Jockey Club member Gramm identified as source of 'HISA PPs'

Marshall Gramm, a member of The Jockey Club who owns horses and is a serious horseplayer, has been identified as the person who accessed veterinary records on the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority portal.

Justin Wunderler broke the story Sunday night on the social media website X by sharing screenshots from an unidentified person with knowledge of the situation.

Gramm said Monday morning that he had no comment. Multiple other people with knowledge of the situation confirmed Gramm as the source of the inappropriate access but would not speak on the record about it. (Gramm was a seed investor in Horse Racing Nation more than 10 years ago.)

Monday afternoon, HISA announced it had charged Gramm with violating HISA rules and data policies based on his accessing veterinary records of horses this year and that Gramm admitted that he was the source of past-performance results that included confidential data.

Wunderler set off the initial investigation in mid-June after sharing a screen grab of custom-made past performances for Deterministic and Griffin's Wharf that included veterinary data meant to be available only to the horses' connections and vets.

In an initial statement on June 15, HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus said the information could not have come from the HISA portal and that HISA would share its findings with other entities that could be responsible for the improper access. But it turns out that HISA was the source of the information for Gramm, who was able to access the portal for his own horses and then was able to get information for others.

HISA's authority to sanction Gramm appears to rest at least partly on the terms and conditions of use governing its websites rather than on its rulebook. Those terms grant only a limited license to view content "accessible to you" for personal, non-commercial use while separately barring copying, distributing or publicly displaying material obtained through the service. They also make users solely responsible for their credentials, permit HISA to terminate access for violations and require users to indemnify HISA for costs arising from misuse.

As part of his restitution, Gramm is expected to suspend ownership activities, reimburse prize winnings from handicapping tournaments, reimburse HISA for the investigation, make donations to HISA-related charities and submit to a forensic study of his electronics to ensure all improperly accessed information has been deleted.

Gramm finished second in the New York Racing Association's Belmont Stakes day tournament, earning a $35,250 cash prize plus a $10,000 Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge seat in addition to his $37,328 bankroll. According to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Gramm has already qualified for the 2027 National Handicapping Championship, but it is unclear whether that prize is subject to sanction.