96186-Veterinary Services

The Texas Racing Commission is soliciting qualified Veterinarian Physicians to provide veterinary medical services at licensed racetracks across Texas under solicitation number 476-24-011, with responses due by August 31, 2026. The contract opportunity, classified under NAICS code 541940, targets professionals licensed in Texas with an active DEA number and demonstrable experience in equine or racetrack veterinary practice. Individual blanket contracts will not exceed $150,000 per fiscal year, with services rendered on an as-needed basis aligned with the state’s horse racing calendar, including Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse, and mixed meets at venues such as Lone Star Park, Sam Houston Race Park, Retama Race Park, and Gillespie County Fair. Work includes pre-race soundness inspections, emergency triage, drug sample collection, postmortem examinations, and monitoring of morning training sessions, with all duties performed on-site without additional travel compensation. Invoices must be submitted weekly via email to payables@txrc.texas.gov, itemized with purchase order numbers and approved by both the Veterinary Medical Director and Deputy Executive Director, and payments are issued at a rate of $125 per hour via direct deposit. Evaluation prioritizes demonstrated competence, with weighted criteria emphasizing expertise in lameness evaluation and communicable disease knowledge (40%), followed by experience in regulating horse racing (25%) and equine practice (25%), with lesser consideration given to other veterinary experience (10%). The selection process involves a comprehensive document review and may include interviews, and award is based on a trade-off methodology rather than lowest price. Contractors must comply with extensive special requirements, including mandatory fingerprinting and background checks, E-Verify enrollment, cybersecurity training per Texas law, drug-free workplace standards, and prohibitions against boycotting Israel or energy companies. Additional obligations include maintaining $1 million in liability insurance, indemnifying the state against claims, adhering to data security protocols, and ensuring no conflicts of interest or employment of recently departed TXRC personnel. All contracts are subject to audit for seven years after final payment, and vendors must affirm compliance with state laws on child support, firearms, foreign terrorist organizations, and human trafficking. The contract includes provisions for unilateral amendment, funding out clauses, and survival of key obligations post-termination, with no formal line-item pricing or CLINs specified due to its time-and-materials structure.