Jerry Hollendorfer Banned from Santa Anita

[NY BRED]

looking ahead;

Jerry moves to NY, races downstate and the Spa with zero breakdowns and hopefully zero deaths, and continues to win at a healthy clip.

Meanwhile, the death toll increases at Santa Anita.

Care to guess the award given to this trainer after he sues Stronach etal.?

If there truly is an illegal medication or training issue ,ALL tracks in the U.S.
would follow Stronach's move.

Finally,presume Jerry is granted permission to race in other states, and he elects to nominate one of his top horses to a Stronach owned facility and
is denied.

Unless all tracks follow the Stronach ruling, this will be a horror show,
and/or a perfect storm for the various groups looking to eliminate
racing in the U.S.

[Rex Phinney]

IMO racing as a whole needs to take a long hard look at LESS RACING.


The story of Hollendorfer (and lots of other shady claiming trainers) only happens when you require cheap horses to fill races.



Run weekend races only and shut down some of the shithole tracks/ operations that we all know exist.


Yes it means less handle.


Yes it means less breeding revenue.


Yes it means less training fees.


But it also solves A LOT of problems along the way.

[Rex Phinney]

Originally Posted by NY BRED

looking ahead;

Jerry moves to NY, races downstate and the Spa with zero breakdowns and hopefully zero deaths, and continues to win at a healthy clip.

Meanwhile, the death toll increases at Santa Anita.

Care to guess the award given to this trainer after he sues Stronach etal.?

If there truly is an illegal medication or training issue ,ALL tracks in the U.S.
would follow Stronach's move.

Finally,presume Jerry is granted permission to race in other states, and he elects to nominate one of his top horses to a Stronach owned facility and
is denied.

Unless all tracks follow the Stronach ruling, this will be a horror show,
and/or a perfect storm for the various groups looking to eliminate
racing in the U.S.

Do you really trust that if he does have violations at other circuits that it will come to light? If he goes elsewhere and is filling fields to you trust a track to bite the bullet the way that SA apparently has?



I dont.

[The_Turf_Monster]

Or, stop writing claiming races and start writing allowance races with conditions that prohibit people from running their horses into the ground

[Rex Phinney]

Originally Posted by The_Turf_Monster

Or, stop writing claiming races and start writing allowance races with conditions that prohibit people from running their horses into the ground

Whatever type of races they are, if you are writing races there must be horses to fill them.



If you told every trainer in the game they had to cut 30% of their barn right now, they could tell you which horses didn't need to be racing anymore.

[elhelmete]

Originally Posted by Rex Phinney

IMO racing as a whole needs to take a long hard look at LESS RACING.


The story of Hollendorfer (and lots of other shady claiming trainers) only happens when you require cheap horses to fill races.



Run weekend races only and shut down some of the shithole tracks/ operations that we all know exist.


Yes it means less handle.


Yes it means less breeding revenue.


Yes it means less training fees.


But it also solves A LOT of problems along the way.

The foal crop is already cratering, how do you think breeders actually make more $$ with the existence of C- or D-list tracks?

[Rex Phinney]

Originally Posted by elhelmete

The foal crop is already cratering, how do you think breeders actually make more $$ with the existence of C- or D-list tracks?

Fact: Every horse racing on every track has to come from somewhere.


Maybe C or D list tracks have no effect on Breeders, doesn't really matter. The fact is we all know that these type of venues are a hotbed for mistreatment. Along with the cheap races at the larger venues it is what causes horses to be run when they shouldn't, or be run longer than they should.


I'm not saying less racing is an end all fix, it won't solve all the problems, but anyone who thinks it won't help either has their head in the sand or a financial interest in standing against it.

[delayjf]

It will be interesting to me as to how many of his CA based owners stay with him. They may want their stock to race in CA (DeLmar).

[elhelmete]

Originally Posted by Rex Phinney

Fact: Every horse racing on every track has to come from somewhere.


Maybe C or D list tracks have no effect on Breeders, doesn't really matter. The fact is we all know that these type of venues are a hotbed for mistreatment. Along with the cheap races at the larger venues it is what causes horses to be run when they shouldn't, or be run longer than they should.


