Everything in life has some element of dishonesty, there's no getting around that.

But. Being a winning horseplayer is possible. If you are truly losing because of dishonesty, than that would mean by definition that NO ONE wins. We both know thats not true, there ARE winning and very successful horseplayers out there.

Look at it this way. Lets say that 1 pct of all the races are totally fixed (i don't think this is true, but lets just say that it is for argument sake)

In those 1 pct of fixed races, lets say you wager on 1,000 races per year and 1 % are fixed. Thats means you are wagering on 10 fixed races per year. Now, there will be times when you will be wagering on the 'horse who is supposed to win' and times when you won't. The only way you can lose a fixed race is for the fixers to find a way to get the horse you bet on *the best horse in the race* to lose to an inferior animal. The chances of this happening are, at most, 1 out of 10. So, you are talking about 1 race out of 1,000 where you got taken advantage of.

If you are a long run winning player, that 1 race isn't going to 'break you'

Dont worry about the dishonesty because the small amount of crookedness (if there even is any) isn't going to matter to your bottom line. The other 999 races where its you against the general public is what matters.