Now close to break-even, HISA loses $1.4 million in 2024
After being $4.6 million in the black in 2023, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority showed a deficit of more than $1.4 million last year to bring it near the break-even point through its first 2 1/2 years of federal regulation.
The numbers were made public this week in HISA’s annual filing of Internal Revenue Service form 990. The document is required of non-profit organizations which do not have to pay federal taxes.
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HISA reported $50,588,741 in total revenue last year, up 16% from 2023. That was more than offset by 33% more in expenses totaling $52,031,791. Factoring a carryover surplus of $1,336,706 from the end of 2023, last year’s losses left HISA with a net deficit of $106,974.
Most of the reported expenses, specifically $41,711,657, came from the anti-doping and medication-control program. More than half those, $20,531,129, went to Drug Free Sport, the operator of the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit which enforces medication regulations. Another $6,998,866 was spent on laboratory drug tests.
“In 2024, more than 76,500 sample collection sessions were conducted by certified sample-collection personnel with a ... positive-test rate of 0.48%,” HISA wrote in its filing. “Compared to 2023, the ADMC program showed shorter turnaround times for results reporting in 2024. Additionally, HIWU’s investigations unit received more than 200 tips through the anonymous whistleblower platforms, and nearly 500 investigative inquiries were initiated. In total, 394 notices of potential violations were filed in 2024, resulting in 368 charges for 65 anti-doping rule violations and 303 controlled-medication rule violations.”
HISA said it tested more than 50,000 samples in 2023 and responded to 122 anonymous tips with 141 barn searches that turned into 58 doping charges. A big reason the 2023 numbers were much lower than 2024 was the fact the ADMC did not begin until May 22, 2023.
The racetrack safety program, which went into effect in July 2022, accounted for $4,927,970 in reported expenses last year.
“Approximately 76,900 covered horses (up 40%) and 36,500 covered persons (up 11%) were registered with HISA” at the end of 2024, according to the IRS filing. “In 2024, HISA completed accreditation visits at 22 racetracks resulting in significant safety improvements such as additional investments in advanced surface maintenance equipment, increases in the daily reporting of surface condition measurements and tighter controls over stable-gate entry and exit procedures. In 2024, HISA launched HISA Check, a platform that analyzes data from HISA’s comprehensive medical database, historical performance records and other risk factors to identify horses at increased risk of injury.”
HISA said its “initiatives contributed to a record-low, racing-related, equine fatality rate of 0.90 per 1,000 starts at the 47 racetracks operating under HISA’s rules. The rate of 0.90 is a 35% decrease from the rate of 1.39 reported by the equine injury database in 2021, the last full year prior to the launch of HISA’s racetrack-safety program. ... It also represents a 55% decline since 2009.”
Racing fatalities rose to a rate of 1.24 per 1,000 starts this spring, but those would not have been reflected in a filing for 2024. There also was no mention of training deaths in the 2024 documents. Those were not compiled for public release until this year. HISA has not yet posted its third-quarter numbers on catastrophic injuries. The reports for the first two quarters came out May 20 and Aug. 25.
Lisa Lazarus, the CEO of HISA, took a slight salary cut in 2024, going from $586,547 to $580,843. Including added compensation, she made a total of $594,643 last year, down 1%.
Jim Gates, the chief financial officer, was paid a salary and added money totaling $379,574, up $196 from 2023. Jennifer Durenberger, the director of equine safety and welfare, got $251,398, down 13%. Ann McGovern, the director of racetrack safety, made $277,610, off 4%. Marc Guilfoil, the director of stewarding and state racing-commission relations, was paid $212,774, up 7%.
Other salaries that had been reported in the past were not shown in the 2024 filing.
“HISA moved its employees over to a professional employer organization authority,” the federal form said. “Twenty-seven individuals were employed under the PEO during 2024.”