVM, Warren J. Harang III and Gerard Melancon.
The LAHBPA is a not-for-profit membership organization whose members consist of Race Horse owners and trainers(both Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses). The LAHBPA has approximately five thousand members who participate in racing in all of the thirty-two States which allow pari-mutuel horse racing. The injunction applies to all of the members of the LAHBPA, regardless of the US jurisdiction in which the owner and/or trainer is racing and/or training.
The LAHBPA provides to its members throughout the United States medical benevolence assistance benefits, retirement benefits for trainers, chaplaincy support, and a worker’s compensation insurance program for our trainer members. The organization also implemented and supports horse aftercare programs in Louisiana.
The LAHPBA, with the assistance and guidance of the Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, initiated, with the other Plaintiffs in the filing of this suit in the Federal Court, Western district of Louisiana. The LAHBPA, on behalf of its members, has worked in unison with the National HBPA and share its sentiments as expressed in Eric Hamelback’s press release of July 26, 2022. The LAHBPA and its Board especially appreciate all of the enthusiastic and passionate support that our members have expressed concerning this litigation and being their voice, heard throughout the Horse Racing industry.
