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[mountainman]

I can't think of a fellow official, or many horse trainers..jocks..agents..etc, that do NOT plan on pursuing a steward's position. The accreditation schools keep churning out candidates in ever-increasing numbers.

The obvious question that occurs closely mirrors my thinking on aspiring tv analysts: just where, in the world, do these ambitious legions even hope to find work??? The number of positions is sharply limited and will trend downward with the inevitable closing of certain venues. And that's not even accounting for the "social reckoning" almost sure to reach racing very soon, and thus accord preference to certain candidates.

My (well deserved) reputation as a degenerate/ scoundrel, of course, preceded me when I became an official long ago, thus I knew to never target a stewardship. There would have been talk.

And I've never regretted the alternative (downstairs) direction my career took. The construction of horseraces more interests me and better suits my abilities. But it does irritate me that many of these candidates have never worked 5 min as an official. That's like applying for the military with the stipulation you enter as a colonel, having no idea what the majors, captains and privates do.

Even worse, lots of these aspirants wrongly envision a steward's job as easy and largely ceremonial. The position requires a broad spectrum of knowledge and hard work.

Sadly (and unlike actual racing offices, most of which function as meritocracies-the racing sec and ast sec being by far the smartest people in the room) political connections factor heavily into the hiring of stewards. Or at least, traditionally, they have. Here's hoping that changes.

And here's wishing the best of luck in finding actual jobs to the hordes of candidates being rolled out from stewards school. They will need it.