Lukas Handicapping Angle

Originally Posted by seconditis

Come on Richie and Oracle, I'm dying for the true story. Why does it need to stay secret?

It doesn't, but repeating "rumors" about zillionaires on a website is a very good way to get yourself in hot water. I'm like Col. Klink, I know nothing.

That was funny. Cracking the Da Vinci code is easier to crack than the trail of some of these deals--lol. But like Oracle--I know nothing.

[PSH]

You think Lucas' horses are reading Derby Trail?
Two winners the last two days. Yes, favorites but winners nontheless.

Whittingham said never knock a horse until he is dead
Maybe the same should apply to trainers....

Just a thought...

By the way, i am not a Wayne fan

LOL!! I was thinking the same thing when he won the race just now. he must have read Derbytrail and decided to show Playa a thing or two. lol

[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.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Going back to my previous post, I would have to say that the great majority of trainers out there don't really care how their owners do. Most trainers just want to make as much money as they can and they could care less how their owners do.
There are a few trainers out there that are really conscientious and really ethical and they treat the owner's money like it is their own money. I have this one trainer who is like that. He will see a horse that he loves at a sale and yet he won't let the owner buy it becasue he thinks the price is too high. The owner will want to bid $400,00 for the horse but the trainer won't let the owner go higher than $300,000 on the horse. There are so few trainers like this. Most trainers would not care how much the owner spends on the horse. Most trainers just want the horse and hope that the owner will pay whatever price it takes to get the horse. My one trainer who is so conscientious is very philosphical about the subject. I asked him why he would stop an owner from bidding on a horse that they both really like. Here is what he said: "If I let my owner overpay for horses, the owner will lose money in the long run. If he loses a lot of money, he will eventually quit the business. I want to keep him as an owner for a long time, so I will do everything I can to make sure that he makes money so he will last in the business." There are very few trainers with this kind of attitude.

[Dunbar]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

Going back to my previous post, I would have to say that the great majority of trainers out there don't really care how their owners do. Most trainers just want to make as much money as they can and they could care less how their owners do.
There are a few trainers out there that are really conscientious and really ethical and they treat the owner's money like it is their own money. I have this one trainer who is like that. He will see a horse that he loves at a sale and yet he won't let the owner buy it becasue he thinks the price is too high. The owner will want to bid $400,00 for the horse but the trainer won't let the owner go higher than $300,000 on the horse. There are so few trainers like this. Most trainers would not care how much the owner spends on the horse. Most trainers just want the horse and hope that the owner will pay whatever price it takes to get the horse. My one trainer who is so conscientious is very philosphical about the subject. I asked him why he would stop an owner from bidding on a horse that they both really like. Here is what he said: "If I let my owner overpay for horses, the owner will lose money in the long run. If he loses a lot of money, he will eventually quit the business. I want to keep him as an owner for a long time, so I will do everything I can to make sure that he makes money so he will last in the business." There are very few trainers with this kind of attitude.

Very good stuff, Rupert. A nice example of how doing the right thing can also make good monetary sense (for both trainer and owner) in the long run.

--Dunbar

Originally Posted by PSH

You think Lucas' horses are reading Derby Trail?
Two winners the last two days. Yes, favorites but winners nontheless.

Whittingham said never knock a horse until he is dead
Maybe the same should apply to trainers....

Just a thought...

By the way, i am not a Wayne fan

Whittingham said never knock a horse until he is dead... I don't know if he really said it...but god I like it.. Good one!!

Ez