8/24 ATR: Serling, Baffert, Leslie Young, Billy Koch, Paddy Gallagher

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Servis didn't want to run him for $16k. That was West and Ben Glass. The mare hadn't thrown anything and was virtually given away and New Year's Day had been exported. West spends 5 million a year on 20 or so Classic prospects and wasn't that concerned with a home bred who had some issues at 2.

My complaint with negative overreaction to any effort by Maximum Security stems from the cherry picking of disdain. Many of those on the attack seem to conveniently bypass any critique of those within their circle, which I fully understand. There's always going to be 'move up' trainers and out-sized percentage types and as players we account for that in approach to our play.

I think the horse is a talent and enjoy his performances. And the hubbub they produce.

This is really unbelievable Steve. You're still going to be Jason Servis's defender? He didn't want to run him for a tag? Did he tell you this before he ever ran...or after...you know, the same time he was whining constantly how people were unfairly accusing him of being a cheater. You really need to get away from this. The guy is accused by the FBI of using performance enhancing drugs on his horses, and while he is innocent until proven guilty, there is a pretty damning case out there. If he's guilty, he has effectively stolen money from probably everyone that has ever bet horse races west of the Mississippi.

Here's the thing Steve, there is literally no trainer in the last decade that people have been more suspicious of than Servis. Spare me the "there's always going to be other move up trainer" BS, as this one was the king of the move ups, and now he's under Federal indictment. Let me know when the others that are supposedly conveniently ignored get locked up. Frankly, I don't hear a lot of horseplayers conveniently ignoring any of these guys. In fact, I hear a lot of reprehensible people accusing people that actually don't do this at all. Horseplayers are sick and tired of losing to horses they suspect were juiced, or missing out on large scores because even though they may have hit a Pick-5, their 15:1 shot that ran second to Servis at 3:5 probably should have won the race. So, like it or not, Maximum Security will always be the poster child for the deserved anger that people who bet their money, the people who support this game, have built up over years of frustration. Yes, it wasn't always in losing to Servis, but let's be honest, he stands for a lot of trainers that have frustrated horseplayers over the years.

It's not as though Maximum Security was the exception. He was discussed on the wire taps when Servis was looking for some way to pass the post race when he was running at Monmouth. Which brings up another issue....what about the horses? What about what happened to X Y Jet? Is this not also part of this sordid tale? How many other were there? There is simply no part of this story that isn't utterly disgusting, and while I firmly believe everyone deserves their day in court, and you are free to take any opinion you want, I am surprised that you still feel a need to defend Servis in any way. Maybe you are a far more magnanimous person than I am, but I have been betting and losing far too frequently to this guy, often for reasons that go way beyond handicapping. I'm fairly certain I am far from alone around here.

Is it fair that Maximum Security bears some of the brunt of this frustration? No, it was not his fault he was possibly given performance enhancing drugs, but it shouldn't be surprising to anyone, especially anyone that bets, that many horseplayers aren't among his biggest fans and defenders. Fortunately, he likely can't read, or isn't on social media, so he's likely blissfully unaware. Sometimes I wish I was too.