richie,

"If you have read this far, and are waiting for me to make a point, here it is: I feel like I would lose a slight advantage if the playing field is somehow leveled. I have gotten used to playing the game with the knowledge that there are supertrainers and what I call "stuportrainers", "

I'm glad you said it and not me.

I made a similar point in the past and it wasn't received very well. IMO cleaning up the game is more about being fair to clean trainers, clean owners, and breeders that want to judge horses based on legitimate performances etc...

When it comes to the gambling aspect of it, for very serious horseplayers, I know a few with no inside information that have joked that they will have to quit betting if the game is cleaned up because they will lose their only edge.

The cheating is just another complicating factor (among many) for a handicapper to weigh. If you study trainers and get on or off certain things before the general public figures it out, there's an edge in that. Does it really matter if someone else has a bigger edge? They always will anyway because they know the day to day changes of the horses' health, fitness etc....

Personally, I think most of the people here love the sport so much they would just rather see it clean.