Barry Irwin

[albany]

There is no question that Barry Irwin has done a great job for his clients and has many meaningful insights regarding the racing game. I was, however, somewhat troubled by his reference to lying trainers on national television. The audience included millions of casual racing fans and those who have very little, if any, knowledge of the sport. For many, the Derby broadcast could serve to ignite a lifetime of  interest in racing. Why discourage these potential fans by bluntly stating that many of racing\'s stars, its trainers, are dishonest?

I fully believe that Mr. Irwin, who is a relatively straight-shooter for a salesman, was telling the truth about his experiences with trainers. I just do not understand what was gained by his statements.

Albany

[plasticman]

Anyone who is destined to become a fan of racing isnt going to turn around and run the other way because they hear someone make a crack about a lying trainer. How about this analogy.
There are plenty of people in the country who own some sort of stocks on the US stock exchange, do you think that if someone on CNBC said that the CEO of a fortune 500 company was a liar, that would prompt a person who was a newbie to stocks to say, \"i was planning on investing in the stock market, but now i wont\'?

[albany]

I hope your right, but your analogy doesn\'t work.

Barry Irwin is not just a commentator on television. As the head of the syndicate that owns the Derby winner his position is analogous to a CEO. So, it is a CEO that says his industry is rife with dishonesty. As true as that may be, it\'s just plain bad PR.

I suspect that Mr. Irwin wishes that he held his fire.

[Bigredgoer]

I thought it was  honest and quite refreshing to hear someone speak the truth and not give us the usual sugarcoated BS...

[BitPlayer]

I\'m guessing that was Mr. Irwin\'s standard response to the question he was asked, and that I\'m sure he\'s been asked several times in other contexts since he moved the syndicate\'s horses to the Motion barn. In the excitement of the moment, he repeated it without a lot of time for
a more measured response.  I\'d say he deserves a pass.

I\'m also not sure it was the wrong thing to say.  A little sunlight might be a good disinfectant for an industry rife with deceit in so many of its aspects. How many new owners have been driven out of the game by dishonest trainers?

[joekay]

I\'d be interested to know who\'s on that list of \"lying trainers\".  Anybody know who they are?

[plasticman]

I hope i\'m right too.

Barry isnt a \'spokesman\' for the game, he\'s just a guy who had a few dollars and decided to get an owners license. Anyone can become an owner, it takes zero skill. All it takes is a few bucks and the ability to fill out some paperwork and get a license.

If you took a poll of new fans and asked them this question, \"if you found out that not every participant in horse racing was 100% honest 100% of the time, would you still want to be a part of this sport?\" do you think many of them would say, \"oh my god do you mean that not everyone is 100% honest all the time? Gee, i dont know if i want to be involved then, thanks for telling me\"

[miff]

x

[TGJB]

Sunlight is the best disinfectant. The dishonesty won\'t go away as long as we sweep it uner the rug, regarding trainers or any of the other BS that goes on in this business.

[colt]

Barry Irwin will be on WFAN (660AM in NY - http://player.radio.com/player/RadioPlayer.php?version=1.1.9780&station=62) around 1:20PM today.

[Caradoc]

Now that Barry Irwin has implied that Todd Pletcher has lied to him, perhaps Barry would be willing to re-consider his numerous posts here defending Todd?  Or was he referring to all of the trainers he employed except Todd?

[Deadrockstar]

He rocks.

He said Pletcher didn\'t lie to him, nor Wayne Catalano.

He also says trainers are the only one who want the juice to stay in racing.

Also said Churchill sold them a bunch of crappy seats that he had to take back.

Said trainers tend not to give bad news about horses infirmities like they should.

Says AK vans to Fair Hill tomorrow. Vans to Pimlico the night before the race. Says horse will handle the 2 week gap just fine.

[Caradoc]

Neil Drysdale, Jimmy Toner, John Sadler and the many other ex-TV trainers not excepted must be pleased by the Pletcher/Catalano comment.  Wonder if any of them are on the line to their lawyers today?

I kept checking the Team Valor website and its Facebook page yesterday, expecting the back-pedaling to start (or, in the spirit of this thread, the sunlight to disappear).  48 hours instead of 24 . . . must have been some celebrating going on.

[TGJB]

He\'s right about most of that.

[Halo Fire]

TGJB.
No disrespect but please disclose if you recommend transactions to Team Valor.