Re: How fast was it? (711 Views)
Posted by:
Barry Irwin (IP Logged)
Date: July 31, 2007 08:42PM
As for cheating and who is and who isn't, I would tend to agree with anything Jerry Brown came up with, because when one is doing the type of work he does, this person has the best evidence available. In these instances, the figures do not lie.
While cheating will never be totally eliminated, I think that if racing jurisdictions were really interested in finding out which trainers had become too hot, they would consult with a guy like Jerry, because his evidence doesn't lie.
From my perspective, I see some trainers that used to cheat that appear to have stopped, and a few others that have embraced the dark side.
The ones that have stopped have undoubtedly done so because they do not want to risk losing everything they have built up.
The ones that are still trying to take an edge are those desperados who are either too dumb to stop or too desperate.
Some trainers used to cheat to attract attention to their training prowess. Once they convinced some owners that they were geniuses, they weaned themselves off the juice.
Yet others joined the fray because they knew who was cheating with what juice and since these jerks were not being punished, the guys that joined the fray did so as a matter of survival.
The biggest culprit and the man that did more to advance a cheating culture was the former administrative head of the California Horse Racing Board Roy Wood, who cut deals, swept violations under the rug and by his actions encouraged trainers to use drugs.
It has taken a long time to change this California attitude, but I do see hopeful signs.
Interestingly, I wonder what the advent of Polytrack will be in California, as some trainers have become quite desperate to land in the winners circle of late. These guys may be prime candidate to return to their juicing.