House Subcommittee Hearings

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

I definitely did not forget. I work for a customer-driven company, I'm deeply involved with our handle and decision making at LAD. It's a great experience, I've learned a remarkable amount. I'm awfully lucky in that regard. At the same time, I've also had opportunities to meet with folks who question racing's integrity, whether or not they're betting on legitimate horses. It's a scary trend. And today's hearings certainly do not help the general populations perception. Neither did Barbaro, nor Eight Belles. So right now, given this proverbial status-quo, we are walking on some thin ice with the general wagering public, which as we both know, are our customers.

My biggest problem with todays hearings was that it was a foregone conclusion as to what was going to be said. No one was there to cast doubt on some of the crap that was spewed. Remember that i have been a horsetrainer for a long time. We get the "all the races are fixed" from unknowing people all the time. I tell them yeah they are fixed, we just work 365 days a year from dawn to dusk to cover our tracks.

The funny thing about barbaro and eight belles is that "drugs" didnt play a central role in either tragedy. It is like a rash of NFL players getting killed in auto accidents despite being clean (no DUI's) and the Congress holding hearings on NFL players using steroids because of it.

The theme of todays hearings was supposed to be (if you believe the title) about Breeding, breakdowns and drugs but it seemed that 2 of the topics were hardly touched on as was the second panel who were rushed through so somebody could make a tee time it seemed.

What needed to be done a long time ago was an NFL style PR campaign to basically trick the public into believing what we wanted them to believe, because they are now being tricked into believing what Congress seemingly wants them to believe. Because anyone who believes that the NFL doesn t have a major issue with drugs is kidding themselves as shown by the lineman who the feds are worried about being whacked because he turned into a snitch for them.