Richard,
I appreciate the nomination but will respectfully decline.
My wagering and overall interest in the game are about 10% of what they were for over 30 years. The sad truth of the matter is I do not consider myself a “horse player†any longer. I’m a Saturday & big day tourist. My weekday activity is nominal and I truly no longer enjoy the challenge of solving the daily puzzle. I find it difficult to really do the necessary work due to being sick and tired of the first and foremost factor of which juice trainers are in the heat & is this their spot. Which of the 2 or 3 big outfits entries in the heat all with common ownership interests is well meant today? Will the Bots hammer my 10/1 shot down to 3/1 etc.... I could ramble on like a babbling idiot for several pages and it’s all been said 1,000 times before.......................
The old adage of reaping what we sow is spot on here applying to every bad business decision the entire industry has made for the past 40 years. Top to bottom breeders, owners, trainers, executives have unanimously chosen the path of greed, stupidity & short sightedness, a lethal combination. We the punters bitch about it but continue to fuel the engine even though you would be hard pressed to find anyone in the game who will admit to the whole enchilada being contingent on our dollars flowing through the windows.
The Stronach group had an epiphany about race day meds in Cali, Gulfstream is fine though with at least a half dozen trainers who should be banned for life on the grounds. One can site example after example of turning a blind eye to the blatant cheats that fill the entry box. They are about 3 things handle, handle & handle. Juice trainers with big stables make for big fields with 12 & 13 race cards that draw bots, they by-passed the rebate houses and gave direct high rebates to the computer teams and draw out post times by 5 minutes or more to suck in every dollar. Ritvo went out to Cali to shake things up, make bigger fields and increase handle. He twisted trainers arms and threatened to pull stalls for those who did not enter, discouraged scratching, etc...
Lasix is a very small component to the overall equation. I see and respect Jerry Brown’s point, especially since we have bred bleeders for the past 30 plus years.
Whichever side of the long debate you choose, a masking agent, performance enhancer or necessity to equine athletes safety? We are stuck with it due to breeding infirm stock for far too long. Cold turkey would create chaos and take 3-5 years to sort out who needs it and who doesn’t.
Are the Stronach’s, NYRA, Churchill Downs, etc. willing to bite the bullet and live with less days, less races, shorter fields, a lot less handle for the necessary time frame to go drug free? My friend Rezlegal told me a good litigator never asks a question he doesn’t already know the answer to...... 😎
None of these issues landed on planet Hellmer’s Yesterday.... This perfect storm has been percolating for almost 40 years. It’s boiling over and now the main stream media and politicians want to jump in and fix it.....
Good Luck,
Frank D.
