Eric,
Great discussion. My posts are not meant to be judgmental; perhaps that cannot be avoided.
As for Scott Lake, I guess have a little less sympathy for him because a filly I own ran a winning race this past spring at Aqueduct off a very long layoff only to finish second to a filly that he had just claimed - and moved up ten lengths in less than 30 days. I heard conversation after the race that would lead one to believe that the reason for that filly's improvement was not, for want of a better phrase, just good training. That being said, I do not know what goes on in Mr. Lake's barn, and I am not about to speculate here.
I think we all know that there are legitimate ways to improve a horse's performance, as well as illegitimate ways. If an owner, as a client of any trainer, believes that the trainer is only using legitimate methods with his or her horses, then the owner's selection of the trainer is what it is; nothing more, nothing less. On the other hand, if the owner believed (or worse, knew) that the trainer employed illegitimate methods with his or her horses, then I do believe that the owner is condoning the behavior and complicit in its occurrence. I guess we can all reach our own conclusions about what that may then say about the owner.
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