Quote:
Originally Posted by IamNewt
I read and re-read your post and I can't quite understand why you can state Ferriola and Barrera clearly cheated and give the pass to Baffert.
What am I missing?
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I believe he's being sarcastic. He does believe Baffert is cheating. He's more or less complaining that when gamblers believed Ferriola and Barrera were cheating they dealt with it because there was no proof. But almost no one came out and defended them just because there was no proof. Similar was true of Navarro and to a lesser extent Servis. I think he's questioning why so many people still believe Baffert is not cheating despite what he views as similar qualities as the other "suspect" trainers among his horses.
I think the answer is that he gets the best stock in the country every year, trains his horses hard (which works but also probably leads to more injuries) and is not really what I would consider a move up trainer. The evidence of horses magically improving beyond what would be considered normal development after he first gets them is limited compared to the others.
I'm on the 50 yard line. I see things that make me suspicious, but he could just as easily be using legal veterinarian methods and treatments, taking gray area risks that have seemingly already gotten him in trouble, and just be a great trainer with the best horses.