STUART JANNEY III: Thank you, Lisa. The Jockey Club will do everything we can to help you, and indeed you are in a room among friends. Thank you to all our speakers. It’s been an interesting and informative morning. We should all be encouraged knowing how much work and dedication is being put forth to protect our workforce, athletes, and integrity of our sport.

With my final remarks, I would like to focus on HISA, which as many of you know is the subject of several lawsuits that Lisa has told you about that have been filed by certain politically charged states, rogue horsemen’s groups, and surprise, surprise, the Jockeys’ Guild. I’m going to share excerpts from a recent op-ed by attorney and former chair of the Kentucky Racing Commission, Bob Beck, about the lawsuits against HISA.

“Significantly the Louisiana Federal District Court found zero constitutional violations, but it did initially agree with the plaintiffs that The Authority’s definition of covered horse and its search and seizure rules expand beyond the scope of the statute ever so slightly.”

Practically speaking, this portion of the ruling has no impact because the authority voluntarily revised both rules to comply and the statute.

The district court also questioned the authority’s rule on funding, which was actually favorable to the plaintiffs, Louisiana and West Virginia, and amazingly, if the plaintiffs prevail will have those two states paying hundreds of thousands more for HISA.

And finally, it queried the length of the notice and comment period, though it recognized that any of the claimed deficiencies could easily be remedied by the authority even if the authority is ultimately unsuccessful on the merits.

In other words, in ruling in favor the authority’s opponents, the Louisiana Federal District Court nevertheless acknowledged that the implementation of the authority’s rules cannot be stopped.

So, to be clear, none of those issues threaten HISA’s long-term viability, but they certainly waste time and money.

Another federal lawsuit challenging the authority and HISA was filed in Texas last week. It recycles many of the failed claims, like the cases that came before it, and those that will come after it, the new lawsuit merely serves as a distraction and a waste of industry resources. Ironically, under HISA horsemen will be the ones who bear the brunt of these additional legal costs.

Back to the Jockeys’ Guild and its leadership. Here are some of the benefits HISA will have for our jockeys, yet they still oppose it. I’m going to give you a minute to read these.

Each track will have a medical director to oversee jockey health and safety, uniform standards for concussions, return-to-ride protocols, mandatory insurance, medical information requirements, and regulations that promote equine safety.

If I were a jockey, I would be very excited about this, but apparently, they’re not. Upping the ante, they joined with authorities in Louisiana and added a charge of contempt.

It’s outrageous.

The jockeys are wasting their time and are hurting our sport. I hope they will come to realize that.

HISA is a once in a lifetime chance to grow the sport through increased integrity and enhanced safety for horse and rider. This business isn’t the same as it was 10, 20, 30 years ago. We all know it. We now understand the economics as expressed by Dr. Stiroh earlier.

Folks, it’s time to get together on HISA. It’s good for the sport. HISA is legal. HISA is here to stay.

Thank you ever so much for being with us today.