Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority

What it reported doing in 2024

Racetrack safety program: as of december 31, 2024, approximately 76,900 covered horses and 36,500 covered persons were registered with hisa, including 1,200 veterinarians actively involved in the daily and specialized care of equine athletes.in 2024, hisa completed accreditation visits at 22 racetracks, resulting in significant safety improvements, such as additional investments in advanced surface maintenance equipment, increases in the daily reporting of surface condition measurements and tighter controls over stable gate entry and exit procedures.in 2024, hisa launched hisa check, a platform that analyzes data from hisa's comprehensive medical database, historical performance records and other risk factors to identify horses at increased risk of injury. Hisa also introduced hisa horse in-sight, a tool that provides a complete view of a horse's health and performance over its entire career, helping regulatory veterinarians make more informed, timely and accurate decisions.in july 2024, hisa's revised racetrack safety program took effect, bringing significant updates to rules on prohibited practices, intra-articular injection stand-down times, the void claim rule and veterinarians' list protocols, all supported by a robust education campaign.together, these initiatives contributed to a record-low racing-related equine fatality rate of 0.90 per 1,000 starts at the 47 racetracks operating under hisa's rules. The rate of 0.90 is a 35% decrease from the rate of 1.39 reported by the eid in 2021the last full year prior to the launch of hisa's racetrack safety programand a 27% decrease from the rate of 1.23 that hisa reported last year. It also represents a 55% decline since 2009, when the eid first began reporting such fatalities, at a rate of 2.00.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 92.1%; rating input score 92
• Program expense ratio: 89.6%; rating input score 90
• Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Pass
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Limited
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -2.9%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.3; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.01; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 4.1%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: Limited
• Revenue growth: 53.9% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 44.5% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings