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[Sysonby]

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

I don't think it's healthy for the industry when a handful of trainers are getting all the best horses (dirt or turf). It makes it harder for other trainers and jockeys to make a very good living and gamblers are disadvantaged because the trainers are spotting their horses in ways to avoid competition against themselves when possible. That makes for fewer betting opportunities.

The bigger problem is the potential for politics or collusion when it comes to the way races are run, penalties for drugs, and DQs,

Who wants to DQ a horse trained by one of those trainers when he can pack his bags and go somewhere else and really damage your stakes program?

Who wants to suspend him?

Baffert had another horse this weekend that demolished a main competitor at the start of a race that wasn't taken down. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me a dozen times and I'm calling bullshit. Things happen at the start of races all the time. That's especially true of 2yos. But imho the list of Baffert horses that have wiped out competitors at the start, seemed to be running interference in the early part of the race for another Baffert horse, or floated a competitor wide to help another Baffert horse is too long for this to all be an accident.

Agreed