Not at all. It's fact. She been in the game over 20 years. The fact that you can't accept that she faced bias is amazing tunnel vision. She still made bad decisions. I'm not a perfect person and I don't expect it from anyone else. Show some empathy and act like you have made mistakes before.

Purposely cheating is not "making mistakes". It's premeditated race-fixing which has absolutely nothing to do with some perceived bias due to her tiddies and vag.

I do not have empathy for cheaters. You apparently do, as long as you can draw some inane assumption that she got picked on for being a female. That makes it all okay-dokey.

Ok, dude. You be you.

Must be very comforting living in a world where everything is good or bad and black or white. Anyhoo in about a year or so perhaps the legal processes will resolve Linda Rice's issues.

Im sure it’s not exactly black and white....but she definitely did something wrong. The guys at NYRA didn’t get fired for nothing. She was paying them for info.

That’s a huge advantage over other barns. Especially smaller barns who struggle to make it.

What’s her defense exactly?

I am sure she did some stuff that she wishes she hadn't. She should be held accountable for those transgressions. It's a small community of people and professional and personal boundaries can get smeared. It happens, people cross the line she and a few others within NYRA got caught they need to be dealt with. The punishment should be fair that is all I am suggesting. Meanwhile, she will be running horses in her name for the foreseeable future, right?

I’m not sure. Probably until her appeal is over.

What do you think is fair?

Max a year suspension. Remember it took two to tango, and if other trainers were wetting their beaks as well, which I think is likely the playing field wasn't as slanted as if it was just her. This is white-collar cheating and should be dealt with with a stern hand. You want her to "sling hash" the rest of her life because she bought employee X 1000 amazon gift cards when the max employee X was allowed to receive was 50 bucks. I don't know she made some awful choices, but she wasn't hopping horses up. She cared for the athletes well. I am assuming she paid her help reasonably well, nor was she defrauding owners. Give her 6-12 months in the penalty box set an example to her and the staff, and IMO that is a healthy compromise. Not everybody has H Graham's accent, Atras's alchemy. Rice has been a reasonably good look for the sport. I would not be thrilled to see her slinging hash vs training horses.

You’re assuming a lot.

She’s been suspended for medication violations before Freddy. She was defrauding her fellow trainers.

I’m not saying she should be slinging hash either but she’s also no friend to bettors with the endless scratching of horses.

There was a bit of a blow up a couple years back when she dropped Kid Cruz--a multiple graded stakes winner of nearly $800K, and her only Triple Crown starter to date--in a mid-level claimer and watched him pull up bad and get vanned off (a claim was voided).

Has a relatively high number of fatal injuries over the past 10 years as well.

Pretty much the thinking of everyone once they get caught.

3 years and 50 grand.....I think we are past reasonable doubt. :rolleyes:

Anyone who can justify cheating shows a lot about their own integrity(lack of). None of these trainers have a god given right to be a licensed trainer, it is a privilege. The real punishment should be a lifetime ban. When the punishment is extensive, then people will respect the rules. This will be a huge step in putting an end to the cheating.

As it stands now, she will appeal and it will be reduced to a lower punishment. She will be back looking for new ways to sidestep rules. As they all have done for decades.

Need to punish the owners who are the ones knowingly using trainers who push the envelope.

You punish the owners By banning all horses under offending trainer for the duration of suspension. No running under a Beard and they can't be transferred to another trainer.

A lifetime ban?

LMAO

Since when has simply increasing the penalties for something resulted in a greater deterrent effect? If anything, people will just try harder not to get caught.

Would owners ever use this trainer agin after having to endure this? Would said trainer or owner ever want to risk getting shut down for an extended period? Otherwise business as usual. seek the high percentage guys who push the envelope. When he gets caught you lose a purse. Horse runs under beard or gets transferred. Insanity.