Quote:
Originally Posted by Duvalier
It's kind of funny the only track to really take a stand against one of the "usual suspects" was Calder when they banned Ziadie. Most other tracks seem to welcome those type of guys with open arms since they fill races...seems like the track could care less what the perception is or how unbelievable their stats get. Just help fill up the cards.
Tough to really accuse these guys without any real evidence. Their horses obviously pass all the testing procedures. On the plus side...I bet they have a bunch of happy owners when they're withdrawing checks from the bookkeeper's office.
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The irony is that these guys actually depress the number of entries. People simply dont want to run against them and often wind up scratching, making the races even easier. If I were running a racetrack the first thing i would do is call a guy like Guererro in and say thanks for participating, we are not going to take your entries any longer because it is obvious that you are simply too good for our track. You have 24 hours to vacate, thanks for coming. A lot more effective than wasting time and money (though only about 2% of the time and money needed is being spent) chasing the newest hop.
The guy in charge of a racetrack is supposed to try to field competitive racing with good field size and quality that fits the purse structure. Guys like FCC or trainers like the usual suspects harm a racetracks business though most track execs don't seem to have any clue that this is so. I'm sure that we would get sued a few times but the track would almost certainly win.
I'm sure that this would piss some trainers/owners off but the vast majority of other owners, trainers, fans/gamblers, etc, would find a much better game without them. Of course this will never happen. Instead we have the geniuses in KY battling over the penalty phase of out of competition testing that will almost assuredly never actually catch anyone.