atrab subject..the scr of horses at bel

The only time I have a problem with a scratch is when the trainer believe his horse has no chance in winning or the race came up too tough. To me this is crap. Scratch a horse to protect the horse, don't scratch a horse for your own ego. What I think should happen is this and I have been in favor of this for many years.

I think each trainer has to put up $1000 to run a horse in a race. If that horse runs in the race then the trainer gets the $1000 back regardless of where that horse finished. The trainer has up to 1 hour before posts are to be drawn to scratch the horse. If the trainer scratches the horse in time then the trainer gets the $1000 back. Now if a vet or someone other than the trainer scratches horse after the posts have been drawn then the trainer gets the $1000 back. If the trainer scracthes the horse after posts have been drawn, then the trainer loses that $1000. That $1000 then goes into a jockeys fund