With a view to pulling the veil back on the whys and wherefores of their operations, a representative of either the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority or the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) will every week answer a question of industry importance posed by the TDN.If you have any questions you'd like to ask HISA or HIWU, please feel free to send them over to us at the following email address: danross@thetdn.com.The following was submitted by owner Dan McGough.Q: In a very small way, my wife and I have been involved with Thoroughbred horses for the past 30 years. We raised and sold foals until 2015 when we began racing, primarily in the South and Midwest. I currently have a 3-year-old filly at Remington Park.I do not know Marshall Gramm and to my recollection we have never met. Additionally, while I live in Hot Springs, Arkansas. I have no association with Ten Strike Racing or any of its members. My concern about the information Mr. Gramm gained access to and was subsequently published online is not with the alleged unauthorized access to the veterinary information. My concern is why this information is not available to horseman who might claim a horse at a HISA-affiliated track.My concerns are as follows:If transparency is one of the goals of HISA, why are the records of claiming horses not accessible prior to the claiming race they are entered in. These records 'go with the horse' after the claim. If it is so important for the new owner to have these records after the claim why not make them available prior to the claim as the veterinary care a horse has been receiving might be a consideration in the decision to claim or not claim the horse. It looks like buyer beware under the current HISA rules. For the record, I understand the soundness exam after the race the horse was claimed but it is an exam with no questions or input from the new owner or his veterinarian. What is the harm in the records being available to any HISA member for a horse in a claiming race? Let's not be naive. If a prominent trainer goes to the veterinarian of a horse entered in a claiming race, I believe the information will be conveyed, either overtly or covertly. The release of this information, in theory, will level the playing field. Under the current procedure who does this protect? Not the horse. It points out which trainers and owners rely on veterinarians to keep the horses in training when they should be given time off. Again, who benefits? This is the information-digital age. To not make this available it looks like someone is trying to hide something. Answer from HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus:In recent weeks, there have been worthwhile questions raised about the public availability of data under HISA. It's important to set the stage for where we were, where we are now and what we as an industry are moving toward.Prior to the passage of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, individual states and their racing commissions decided which information would be publicly available. This varied widely across states, with a few states making some treatment-related information available, and other states making no information available. Importantly, the treatment-related information that was publicly available in some states generally consisted of Veterinarians' List records related to certain treatments-such as shockwave therapy or joint injections-rather than the underlying treatment records themselves.Sarah AndrewWhen HISA's Racetrack Safety Program went into effect in 2022, it was the first time that national rules required veterinarians and trainers to report veterinary treatment records to any single entity. The HISA Portal now houses a national database of information. Covered Persons have access to information about only their horses, and Regulatory Veterinarians have access to data concerning all Covered Horses.During the implementation of HISA's Racetrack Safety rules, a policy decision was made that treatment records 'go with' the horse when ownership or training changes to establish a continuity of care for each horse.In this case, the entire treatment history of each horse is transferred via the HISA Portal to the new ownership and connections when they are claimed out of a race or when a horse is otherwise sold or transferred.Prior to HISA, horse health records did not automatically follow horses when they changed hands. In those cases, owners and trainers had to operate without the full picture. The implementation of HISA marked the first time records were made immediately accessible to subsequent connections upon the transfer of the horse, which has benefitted horses, owners and trainers.Currently, HISA makes the Epistaxis and Unsoundness lists publicly available. These lists are available to anyone with an account in the HISA Portal because of the serious ramifications for horses' eligibility to race. Both lists have compounding stand-down times on racing for subsequent placement on the lists in a rolling 365-day period. Thus, HISA makes these lists public for anyone attempting to determine whether a horse that they may purchase is at risk of being ineligible to race as a result of placement on these lists.The question of whether comprehensive horse health data should be made available to potential claimants is an issue HISA's leadership committees have discussed at length and one that is worthy of significant and thoughtful industry dialogue.As custodians of the data, HISA will not decide what is publicly available in a vacuum. Veterinarians, owners, trainers, horsemen and others will ultimately help decide what information may or may not be made publicly available in the future.The post Ask HISA: Data Availability appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.