[Rupert Pupkin]

DWL was due to start winning a couple of races. He was 0 for 34 at Churchill going into this week. I wouldn't hold a short-term slump against someone. Anyone can have a short-term slump. I would be more concerned with his record for the year. For the year, he has over 200 starts and his winning percentage is 7%. That's really bad. I'm not expecting him to have a good year but I would expect him to do better than he's doing. By the end of the year, I think he'll have his winning percentage up to 10% or so. I think he was at 12% last year.
Just to be clear about my position on DWL, I do think he was the MVP of trainers in the 1980s. It doesn't really matter how he did it. The bottom line is that he did do it. To be a really successful trainer, it takes a lot more than just being a good trainer. Here are some of the important components to being really successful as a trainer: 1. Having good assisstants. 2. Having good vets. 3. Knowing how to use the vets properly. 4. Having good people skills. This would include keeping your owners happy, being a good public relations guy, being a good self-promoter, etc. 5. Being able to raise money. 6. Being well organized and knowing how to delegate. 7. Being good at picking out young horses, etc.
There are so many components. I'm sure you guys could come with 20 more of them. Anyway, the bottom line is that DWL did these things better than any other trainer in the 1980s. I have to give him credit for that.
On the other hand, there are many ways of judging success. Here is a hypothetical. Tell me who was more successful between Trainer A and Trainer B. Let's suppose that Trainer A gets his owners to spend $20 million. They end up winning some really big races and they get a few million dollars in purses. Overall though, they end up losing $5 million. Trainer B gets his owners to spend $2 million. They win a few big races but not nearly as many as Trainer A's owners. However, Trainer B's owners end up with a small profit. Who was more successful between Trainer A and Trainer B? It depends how you measure success. You could say that Trainer A was more successful because he won more big races and his horses earned more in purses. On the other hand, you could say that Trainer B was more successful becasue his owners made a profit.