In 2023, beneath Churchill Downs’ twin spires, seven horses died during the week of its showpiece event — two of them in races in the hours leading up to the Kentucky Derby. In the days that followed, five more horses sustained fatal injuries, making the track’s Spring Meet one of the deadliest events in horse racing history.

Now, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, which was created to prevent such a grim history from repeating itself, says Churchill Downs Inc., the company that hosts the Kentucky Derby, is refusing to pay its fair share to protect riders and thoroughbreds from injuries.

The authority, a private entity that functions as the industry’s regulator, is threatening to shut down out-of-state betting on races at Churchill Downs and three other tracks it owns unless the company pays $2.4 million in fees it owes HISA.

The authority charges racetrack operators like Churchill Downs fees that pay for drug testing, data on veterinarian reviews and safety inspections of the tracks. In a complaint filed to its board on Wednesday, the authority claims that Churchill Downs is “freeloading” by refusing to pay its fees but availing itself of laboratory drug testing and safety inspections that the authority performs on its racetracks.

“For more than a year, we’ve worked in good faith to reach a resolution, but our responsibility is to the broader industry,” Lisa Lazarus, HISA’s chief executive, said in an interview. “We are duty-bound to treat all of our constituents the same, and the 37 other racetracks operating under HISA should not be asked to subsidize Churchill Downs. We’ve unfortunately been left with no choice but to proceed with this enforcement action.”

The complaint is the first step in a process that could wind its way to the Federal Trade Commission, which oversees HISA and would ultimately decide whether to punish Churchill Downs.

Churchill Downs Inc. Could Lose Hundreds of Millions

Churchill Downs Inc. could potentially lose hundreds of millions of dollars if HISA restricts wagering on the company’s races. Last year, wagering on the Kentucky Derby set a record of $349 million. Churchill could still accept wagers made at the track, which is in Louisville, and from within the state, but those account for a small fraction of the overall betting.

A spokesperson for Churchill Downs Inc. said the company had no immediate comment.

The authority’s operational budget relies on assessments from individual racetracks, and tracks that award more money in races are required to pay more.

In 2024, Churchill sued HISA in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, saying the authority was imposing unlawful, “disproportionate” financial assessments and was using an improper in-house process to threaten the shutdown of racetracks for nonpayment. The lawsuit is pending.

Lazarus said that Churchill had only partly paid its 2023 and 2024 assessments but that the authority had chosen not to ask for that money until the lawsuit ran its course.

For 2025 Churchill owes $6.3 million plus interest, but HISA asked for only the roughly $2.4 million based on the company’s preferred formula calculating starts. This year, the authority changed its formula to weight the number of starts only.

The authority’s regulations, along with its enforcement division, have been widely credited for sharply reducing thoroughbred racing fatalities. In 2023, Churchill Downs’ fatality rate was 2.55 per 1,000 starts. The rate fell to 0.88 per 1,000 in 2024, before doubling to 1.77 last year.

Both sides will have an opportunity to argue their cases before three members of the authority’s board at a hearing scheduled for March 11. Each side can appeal to the full board, which includes owners, breeders and veterinarians with experience in the sport, or directly to the FTC.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Joe Drape/Jon Cherry
c. 2026 The New York Times Company