H.R. 3378 — Racehorse Health and Safety Act of 2025

This section establishes the Racehorse Health and Safety Organization (RHSO) as a coordinating entity for state racing commissions of interstate compact member states, designating it an agency under the Administrative Procedure Act (subchapter II of chapter 5, title 5, U.S. Code). The RHSO is governed by a nine-member board of directors, with five members appointed by the racing commissions of the five member states with the most racing days over the prior three-year period (one per state) and four by the remaining states' commissions; the board elects its chairperson annually, limits member terms to three years (maximum three terms, with initial terms of four years for top-five states' appointees), fills vacancies identically to original appointments, requires conflict-of-interest disclosures and recusals, permits removal for cause by majority vote, and requires a majority quorum. The board's duties include (1) adopting, modifying, or rejecting scientifically justified rules on medication control (per recommendations from section 202 committees), racetrack safety (per section 303 committee), and violations (per sections 401-403); (2) holding open meetings on proposed rules with 45 days' advance online posting and notice to commissions; (3) adopting rules by two-thirds vote; and (4) developing, after notice and comment, a nationwide database of racehorse safety, performance, health, and injury data for epidemiological study.

This section authorizes a state racing commission to elect to enforce rules issued under section 101(c)(1) and (2) within the state concerned or, if no election is made, directs the RHSO to enforce those rules within the state pursuant to a memorandum of understanding; provides that RHSO rules preempt conflicting state laws or regulations of member states on matters within RHSO jurisdiction; and requires each member state, as a condition of interstate compact membership, to have a statute deeming it an unfair or deceptive act or practice to sell a covered horse—or any other horse in anticipation of its participation in a covered race—without disclosing the horse's prior administration of a bisphosphonate before its fourth birthday or any other substance or method determined by the RHSO to have long-term degrading effects on the horse's soundness.

This section establishes a scientific medication control committee under the RHSO for each of three horse breeds—Standardbred, Quarter Horse, and Thoroughbred—to develop proposed rules on medication control for covered horses, persons, and races and to recommend those rules to the Board. Each committee comprises 7 members: (1) 3 regulatory members appointed by the Board based on expertise in equine exercise physiology, forensic toxicology, or equine pharmacology; and (2) 4 industry members appointed by breed-specific organizations (United States Trotting Association for Standardbred, American Quarter Horse Association for Quarter Horse, National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association for Thoroughbred), who must possess significant experience or a PhD-equivalent degree and include at least 1 mathematician/statistician experienced in thresholds, 1 equine exercise physiologist, 1 equine pharmacologist, and 1 analytical chemist. Members serve 3-year terms (renewable indefinitely; initial regulatory terms of 4 years for staggering), with annual election of a chairperson, required conflict-of-interest disclosures, and a majority quorum for rule proposals. Committees may hold closed meetings except for mandatory open meetings at least 90 days before considering a rule (or modification), with agendas posted and submitted to specified entities at least 45 days in advance and input from covered persons recorded. Committees must review all existing state medication/threshold rules and research (with possible penalty revisions), plus ongoing review of new medications to determine inclusion in rules.

This section establishes scientific medication control rules for each breed of covered horse, applicable to (1) covered horseraces, covered persons, and covered horses in member states and (2) covered horses or covered persons from non-member states seeking to race in covered horseraces in member states. It directs each scientific medication control committee, in developing proposed rules for a breed, to use scientific methods; address all required elements; and account for the breed's unique characteristics, racing needs, and annual race schedule (with state rules applying to medication administration until federal rules take effect). The required elements include (1) ensuring covered horses compete free from performance-enhancing pharmacological effects, foreign substances, diseases, or conditions; prohibiting training or racing by injured or unsound horses or the use of pain-masking medications, substances, or methods; requiring uniformity of rules, standards, procedures, and protocols within each breed (breed-specific permissible thresholds, medication withdrawal guidelines, and other concerns, not imposed across breeds unless separately adopted); and (2) developing, with state racing commissions and the National Veterinary Services Laboratories, permitted and prohibited lists of medications, methods, and substances per breed; a review process for medications administered within 24 hours before a horse's next race; and protocols for test distribution planning (including intelligence-based testing), sample collection, and in-competition and out-of-competition testing (including no-advance-notice testing).

