Racehorse Health and Safety Act of 2025

Summary

Creates a new interstate compact and a Racehorse Health and Safety Organization (RHSO) to set and enforce medication-control, racetrack safety, and discipline rules for horse racing, and repeals the existing federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act. States that join the compact must participate in the RHSO, which will have a nine-member board, breed-specific scientific medication control committees, and a racetrack safety committee to draft rules and handle investigations, hearings, and sanctions; implementation is phased based on state participation and set time windows.

• Repeals the federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act and replaces it with an interstate-compact approach run by a new Racehorse Health and Safety Organization (RHSO).
• Creates a nine-member RHSO Board and breed-specific Scientific Medication Control Committees plus a Racetrack Safety Committee to draft and implement rules.
• Member States must join and participate in the compact; only member (host) States may allow interstate electronic wagering on covered horseraces.
• Establishes a detailed disciplinary system with investigations, hearings, sanctions (including lifetime bans and purse disgorgement), and a rebuttable presumption of trainer liability for medication violations.
• Sets conflict-of-interest, disclosure, recusal, appointment, and removal rules for Board and committee members, with significant industry representation on committees.
• Public meeting, notice, and transparency requirements apply to rulemaking, but certain committee meetings may be closed where allowed.
• Most provisions take effect on the later of two years after enactment or when two States join the compact; some parts are immediate or take effect 90 days later.
• No explicit federal funding is specified in the provided sections, suggesting States and industry may bear compliance costs.
• Changes interstate wagering rules by tying permission for interstate signals to membership in the compact.