Churchill, NYRA Sue HISA Alleging Illegal Assessments
The tracks say HISA overcharges them and threatens to shut them down unless they pay.
By Dick Downey
Churchill Downs Inc. and the New York Racing Association allege in a lawsuit that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority is threatening to shut them down unless they pay fees that they contend they do not owe.
The suit cites a section of the United States Code that provides assessment fees are to be paid to HISA by racetracks based on HISA's budget for the following year and “the projected amount of covered racing starts for the year in each state.” CDI and NYRA claim that, instead, HISA is using "an assessment methodology that imposes fees based largely on the size of a racetrack’s purses, i.e., the total prize money paid to race winners, rather than a state’s share of racing starts."
NYRA, as one example, would have to pay about $9.7 million in 2025 assessments less a Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit credit, according to NYRA. This figure would drop more than half to $4.2 million if based on racing starts.