US Horse Racing Regulator Charges Handicapper Marshall Gramm in Data Breach
HISA accuses professor and horse owner Marshall Gramm of misusing confidential vet records for wagering and claiming decisions.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited by the ON360 newsroom.
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority has charged prominent handicapper and horse owner Marshall Gramm with breaching its confidential veterinary database and using the data for betting and claiming decisions, a case that could carry a lifetime ban and potential criminal referral, Gambling Insider reports.
Gramm, a college professor and longtime figure in North American racing, was named in charges announced Monday by HISA, the U.S. agency created to set national integrity standards for thoroughbred racing.
What HISA alleges
HISA’s release outlines two allegations. It says Gramm accessed records for horses he did not own within the agency’s centralized database, which stores veterinary records intended for use by primary owners, approved vets and authorized state regulators.
The second charge is fraud. HISA alleges Gramm used the confidential information for “potential wagering or claiming decisions” over a six-week span in May and June, a period during which he entered handicapping contests and bought horses in claiming races.
Investigators also allege Gramm compiled past performance charts using the improperly obtained data and posted them on social media.
Arete, a forensic IT firm retained by HISA’s insurers, found Gramm used an automated process to pull records in batches, a method resembling routine veterinarian requests that initially masked the activity, according to the agency.
Gramm’s response
Gramm posted a lengthy statement on X. He said he accessed the system through his own account, which he holds as the primary owner of several horses, and argued he “bypassed no security protocols or other safeguards” to view records belonging to other owners.
He acknowledged fault on one point. “Where I exercised poor judgment was in not bringing the vulnerability to HISA’s attention sooner after it became a public story,” Gramm wrote. “I should have done so, and I regret that I did not.”
He said talks with HISA nearly settled the matter before the agency declined to let him publicly explain his actions, and called the case “a distraction from the fundamental issues HISA needs to address within its systems.” Gramm said he remains willing to help fix the access weaknesses involved.
A watched sport, a wider question
Racing insider SwiftKirk, whose X account first surfaced the allegations hours before HISA’s own release, wrote Wednesday that “this whole data thing is way deeper than Marshall Gramm.” So far, HISA has named no one else.
HISA told Gambling Insider it has already tightened its systems. “HISA has made changes to its technology systems to prevent any similar unauthorized access going forward,” a spokesperson said, adding the agency is putting more resources toward staying ahead of “sophisticated hackers.”
Congress created HISA in late 2020 to replace a patchwork of state rules with national integrity and safety standards, tied to Federal Trade Commission oversight. According to a HISA report cited by Gambling Insider, 41 thoroughbred tracks across 19 U.S. states now follow its rules.
The agency’s authority itself remains contested. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled HISA unconstitutional while the Sixth Circuit upheld it, and both HISA and the FTC petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court this month to take up the dispute. A data breach involving one of the sport’s better-known bettors lands squarely in the middle of that legal fight.
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