The Jockeys’ Guild has delivered on its promise to take “immediate action” against the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority if the newly created national regulatory agency continued to enforce riding crop rules following a federal judge’s order for an injunction blocking HISA from operating in Louisiana and West Virginia.
The injunction, ordered July 26 by U.S. District Court Judge Terry A. Doughty in the Western District of Louisiana, Lafayette Division, limited the HISA ban to the states of Louisiana and West Virginia, but added the phrase “and as to all plaintiffs in this proceeding.”
Jockeys’ Guild, Inc., interpreted Doughty’s ruling to mean that all members of the Jockeys’ Guild are exempt wherever they are riding. HISA interpreted the language as applying only to the organization as a plaintiff and not its individual members. One Guild member, Gerard Melancon, was listed as a plaintiff.
