Quote:
Originally Posted by _ed_
If there were any genuine animal-neglect issues surrounding a Breeders' Cup-winning trainer, I feel like PETA would have made a huge deal about it straight away.
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Not even PETA. They did a piece on her for NBC and their research would've turned it up if there were reports in the media. If there was any merit, I find it hard to believe Mac, etc wouldn't have already been aware and nobody would've criticized them for pulling their horse and saying 'sorry I know he's a BC horse, but we can't stand for this.' Nobody would've blamed them which means either they knew and didn't care or there's nothing to care about in the first place.
I dunno about you guys but my radar went up during the trophy presentation and an interview with Mac. He was talking about the Runhappy Team and mentioned the people involved which you could read as 'oh ok there's several people he wants to acknowledge' but I expected him to mention her more prominently and when he didn't, I started paying attention. You know what many BC owners do? Thank the trainer profusely or at the very least they're the first one you bring up and you make a bigger deal than just throwing her name sort of in there with your racing manager and some others. Most owners would know a young trainer like that getting her first BC win would be a huge deal. Did he mention that or anything about her having a bright future? Nope. One of the reasons he picked her was being a young person willing to get up early/stay late, work hard etc. but there was just something weird about the tone. It diminished her accomplishment to me because it implied she was just willing to put in the effort rather than a person with a particular talent that just needed a break. Like any warm body could've done it. She met his needs at the time and was someone he thought wouldn't give him any difficulty because she needed the job. A higher profile trainer'd cost more and might bow up on some demand.
One of the reasons Runhappy was put in her care was supposedly her experience as a vet tech. I wouldn't be shocked if she attempts to rehab other horses and we all know they aren't always in stellar shape or devoid of mud from rolling. There's no telling what they looked like or if there were ignorant people overreacting is what I'm saying. Til she got Runhappy she was a struggling trainer, and I could very well believe she owed someone money from before, but that ain't a reason to fire her on its face. I do know some people claiming to rehab that are actually well-intentioned hoarders. That's always a possibility I suppose, but I really think there's Mac-related shenanigans in any case.