Professor faces lifetime horse racing ban for allegedly using unauthorized data in shocking betting scandal

A racehorse owner is in hot water after igniting a scandal.Marshall Gramm, an economics professor at Rhodes College (Tenn.), faces a lifetime ban after being charged with improperly accessing confidential health records for thousands of horses, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) said in a statement Monday.Gramm denied that he used illegal tactics.HISA alleges that Gramm used this unauthorized access over a six-week period from May to June to access health information of horses that was intended only for veterinarians and the horses’ connections.It also claimed that Gramm attempted to conceal his identity using an automated method that made his access appear authorized.Over that six-week span, Gramm engaged in pari-mutuel wagering and claimed nine horses, who earned his racing team between $80,000-$90,000, according to HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus.“He had access to information that nobody else did,” Lazarus said during a press conference Monday addressing the scandal.“He was able to use that information to monetize that.

I don’t think anybody can debate the fact that if you have health horse information ahead of a claiming race and you make a claim based on that information that you have a massive advantage.”Lazarus said HISA would reimburse the previous owners of those horses and seek restitution from Gramm in court.Gramm did not deny accessing the information when approached by HISA investigators, but said in a statement on social media that he had broken no rules and would “vigorously defend” himself at his upcoming HISA hearing in September.“The information at issue was available through my authorized HISA account,” Gramm wrote on X on Monday afternoon.“Once logged into my account, I bypassed no security protocols or other safeguards to access the information.

Where I exercised poor judgment was in not bringing the vulnerability to HISA’s attention sooner after it became a public story.”Gramm’s poor judgment could result ...