Churchill Downs Asks FTC To Investigate Regulator
Churchill Downs Incorporated has formally asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to conduct an independent investigation into the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), according to a letter dated August 28, 2026 and addressed to FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson and commissioner Mark Meador.
The letter, sent by Churchill Downs chief executive Bill Carstanjen, states the company "submits this letter to express serious concern regarding a series of recent events that have raised significant questions about the governance, transparency, technology controls, and accountability" of HISA, a body whose rulings shape wagering markets tracked closely by US sports betting operators.
Carstanjen copied 23 additional individuals on the letter, including all nine HISA board directors and chief executive Lisa Lazarus, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by Horse Racing Nation. A Churchill Downs spokesperson said Monday, "We think the letter speaks for itself and have no additional comment."
Three unresolved threads tied together
The four-page letter links three separate issues that have affected HISA's public standing in recent months. The first is the still-unresolved "Fair Hill Five" episode, involving unusual wagering activity in the United States and abroad tied to horses connected to trainer Angel Quiroz's stable at the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland.
The letter also raises the timeline around a positive drug test connected to that case, noting Quiroz reportedly tested positive for a banned substance more than a month before the unusual wagering activity became public, but that the positive test was not disclosed until after the betting episode had already drawn scrutiny.
The letter's central focus is a separate, more recently disclosed issue: HISA has charged Jockey Club member and handicapper Marshall Gramm, who owns Fair Hill Training Center, with multiple rule violations, including fraud, alleging he accessed and used confidential horse-health information obtained through the HISA Portal that should have remained protected. Churchill Downs' letter asks the FTC to examine how that access was possible and whether HISA's data controls and disclosure practices met the standard expected of a federally overseen regulator.
HISA Welcomes FTC Oversight
HISA is a private regulatory body, but its rules, including provisions covering provisional suspensions, budget, risk management and performance reporting, require FTC approval under the framework that created it. A spokesperson for HISA told the Louisville Courier Journal: "HISA has been in communication with the FTC about the issues raised in the letter and welcomes the FTC's ongoing oversight and review of our actions, policies, protocols, and systems," adding that HISA "thanks Churchill Downs Incorporated for sharing their concerns surrounding the industry's integrity."
The letter also raises questions about the delayed disclosure of the banned-substance test result and whether confidential veterinary records tied to the case were properly protected while stored online. Churchill Downs is one of the sport's largest track operators and a founding proponent of federal oversight of horse racing safety, making its public request for an FTC review notable given the company's earlier support for HISA's creation.
For bettors, the dispute centres on whether wagering markets at Fair Hill and tracks connected to the case were compromised by advance knowledge of horse health information that should not have been accessible outside HISA's own systems. Any FTC review would examine HISA's internal controls rather than individual wagering results, but the outcome could shape how strictly the authority is required to safeguard similar data going forward.
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