What the &@$! Is going on?

[Dana666]

I hear what you\'re saying.

I just meant when a trainer suddenly claims a horse who runs a top of say an 8 and then runs a negative number for the new barn, and the trainer does it again and again, you get a feeling he\'s not on the level. That\'s all I meant. It\'s not about one time, it\'s about a pattern.

It would be a big research project to really look into this. I\'m sure some people have attempted it. I knew a girl in AK who kept a lot of records of violations in California trainers. It could be done, but I\'m not sure anyone would really care.

In any event, the violations should be of public record and easily accessible and they\'re not. There should be a national database where you could look up any trainer and see his or her violations at the very least.

Take care & best of luck.

[P-Dub]

When it comes to this stuff, I\'ll take Sighthound\'s opinion over most on this board.

Look, if anyone is that paranoid about \"cheaters\" and the like, its real simple.  Quit. Stop playing.

I can appreciate OPs memories with his grandfather, I was touched by it also. (I just returned from the cemetery, visiting my mother on her birthday).  I would also suggest that memories of race track visits, and the current state of racing are two completely separate things.

There is some form of \"cheating\" in virtually every form of competition. Everyone is looking for an edge.

As for the \"move up\" trainers, they don\'t win every race. I bet against a Ness horse last weekend at Pimlico, the horse was odds on. I didn\'t say...\"oh, there\'s a Ness horse. I have no chance of winning\".  I did what most people should do.  I looked at the tote board, and let the odds determine whether or not I wanted to wager my money. The odds on Ness horse ran out of the money, and I cashed a nice ticket.

I\'m not going to debate anyone about \"move up\" trainers, \"cheaters\", and the like.  People have already made up their minds, and nothing will change it.

This game is about odds and probability. The paranoia about drugs and cheaters clouds judgment. I\'ve seen the trainers listed win races at nice mutuels, with horses that figured on paper. They didn\'t win because of some unforeseen \"move up\" out of nowhere.

[sighthound]

Violations in New York, Kentucky and California are on the internet.

And good luck to you, too :-)

[plasticman]

Bob Baffert will be smilin Bob on Derby day, all will be forgiven and forgotten and it will be business as usual. Meanwhile, Rudy Rodriguez will be trying to convince the powers that be that he deserves a license to run in Ky. Rudy will go in front of the \'principal\' and hope to not get detention. Baffert, on the other hand, won\'t have any problems with his license in any state, no matter how many horses he has die on the spot for \'unknown reasons\'

Great game.

[sighthound]

Read the update to the Bloodhorse story - Bloodhorse got the facts wrong about Baffert.  http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/77495/chrb-no-spike-in-sudden-deaths

[TGJB]

I could be reading that wrong but it looks like they dispute that the total number had spiked, not that a large number were Baffert\'s.

[sighthound]

Naw, they also got the Baffert numbers wrong - unless I misread that (said 7 but was only 4)   They listed all the other trainers who had deaths, too.

You know what\'s interesting about that?  Arthur says 40% of sudden deaths cardiac (means ruptured heart or aorta, stuff like that) 20% unknown never discovered (probably heart arrhythmia) and 40% pulmonary or pulmonary edema.  That last one is mostly EIPH.

Average 20 deaths a year, that\'s 8 deaths now even with lasix.  What will happen if we go to no drugs on day of event at all?

[touchgold]

Jerry, regarding these trainers, does the ownership come into play? For example, Palace Malice owned by dogwood, which from everything I have ever seen is as old school as it gets. Would Cot instruct pletcher to avoid any \"questionable\" practices? Or is it just win at any cost?