Tessa Muir

Over the course of three panel sessions Tuesday during the latest Race Track Industry Symposium (RTIP) at Tucson, Arizona, more flesh was publicly added to the bones of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA). Nevertheless, overall specifics were pretty light on the ground--frustratingly so, for many--with an overarching message that the various medication and safety programs are very much a work in progress. Looming over proceedings was yesterday's news that Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit (Protonico), suffered an apparent sudden cardiac death after a scheduled workout at Santa Anita....

Still riding high from a scintillating victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf with fast-finishing Pizza Bianca (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), celebrity chef, restaurateur and owner/breeder Bobby Flay joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Tuesday afternoon. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Flay appreciated the significance of winning on racing's biggest stage with a homebred, teased a potential Royal Ascot trip with Pizza Bianca and discussed how he would approach racing's marketing challenges and more. Flay made a huge splash at...

We heard from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), its CEO Travis Tygart and the Director of Equine Science Dr. Tessa Muir last week when USADA released its anti-doping guidelines, rules and protocols. Once again, we saw that these are no-nonsense, dedicated people with a track record of cleaning up other sports. The release of the guidelines was an important step toward what will be a welcome change for racing--competent, dedicated policing from an outside entity replacing the current system, which just doesn't work. (Quotes from this story were taken...

  To coincide with the release of its anti-doping guidelines for the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's CEO Travis Tygart and Equine Program Director Tessa Muir joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday evening. Sitting down for an expansive, near hour-long interview as the Green Group Guests of the Week, Tygart and Muir broke down all facets of the potential uniform medication policies and regulations, talked about the varying  working relationships they've developed with state racing commissions, elucidated how testing and doping investigations would work under HISA...