Mr Irwin:

Who am I to impugn your integrity? I believe the answer might be that in the scheme of racing, I am an anonymous recreational horseplayer who has the additional perspective of a few years on the backside a long time ago. I guess the answer is that I am "NOBODY".

You, sir, on the other hand are SOMEBODY. Your Team Valor operation, along with Cot Campbell's Dogwood operation, were pioneers in the syndication of quality horseflesh. As more and more of the blueblooded owner/breeders exit the game, the way that these syndicates operate is filling a void in a game which has more than enough problems.

I will review the history of my problem with what I believe is a bit of hypocrisy on your part. You hired a young midwestern trainer and turned over a string of horses to him. Soon after he began working for you, he ran afoul of state racing authorities on a medication issue. You made a well reasoned and widely distributed announcement that Team Valor had a zero tolerance stance on illegal medications. You relieved this young trainer of his duties (I believe you eventually rehired this young trainer). I felt bad for the young trainer but felt that your stance was admirable.

Fast forward to the opening of the 2005 Saratoga meet. You were gracious enough to tip us off to a Team Valor runner who had undergone a procedure for an entrapped epiglottis. At the time, I couldn't help but ask you why a Ralph (?)Nicks gets canned but a Todd Pletcher who has a Mepivocaine suspension pending on appeal (since 2004!) continued to train Team V horses. And the argument went around and around regarding the differences betwen the two positives and the relative harmlessness of Mepivocaine.

My point at the time, and now, Mr. Irwin, is that zero tolerance can mean only one thing. You had a chance to make a huge statement by pulling the Team V string from Todd Pletcher until his medication issues were resolved. It would have been the first time that I can recall that SOMEBODY took horses away from a very high profile trainer on the basis of zero tolerance towards prohibited medication. It would have been a very strong statement

I also made the point that I thought that it was ironic that PVal was aboard a major Team V winner north of the border, but I do not care to argue the distinctions between human drug use (a disease?) and equine medication positives.

We both love racing, Mr. Irwin, but you rely on it for your livelihood. You are SOMEBODY who can make a difference with regards to some of racing's issues. In my opinion, you missed an opportunity to make a statement that probably needed to be made; the fact that you missed this opportunity does not undermine your integrity in any way, but gives me the right to question your commitment to drug free racing.

I appreciate your willingness to discuss racing issues on this forum.