Trainers Wong and Serpe file legal complaints against HISA

Trainers Jonathan Wong and Phil Serpe, who were hit with suspensions by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority after they were accused of medication violations, have taken separate legal actions against the regulator and the Federal Trade Commission. Both say they have been denied the constitutional right to have a jury hear their cases.

Wong filed a complaint Tuesday in Louisiana federal court in response to a two-year suspension he is serving after he was cited for a horse’s failed drug test in June 2023.

As first reported by Thoroughbred Daily News, Wong argued that HISA rules are unconstitutional not only because they do not allow him the right to a jury trial but also because the authority wrongfully carries out the federal government’s work. He also claimed one of his grooms had his work visa threatened, something that the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit denied.

A maiden-breaking win by Heaven and Earth last year at Horseshoe Indianapolis was flagged for a metformin positive. Once he was suspended, Wong moved his stable operation to Delta Downs in Louisiana, a state that has rejected HISA regulations while it wages its own court fight against the federal regulator. Wong also was fined $25,000.

Serpe also said his Seventh Amendment right to a jury hearing was denied wrongfully. He said so in a lawsuit he filed Thursday in Florida federal court. Serpe was hit with a provisional suspension after he was accused of a clenbuterol positive after Fast Kimmie won a claiming race at Saratoga in August.

Like Wong, Serpe also made the case that HISA is out of constitutional bounds with the very work it is doing. That is the crux of the broader cases that have been brought by horsemen’s groups and state racing authorities. Conflicting rulings by appellate courts mean the whole issue is likely to be brought to the U.S. Supreme Court.