Suspended Trainer Serpe Back In Federal Court Against HISA: ‘This Gamesmanship Has To Stop’

[Wandering Eyes]

One day after an arbitrator ruled that Phil Serpe would be suspended for two years in a contested clenbuterol positive case from last summer at Saratoga Race Course, the 66-year-old trainer was back in federal court Tuesday seeking to renew his request for a preliminary injunction in his nine-month-old lawsuit against the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

At the same time, Serpe's legal team also wasted no time in filing an immediate appeal with the FTC to have his July 14 Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) arbitration decision reconsidered by an administrative law judge.

A key issue in Serpe's federal court filing is the fact that HIWU and HISA did not pursue any monetary fine against him. That's a departure from how the agencies handled a dozen other clenbuterol detections since the Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program (ADMC) went into effect in May 2023.

Although it might seem paradoxical that a penalized trainer would go to federal court to focus on why he wasn't fined up to $25,000 (as ADMC Rule 3223 seemingly calls for), Serpe is arguing that the non-pursuit of any monetary penalty by HISA and HIWU is an alleged end-around to stymie his efforts to prove in his lawsuit that he has been wrongfully denied his constitutional right to a jury trial.

Serpe's Oct. 17, 2024, civil complaint cites a United States Supreme Court case that previously ruled that a federal regulatory agency's enforcement for civil monetary penalties must be brought in a federal court, subject to the Seventh Amendment's jury trial right.

Serpe's July 15, 2025, legal filing in U.S. District Court (Southern District of Florida) explained his renewed contentions in light of the arbitrator's decision:

“As anticipated, Serpe's Arbitration concluded with sanctions for violating the ADMC Program. But, despite that HISA Rules mandated the imposition of a fine if Serpe could not show a significant lack of fault or negligence and that the Arbitrator found that Serpe could not do so, the Arbitrator did not impose a fine.

“Instead, the Arbitrator only imposed equitable sanctions of a two-year suspension, [and] the Arbitrator never analyzed whether the HISA Rules required or permitted him to not impose a fine. Rather, he chose not to impose a fine simply because HIWU asked him not to,” the filing stated.

Phil Serpe with Weekend Hideaway | Sarah Andrew

“This was intentional,” the filing continued. “While Defendants had told this Court that Serpe's Seventh Amendment challenge against the FTC was unripe, all parties essentially agreed that, were the Arbitrator to comply with the law and impose a fine, Serpe's appeal to the FTC would have immediately ripened his challenge based on Serpe's demand for a jury trial.

“And upon that demand, were it meritorious, Serpe would have been entitled to defend himself against the Authority's entire prosecution–not just for a fine–in an Article III court, instead of before the FTC.

“But by illegally preventing the FTC from reviewing a fine on appeal, the Authority (via HIWU and the Arbitrator) strategically sought to deprive federal-court jurisdiction over Serpe's entire prosecution, including a Seventh Amendment jury trial on both a fine as well as the facts of liability required for any sanction.

“This gamesmanship has to stop,” the filing stated.

On Wednesday, a HISA spokesperson declined the opportunity to comment on these latest developments in Serpe's ongoing lawsuit.

Serpe's sanctions took effect on Monday, the date the arbitrator's decision was made public. But as of Wednesday, it was unclear if or when another trainer would be named to take over the running of his New York-based stable. Serpe has six horses entered at Saratoga for the upcoming Thursday and Saturday programs.

Serpe did not respond to messages left prior to the deadline for this story asking about the status of his stable. His attorney, Bradford Beilly, did not want to discuss on the record any meetings that might have taken place between Serpe, the Saratoga stewards, and the New York Racing Association (NYRA). A NYRA spokesperson would not comment on the matter to TDN, citing the pending litigation.

Serpe's suspension stems from a clenbuterol positive detected in the urine (but not blood) samples taken from his trainee, Fast Kimmie (Oscar Performance) after her Aug. 10, 2024, victory in a $30,000 claiming race.

Clenbuterol is a bronchodilator that is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the management of horses with airway obstruction. Clenbuterol cannot be administered to any HISA “covered horse” other than in the context of a valid veterinarian-client-patient relationship in accordance with the conditions set forth in ADMC rules.