This section establishes a Racetrack Safety Committee under the Racetrack Horseracing Safety Organization (RHSO) to develop, update, and implement mandatory racetrack safety rules for covered horses, covered persons, and covered horseraces. The committee must (1) draft proposed breed-specific rules, (2) recommend them to the RHSO Board, and (3) obtain testimony from racetrack superintendents for affected breeds. The seven-member committee consists of (1) three regulatory members selected by the Board for equine industry expertise in racetrack safety, management, and maintenance and (2) four industry members appointed by the United States Trotting Association, American Quarter Horse Association, National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, and Association of Racing Commissioners International (a racetrack superintendent). Members serve terms not exceeding three years (renewable; initial regulatory terms of four years), elect an annual chairperson by majority vote, disclose conflicts of interest, recuse from discussions involving their direct financial interests (unless applying to all covered horses in a breed), and may be removed by majority Board vote for neglect of duty, unethical behavior, malfeasance, or relevant convictions. A majority quorum is required to propose rules. Not later than 90 days before Board consideration of a proposed rule, the committee must hold an open meeting for input from covered persons or representatives, with at least 45 days' notice posted on the RHSO website, submitted to specified medication organizations, and provided upon request; all input must be transcribed and recorded.

This section requires racetrack safety rules under section 101(c)(2) to apply to covered horses, covered persons, and covered horseraces and directs the Committee, in developing proposed rules, to consult with state racing commissions and consider existing safety standards, including the National Thoroughbred Racing Association Safety and Integrity Alliance Code of Standards and the Association of Racing Commissioners International Model Rules. Such rules must include (1) training and racing safety standards and protocols that account for regional differences, are uniform within each breed of covered horses, ensure humane treatment, and may list permitted and prohibited practices, methods, and track surfaces; (2) track safety standards uniform within each breed, which may govern human and equine injury reporting and prevention and oversight and movement of covered horses; (3) racetrack accreditation standards by the Racetrack Safety Office (RHSO), processes for achieving and maintaining accreditation, and penalties for noncompliance; (4) a process for up to one year of provisional accreditation for certain pre-existing accredited racetracks; (5) a racing surface quality maintenance system accounting for regional and breed differences, with possible requirements for track surface design, consistency, monitoring, and maintenance; (6) an injury and fatality analysis process that may include pre- and post-training/race inspections, standardized veterinarian’s or steward’s lists, and concussion protocols for jockeys, exercise riders, and drivers; (7) requirements for safety and performance research; and (8) rules for educational programs.

This section prohibits six categories of acts in enforcing rules issued under section 101(c) by the Board: (1) administration, presence in samples, use, possession, trafficking, or manufacturing of certain nontherapeutic medications and substances for covered horses; (2) administration, presence in samples, or use of certain therapeutic medications and substances exceeding the irrelevant concentration during prohibited timeframes before or after covered horseraces; (3) refusal or failure, without compelling justification, to submit a covered horse for testing, cooperate in investigations, respond truthfully to inquiries, or—for racetracks—comply with track safety standards; (4) tampering or attempted tampering with rule application or processes, including interference, fraudulent information, or witness intimidation; (5) assisting, encouraging, aiding, abetting, conspiring, or other intentional complicity in violations of such rules or in suspended periods of eligibility; and (6) threatening or intimidating persons to discourage good faith reporting of alleged violations or noncompliance.

This section directs the Board to issue rules governing the disciplinary process for safety, performance, and scientific medication control rule violations, which may incorporate the existing Model Rules of the Association of Racing Commissioners International. The rules must include (1) procedures for investigations at racetracks and other facilities, charging, adjudication, and enforcement of administrative sanctions; (2) a schedule of sanctions; (3) disciplinary hearings (which may include binding arbitration, mediation, or research); (4) management of violation results; (5) referrals for criminal investigations; (6) notifications of violations; (7) removal of noncompliant member states by unanimous vote of remaining states; (8) hearing procedures, burden of proof standards (including a rebuttable presumption of liability for trainers violating scientific medication control rules), evidentiary rules, and appeals; and (9) guidelines for confidentiality and public reporting. The rules must also provide due process, including impartial hearing officers or tribunals, the right to counsel, confrontation of witnesses, and a transcribed record, with decisions rendered no later than 60 days after hearing closure.

This section directs the Board to review existing Model Rules of the Association of Racing Commissioners International applicable to specific breeds and, subject to specified requirements, issue and update rules imposing administrative sanctions against covered persons or covered horses for safety, performance, and medication control rule violations. The rules must (1) take into account unique aspects of horseracing, (2) ensure fair and transparent horseraces, and (3) deter such violations. Sanctions may include lifetime bans from horseracing, disgorgement of purses, monetary fines and penalties, changes to the order of finish in covered races, and—for scientific medication control rule violators—an opportunity to reduce sanctions comparable to that under the Protocol for Olympic Movement Testing of the United States Medication Agency.

This section establishes effective dates for provisions of the Act as follows: (1) for most provisions, the later of two years after enactment or the date on which two or more states enter into the interstate compact under section 4; (2) for subsections (c), (d), and (e) of section 101 and titles II, III, and IV, 90 days after the date specified in (1); and (3) immediately upon enactment, for sections 1, 2, and 3 and subsections (a) and (b) of section 4.