The timely implementation of new national rules governing the racing industry’s medication and drug policies suffered a significant blow on Thursday when the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority announced that it had been unable to reach a contractual agreement with a private, non-profit company to enforce the policies. HISA, a national regulatory board formed by legislation passed late in 2020, said that it had been unable to come to terms with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to enforce the policies, which are expected to include the implementation of an expensive out-of-competition testing program and a national apparatus to conduct investigations and adjudicate violations. USADA, which has contracts to run the anti-doping programs for the U.S. Olympic team and the Ultimate Fighting Championship league, has played a leading role over the past eight months in drafting the regulations that HISA intends to implement. “We are deeply grateful for USADA’s hard work, expertise, and leadership in working with HISA’s Anti-Doping and Medication Committee to develop comprehensive draft rules in a remarkably short period of time,” said Charles Scheeler, the chairman of HISA’s board, in a statement released on Wednesday announcing the cessation of negotiations. “HISA will continue our search for an independent enforcement agency to oversee the medication control protocols.” In a statement, USADA said that it was “deeply disappointed” in the failure to reach an agreement that “would have given us a reasonable chance to put in place a credible and effective program.” “While we are obviously saddened by the outcome at this stage, we tried our absolute best to find a way forward but without success,” the statement said. “While we desperately tried to reach an agreement to implement the program, without compromising our values, we have always said the passing of the legislation and the finalization of uniform, robust rules are huge victories for the horses and the equine industry.  We are honored to have been involved with these efforts to restore the integrity of [T]horoughbred horse racing.” An official with knowledge of the talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that the failure to come to terms was rooted in “policy differences” between USADA and HISA over the proper starting point for the national rules governing racing’s medication and doping control programs. The official also said that it had become clear that HISA had lost the support of state regulatory agencies, and that cutting out USADA might lead to an effort to gain broader consensus for the authority’s programs among state regulators before the authority attempts to move forward with its programs. In its own release, HISA said that it will delay the submission of the proposed rules for its medication and doping-control program to an undetermined date as it searches for a new enforcement agency. The rules must go through a roughly six-month approval process with the Federal Trade Commission before they can be implemented. By law, HISA is set to go into operation on July 1, 2022. The authority has already said that it does not plan to take over drug-testing programs from state racing commissions until sometime in 2023, and the break in talks with USADA may lead to further delays. So far, HISA has submitted a tranche of rules to the FTC dealing with racetrack safety procedures and protocols. A larger batch of rules have been posted on its website for public review and comment. But major elements of the national drug-testing policy, such as a list of proposed regulated medications and rules restricting their use, have yet to be released. State racing commissions, which currently regulate the racing industries in their states and conduct their own individual drug-testing programs, have increasingly voiced displeasure over the past several months with HISA’s inability to estimate the costs of its programs. To date, HISA officials have provided only rough estimates while acknowledging that the new programs will cost the industry significantly more in regulatory costs than the total current outlay. Under the law establishing HISA, the authority is able to apportion costs to racing states, but HISA has yet to establish the funding formulas that would allow the commissions to plan for their future roles or costs. Some horsemen’s groups have also expressed extreme displeasure with the way that HISA has moved forward over the past six months, contending that the authority has failed to tailor its proposed rules for the racing industry, at USADA’s direction. Several of those groups, including the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, have joined with a handful of state racing commissions and breed organizations in lawsuits contending that the law establishing HISA violates constitutional principles preventing the government from delegating regulatory power to private companies. “After the events announced today, we hope members of the authority take into strong consideration partnering with an enforcement agency that understands the nuances of the horse-racing industry and recognizes the significant positive strides the industry has made in both safety and integrity,” said Eric Hamelback, the chief executive officer of the National HBPA, in a statement released on Thursday night. “Now would be a perfect opportunity for the authority to mesh the safety regulations that have been put forth with the best of the model rules currently established throughout the United States.”