With respect and affection sorry but I think you're both completely off base.
I don't give a crap which writers like him or kiss up or whatever... they are NOT the ones who decide the best human interest slant.
Not sure about possible stories out there but they'll appear, one by one, and we'll see which flies. Example... Mark Valeski, the person, is a pool guy at a hotel in Bal Harbour. Apparently he's been there for over forty years so he's no kid... maybe there's some touching story about his current situation that the media can / will exploit. There will be something to tie it neatly with a bow and attempt a feeding frenzy.
Not to prove Cardus right or anything by having the only death post
in the thread but recent death, someone in the family with some kind of handicap, a horse who overcame great odds to recover from injury as a two year old, etc. That's the stuff they feed to the public... not Baffert.
The non-racing population will not give a damn about some wealthy, anonymous (he is to them) trainer who just returned from a multi-million dollar race, heart attack or no heart attack. They want to see themselves... hard working blue collar guy who bought the right horse or even a modern-day, quasi-Cinderella storylike like Repole (that
could be them) (he's got the large family angle too which is always good), the Funny Cide owners, etc.
That's how I see it anyway.