Scuds,
In what i do, its my job to identify talent.
I'm not a professional gambler, I think that day to day gambling has become vey difficult with the mass marketed sheets, selling of clocker info, and all the info that is available in the DRF for five bucks. In the days of my youth, in the 80's and early to mid 90's guys who kept track of tariner switches(which were NOT listed in the DRF), breeding(which was NOT listed in the DRF), trainer stats(which were NOT listed in the DRF), biases(which nobody reported in the DRF or elsewhere as well as bad trips), and using sheets(which used to be used by a small number of guys instead of mass marketed), I remember when they were the key to the vault.
Not anymore. Other than some pik-6 scores this year with Lans and a pair of huge hits on BC Day and Derby day(huge overpayments in comparison to what they would have paid on a "regular" racing day without the pumped up handle, do you really think Barbaro over BC over Step would pay 11,500 on a regular racing day? Try 3 grand maybe) I find it hard to win consistently anyplace.
Beyer and Crist and Litfin are dead right as far as i can see. Playesr used to be able to grind away day afetr day and make a few bucks consistenty if they were sharp. Now its more like a few big scores a year have to make a you a winner, and its nowhere near as fun as it used to be in the old days.

I have no problem passing the poly/cushion tracks and not in one post, NOT ONE!! have you heard me complain that I blew a bet on this stuff. Its because I'm not playing it.
But when I see clearly superior horses getting trounced by gerbils, yeah i have a problem with that.
As far as your contention that these surfaces play unbiased? Are you ****ing serious? try telling that to anyone who ran a horse at keeneland who had speed, see if they think these tracks are "fair".
I like to see talent rewarded, and I don't see how a clearly inferior filly to the runner up staggering home ahead of the other staggerers proves anything other than she destested it a little less than the others.
Do you really think that Belgravia could beat Notional on the dirt? Even come within the same area code?
The days will be upon us next year when trainers and owners begin shipping horses with dirt talent out of town and away to dirt tracks.
It won't happen yet, because SA will be racing on dirt(can't start soon enough for me!!!!!!!) and guys will stick around with cushion failures to race on dirt there.
But follow the trends, Cali trainers are already setting up shop in the east with a division of runners, and I hear more are going to happen.
Those are trainers planning for the future Scuds, they know owners will grow tired fast of horses who have ability and aren't putting out on synthetic surfaces who cost a bundle losing and that they will ship these horses East. They don't wanna lose these horses in the future and will open these cross country divisions so that if a talented horse won't put out on it, that they won't lose the horse to another East Coast trainer, they can simply move it to the other division they have with a dirt track.