conflicts of interest and horse racing

[senortout]

First Race, Santa Anita 1 1/16 miles, MSW purse 48,000 limited to 3YO's

1)Overland Trail...owned by Bob and Bev Lewis, big big spendors at the sales ring. Million dollar purchase FTFEB 2005 Trainer DW Lukas
1a)Point Of Impact...Bob and Bev Lewis(hence the coupling)$800,000 purchase KeeSept 2004 Trainer Baffert
skip to the five
5)Three Points...purchased privately for an undisclosed sum...like the 1a, also a Point Given sired Colt. Partly or wholly owned by and trained by Baffert!

These (3) faced each other in their last race, 1 and 1a were an entry that day as well, were 0.30 to the dollar and the 5 was 2.8-1, and, while finishing 2nd, still managed to be the chalky entry.

My point is(pun) ;-) California is trying to decide whether to do away with coupled horses even as we speak!
It doesn't say anywhere in black and white that racing has to keep the betting public's best interests in the picture. It was always 'let the buyer beware' BUT THIS IS BORDERING ON THE SUBLIMELY RIDICULOUS.

Tom

ps Especially since they set up the race all over again for today.....wink wink, nudge, nudge, nobody'll notice......

[ken]

I do not understand how the lukas horse helped the other win by beibg coupled. How do owners/trainers cheat by coupling or uncoupling horses? Did it happen this time?
I'm for uncoupling- each horse should run as a unit of bet. Can make for bigger payouts if the weaker of the entry wins.

[sace5326]

im not sure but i dont think doing away the coupling of horses will solve much.ny does well and many other tracks.i think some of cals problems lie in the number of horses.why with the purse amounts they have dont they attract larger fields?they attract the quality horses but not enough.i did read something in the drf a few months ago about some of the trainers pulling their horses out and moving east i cant remember if its a mgt problem or what.if i can find the article ill pass it on.



scott

[ken]

Lowest purse at these are about $4,000.00.

[senortout]

I think you're missing my point which isn't hard to do(I don't always express myself all that well)

Lukas horse didn't help Baffert horse win in this case. But Baffert ran two in there, one of which he either owns partially or completely, not sure.

How would you feel if you were an owner like Bob and Beverly Lewis and your own trainer kept running his horse against you, and sometimes beating up on your horse as well? And you laid out 1 million for the horse(undoudebtly on Baffert's say-so)?

This is a genuine conflict of interest, and, in my opinion, should not be allowed. The horses trained by the same trainer should be the entry coupled, not the horses owned by the same owners. Regardless of the size of the field.

Since there* is *a difference in the quality of trainers, this puts the race back in the hands of the mindful handicapper.

Thanks for hearing me out.

Tom

[McSchell_Racing_Inc]

I think you're missing my point which isn't hard to do(I don't always express myself all that well)

Lukas horse didn't help Baffert horse win in this case. But Baffert ran two in there, one of which he either owns partially or completely, not sure.

How would you feel if you were an owner like Bob and Beverly Lewis and your own trainer kept running his horse against you, and sometimes beating up on your horse as well? And you laid out 1 million for the horse(undoudebtly on Baffert's say-so)?

This is a genuine conflict of interest, and, in my opinion, should not be allowed. The horses trained by the same trainer should be the entry coupled, not the horses owned by the same owners. Regardless of the size of the field.

Since there* is *a difference in the quality of trainers, this puts the race back in the hands of the mindful handicapper.

Thanks for hearing me out.

Tom

Lots of time trainers will have 2 of the same tpe horses in the barn, Different owners should be allowed to run under the same trainer and also owned by the trainer, He deserves to run also!,How really is it a conflict of interest?.Doesnt matter who is in the race, There is always one to beat!