Clenbuterol is classified as a “banned” substance by the ADMC, meaning it is never to be present in any HISA-regulated Thoroughbred. In the 1990s and 2000s decades, clenbuterol first started being regulated by American racing commissions because of its propensity for abuse as a drug known to mimic the muscle-building properties of anabolic steroids.

Serpe, a licensed trainer since 1984 who has maintained a nearly violation-free record while campaigning graded stakes winners up and down the East Coast, denied he had authorized any veterinarian to dose Fast Kimmie with clenbuterol.

The rulings portal for the Association of Racing Commissioners International, which lists most (but not all) actions reported by state racing commissions, shows only two entries for Serpe over that four-decade span: One was a 2013 Class 4 (lowest level) phenylbutazone overage detected at Gulfstream Park, to which Serpe agreed and consented to a $250 fine. The other was a 2018 workout violation at Saratoga related to breezing a horse too soon after it had received shock or pulse wave therapy, an infraction to which Serpe waived his right to appeal and had $500 stayed from a $1,000 fine.

A story published by TDN earlier this week detailed how Serpe presented evidence to the arbitrator during his June 5 hearing showing that Fast Kimmie had undergone out-of-competition (OOC) testing at the behest of HIWU nearly eight weeks before her Saratoga win, and that no prohibited substances were detected in her blood at that time.

A follow-up OOC test three months after Fast Kimmie's race-day positive also came back negative for clenbuterol in both blood and hair samples.

But the arbitrator, Jeffrey Benz, wrote in his decision that “nowhere in the ADMC Program does it provide that prior or subsequent testing is relevant” and that it is “not necessary” for HIWU to demonstrate intent, fault, negligence, or knowing use on the part of any trainer to establish a presence-based drug finding.

Saratoga's main track | Sarah Andrew

Benz summed up: “Despite the findings of this Arbitrator, no one should read this decision as determining that Mr. Serpe is a cheater. The only determination that can be taken from the findings in this Final Decision is that Mr. Serpe was unable to meet his burden and standard of proof under the applicable rules.”

Serpe's July 15 legal filing stated that, “During the arbitration hearing, Serpe's counsel explained that while Serpe certainly was not requesting a fine, a fine of some amount was nevertheless mandatory if the Arbitrator found liability without also finding that Serpe proved no fault or negligence. Serpe explained that the Arbitrator had an independent legal obligation to enforce federal regulations and that HIWU's strategic decision to forgo a fine was not a basis to ignore certain HISA Rules. During the hearing, the Arbitrator seemed skeptical about the argument.”

The filing also noted that, as per the rules of his pending appeal, “the FTC has stipulated the ALJ will not (and cannot) seek a jury trial before imposing that fine.”

The filing stated that because the FTC “right now is prosecuting Serpe for violating the ADMC Program, which includes a civil penalty,” Serpe should, again, “be in federal court” to resolve the matter.

Serpe's legal team told the court in the filing that, “Under any theory, Serpe is entitled to a preliminary injunction enjoining the FTC from enforcing the Arbitrator's order and, eventually, a permanent injunction against enforcing any penalties without a jury trial. The Arbitration has resulted in irreparable harm through Serpe's two-year suspension, which was imposed without a jury first finding Serpe liable.”

Tuesday's legal filing explained the alleged “irreparable harm” this way:

“Serpe attests that the economic value of all these losses is difficult–if not impossible–to quantify. A two-year suspension will not simply deprive Serpe of money, but it will destroy his entire business as a trainer.

“HISA arbitrations have life-altering and devasting impacts. The Court originally determined that Serpe's harm was not irreparable as to the Authority because he could sue the Authority for damages caused by the business harms [because, at the time] 'Serpe continue[d] to be allowed to train horses to compete in races.'

“Irrespective of Serpe's ability to sue the Authority for damages, he is no longer 'allowed to train horses to compete in races,'” the filing stated.

The post Suspended Trainer Serpe Back In Federal Court Against HISA: ‘This Gamesmanship Has To Stop’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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[Chief Stipe]

A very interesting case this one.  A number of parallels to issues in NZ.