Repole Demands Transparency After Horse Racing Authority Accuses Professor of Using Confidential Data in Betting Scandal

Prominent racehorse owner Mike Repole is demanding transparency from the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority after the organization levied allegations against a horse owner and economics professor, Marshall Gramm, for multiple violations of its rules arising from unauthorized access of confidential veterinary health records.The horseracing authority has accused Mr. Gramm of “deliberately and methodically” misappropriating confidential horse health information he accessed on its website during a six-week period beginning in early May.According to the organization, Mr. Gramm participated in handicapping contests, engaged in pari-mutuel wagering, and claimed multiple registered horses during the six weeks he accessed the confidential information. He faces up to a lifetime ban from the sport. Mr. Repole, who has owned racehorses for 20 years, called the allegations, “one of the most embarrassing, disgusting, and saddest days I’ve ever experienced in this sport.” In a lengthy post on X, he wrote, “If even half of what is being discussed is true, this could become one of the biggest scandals in horse racing history. If Marshall did something wrong, punish him. But don’t make the mistake of pretending this is just about Marshall. THIS IS ABOUT THE SYSTEM.”The billionaire mogul ended by saying. “I’m done watching the same insiders protect each other while the people funding this game get treated like suckers. FULL Transparency. FULL Accountability.”In a release issued on Monday, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority said it levied charges against Mr. Gramm following “a comprehensive review that involved internal and third-party expert investigators.”The investigation began in June after past performance data reports containing confidential horse health information for two horses, Deterministic and Griffin’s Wharf, were leaked on social media by an unauthorized party.Although initial findings showed no unauthorized breach by an outside party, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority expanded its inquiry to analyze potential system vulnerabilities exploited by an authorized user. The combined internal and third-party forensic investigation unanimously identified Mr. Gramm as the sole individual responsible for accessing the private veterinary data and creating the unauthorized reports for horses to which he had no connection.The authority alleges that in an effort to extract the confidential records at scale without triggering security protocols, Mr. Gramm created an automated extraction method engineered to mimic normal, authorized portal activity. During this same six-week period, he actively engaged in handicapping contests, pari-mutuel wagering, and claiming horses across several tracks, leading the authority to pursue full financial restitution on behalf of the affected parties.“There must be significant consequences for individuals who violate the integrity of our rules and obtain and abuse confidential horse health information,” the authority’s CEO, Lisa Lazarus, said in the release. “HISA will take every necessary step to fiercely protect the integrity of Thoroughbred racing and ensure that violators of our rules are punished appropriately.”In a social media post Monday, Mr. Gramm acknowledged accessing the data but wrote that he used his authorized account as a horse owner.“I used my own account and credentials and never attempted to conceal my identity or circumvent HISA’s security,” Mr. Gramm wrote on X. “Once logged into my account, I bypassed no security protocols or other safeguards to access the information.”Mr. Gramm added that he plans to “vigorously defend” himself against the charges. He said he tried to make a “good-faith-effort” to resolve the matter with the authority but couldn’t reach an agreement. He defended his actions, saying he broke no rules.“I am a college professor and data analyst, and gathering and analyzing large datasets is something I have done throughout my career, including extensive work with horse racing data,” he said. “The information at issue was available through my authorized HISA account. It was a large dataset, and at the time I accessed it, I had not fully reviewed its contents or understood the scope of the information it contained. I used my own account and credentials and never attempted to conceal my identity or circumvent HISA’s security. Once logged into my account, I bypassed no security protocols or other safeguards to access the information.”Mr. Gramm admitted he “exercised poor judgment” by not bringing the vulnerability to the authority’s attention sooner, but added, “making me the focus of this matter is a distraction from the fundamental issues HISA needs to address with its systems.”The horseracing authority’s dominion to sanction Mr. Gramm appears to rest at least partly on the terms and conditions of use governing its websites. Those terms grant only a limited license to view content “accessible to you” for personal, non-commercial use while separately barring copying, distributing, or publicly displaying material obtained through the service. It also makes users solely responsible for their credentials, permits it to terminate access for violations, and requires users to indemnify the organization for costs arising from misuse.As part of his restitution, Mr. Gramm might be expected to suspend ownership activities, reimburse prize winnings from handicapping tournaments, reimburse the authority for the investigation, make donations to HISA-related charities and submit to a forensic study of his electronics to ensure all improperly accessed information has been deleted.Mr. Gramm is not only a horse owner and professor, he is a serious bettor and handicapper. He finished second in the New York Racing Association’s Belmont Stakes day tournament, earning a $35,250 cash prize plus a $10,000 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge seat in addition to his $37,328 bankroll. According to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Mr. Gramm has already qualified for the 2027 National Handicapping Championship, but it is unclear whether that prize is subject to sanction.The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority said it made changes to its systems to prevent similar unauthorized access in the future.Mr. Repole suggested the ramifications of the investigation shouldn’t stop there, asking, “If HISA’s Mickey Mouse technology made confidential horse information this easy to access, then every owner in America should be asking: Who else got in??? How many times??? What did they see??? And what did they do with it??? Owners were forced to trust HISA with confidential information about our horses. Apparently, maybe we were the idiots for trusting them.”“Horse racing has a massive insider problem,” he continued. “Sales. Wagering. Data. Conflicts. Access. Power. And somehow the same small group of people is always sitting at the same tables, sitting on the same boards and protecting the same system. Meanwhile, who gets screwed??? THE HORSE OWNERS AND THE HORSEPLAYERS. The people putting up the money. The people actually funding this sport.”

Repole Demands Transparency After Horse Racing Authority Accuses Professor of Using Confidential Data in Betting Scandal

Repole Demands Transparency After Horse Racing Authority Accuses Professor of Using Confidential Data in Betting Scandal

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