The New York Racing Association has reached a settlement with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and has dropped out of a federal lawsuit over how the group that oversees the sport's safety and anti-doping efforts bills tracks.
The suit filed last month argues that Churchill Downs Inc. and NYRA should be billed based on the number of racing starts at their tracks but the plaintiffs argue that HISA has used a methodology that imposes fees largely based on track purses, as opposed to racing starts.
"HISA's ongoing work and overall mission are critically important to the future of Thoroughbred horse racing," said NYRA president and CEO David O'Rourke in a Jan. 2 joint release. "NYRA is pleased to have reached this agreement, which resolves a narrow financial dispute and allows both parties to move forward in the best interests of the sport."
In that same release, HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus described the dispute as a bump in the road in what has been a good relationship with NYRA.
"From the start, NYRA has been an excellent partner to HISA and it is regretful that this financial issue caused a momentary hiccup in the relationship," Lazarus said. "However, we are delighted to move forward and to resume our strong partnership grounded in the principles of horse welfare and sporting integrity."
Terms of the settlement were not announced. NYRA noted that with the settlement in place, HISA has halted enforcement action that began Nov. 13.
Churchill, NYRA Sue HISA Alleging Illegal Assessments
In a Jan. 2 filing with the United States District Court, Western District of Kentucky, Louisville Division, NYRA requested to be removed from the suit that initially was filed Dec. 4 by CDI and NYRA against HISA, the Federal Trade Commission, and several individuals associated with HISA.
"NYRA is voluntarily requesting to dismiss itself from this action because it has reached a settlement of its claims in this action with the Authority defendants," the Jan. 2 filing said. "NYRA this has a compelling reason to be dismissed from this action and would plainly suffer no harm if its requested relief if granted."
The court filing notes that CDI's claims against HISA remain pending and unaffected by the dismissal of NYRA from the litigation.
In the lawsuit filed last month by CDI and NYRA, they argued that HISA initially followed the per-start formula in assessing fees but because of an "ever-increasing budget and fiscal mismanagement" demanded purse-based fees. Under that purse-based approach, NYRA would have had 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.
In 2024, HISA collected more than $77.5 million from racing states.
In 2026 HISA will move to the per-start model to determine fees. HISA had made this request in September and Dec. 23 the FTC, which oversees HISA, approved the methodology.
A HISA release noted the FTC unanimously approved changing the methodology from one that in 2025 will give equal weight to projected number of starts and the projected average purse to an assessment based solely on the percentage of annual racing starts. The new per-starts assessment is effective Jan. 1, 2026.
The rule change followed HISA's analysis following two years of its Racetrack Safety Program and after a year of operating the Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program. In the FTC order authorizing the rule change, HISA noted its expenses "after the initial implementation period have turned out to be closely correlated to starts and not to purse amounts or the grade of a race."
In its request to the FTC, HISA noted that the previous assessment based on a combination of starts and purses has been the subject of litigation.
