"Dancing Northern" Then West to East With Javier Castellano

[docicu3]

Originally Posted by Kasept

LB,

Not sure that after the fact financial penalties are enough of a motivator to change behavior. I think the underlying theme for the disdain for Castellano's performance(s) from people here, stems more from a growing displeasure with the lack of pro-active action from American big track stewards on this topic than with Castellano and his weekend antics specifically.

This issue has been broached repeatedly on ATR, especially with Tony Black on his segment, and the reality seems to be that the days of the stewards' film patrol set-downs with riders, particularly younger riders, is long gone. There was a time when dangerous riding brought instant recognition from the 'stand', and attempts were made to educate the offending jock(s) in film sessions on dark days. But I don't think any venue is doing that anymore.

The general/casual indifference from stews in this country, on this issue, is a real concern. No where else in the world is there such a non-policy towards over-aggressive effort, or conversely non-effort...

Why has that become the norm Steve? Not to suggest "Jockey's" is reality, but they spent a recent episode on Corey Nakatani and the CHRB with C Nak called in by the stews to process a ride that was borderline seemingly implying that the dark day school was still a practice of significant prevalence. What does NYRA admin say about this issue off the record when you ask guys like Dr Hill and Mr Baeza, if they are the guys still in charge of the stews?

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by docicu3

Why has that become the norm Steve? Not to suggest "Jockey's" is reality, but they spent a recent episode on Corey Nakatani and the CHRB with C Nak called in by the stews to process a ride that was borderline seemingly implying that the dark day school was still a practice of significant prevalence. What does NYRA admin say about this issue off the record when you ask guys like Dr Hill and Mr Baeza, if they are the guys still in charge of the stews?

Not sure when/where/why this non-action commenced.. It may fall into the same bailiwick of moderate or general inaction against positive violations, which is based in no small part on concern over legal wrangling that can result. State budgets are limited and it seems that few jurisdictions have the wherewithal these days to follow through on the drawn out appeal process of our current legal climate.

Since state run agencies like Racing Boards are invariably connected to state governments, it isn't totally surprising that there is a concerted effort to avoid things things like legal tie-ups. And just as with efforts to curb trainer/vet envelope-pushing, failure to adequately discipline careless or lazy jocks is a disservice to the game's safety and integrity.