And I'll add that the Round Table's blanket insult of hardworking and honest horsemen contributes far more to any negative perception of the sport than anything out of my mouth.

i saw a report on the open letter from the THA.
any idea what pletcher meant about taking a new POV during this years triple crown?

and siena, i'm sorry-but owners have the money-if they tell the trainer 'sign this' that trainer will most likely sign it. it's all well and good to have guts-but guts doesn't pay the bills. if someone is paying you a tidy sum to train for them, and you want to keep training for them, you'd sign it.

Why just single out the round table? These same "leaders" have been ripping the sport that they lead over the made up issue of "raceday" medication for years now. The bombastic, negative language is coming from them. They cast doubt on any improvements and continue to push for something that isnt going to happen which of course makes us look even worse.

Do you recall when Lasix was first introduced to either Standardbred or TB racing? I am thinking 1977/78?

http://www.drf.com/news/lasix-demyst...ing-without-it

I'm pretty sure the first place to start to make public lasix use was Maryland in the late 70's. They used to put out a list and post it. There was controversy about its use mostly in NY in the mid 80's. However since then there has been very little talk about it until a few years ago.