I'm not saying less racing is an end all fix, it won't solve all the problems, but anyone who thinks it won't help either has their head in the sand or a financial interest in standing against it.

I agree with contraction to some degree, for sure.
But these are also facts:
Nobody intentionally breeds a $2500 claimer.

Haven't the % of TB foals that make it to the races and then the % that win a race and then the % rise to the stakes ranks been pretty consistent?

So yeah, I would like to see higher class racing overall but at some point we'll be carding "allowance" races for horses that run 6f in 1:15. How is that better?

I kind of like your theoretical idea about asking trainers to identify the % of their barn that would benefit from not being in training. What if there was a 'cash for clunkers' program to re-home them? But even something as benevolently crazy like that idea won't stop good horses from aging and losing a bit off their fastball yet still being sound to race at lower levels.

[highnote]

Originally Posted by Rex Phinney

... and shut down some of the shithole tracks/ operations that we all know exist.

Which ones are the shithole ones that should be shut down?

[Track Phantom]

Originally Posted by highnote

Which ones are the shithole ones that should be shut down?

Prairie Meadows had $700 in the super pool with one minute to post the other day. I looked at the PP's and it was a 6 horse field with Broberg at 4-5 and Villafranco at 7-5. I'd say that isn't exactly thrilling stuff. They ran 1-2.

[NY BRED]

As stated earlier, I agree eliminating a top trainer like
Jerry Hollendorfer is an insane tactic by Frank Stronach
in light of the horrible situation occurring at Santa Anita.

Hopefully the there will be no loss of thoroughbreds at the Delmar meet, which
would produce a major win for Hollendorfer in Supreme Court when suing
Stronach etal.

it would appear the Breeders Cup will shift to a major track;I'm sure
Stronach would push for Gulfstream Park,hoping that does not occur.

Never a dull moment in this game..

[elhelmete]

Originally Posted by NY BRED

As stated earlier, I agree eliminating a top trainer like
Jerry Hollendorfer is an insane tactic by Frank Stronach
in light of the horrible situation occurring at Santa Anita.

Hopefully the there will be no loss of thoroughbreds at the Delmar meet, which
would produce a major win for Hollendorfer in Supreme Court when suing
Stronach etal.

it would appear the Breeders Cup will shift to a major track;I'm sure
Stronach would push for Gulfstream Park,hoping that does not occur.

Never a dull moment in this game..

Frank Stronach doesn't run Santa Anita!

How do you feel about the deaths of horses at EVERY TRACK IN THE COUNTRY?

[SandyW]

Originally Posted by Track Phantom

Here's where I think you're wrong, and I think the general horse racing community is wrong.

I believe (not certain) that obtaining stalls at a track is not a "right" but rather more of an invitation and that the track can deny stalls for any reason. Just like a casino can walk you to the door without any reason, I think the track can do this, too.

If I'm right, this clause should be implemented over and over with trainers who appear to be winning with an edge. If I owned the track, I would have a board that reviewed every trainer who applied for stalls. I would look at win% and dramatic move-ups off claims, and other evidence that cheapens the product. It's pretty easy to spot the trainers who are winning uncharacteristically out of the norm without the stock that would indicate such. A vote would ensue and the main culprits would not be invited back. Simple as that.

I know the track typically is shooting themselves in the foot by this practice as it would turn away the very lifeline they are dependent upon....horses. But if enough of these tracks worked in this fashion, you'd at least be able to purge the obvious dirt. The more tracks that sign on, the reduced destinations for these bad apples. And these bad apples are singlehandedly destroying the game. I doubt there is one person that thinks Maximum Security wins the Derby without Jason Servis involved.

Brilliant post???
Under your policy I could see a lot more 3 & 4 horse races, and for good measure a 2 horse match race at least once every few days.
Santa Anita is a disgrace to the sport, all they did was keep sealing the track daily during that long rainy spell while horses were breaking down, instead of fixing the racing surface. They have nobody to blame but themselves.
Every trainer should be up in arms in what The Stronach Group did to Jerry Hollendorfer because any one of these trainers could be next.
This man did not have a breakdown for the last 2 years before this mess after starting hundred's and hundred's of horses.

[deelo]

Originally Posted by NY BRED

As stated earlier, I agree eliminating a top trainer like
Jerry Hollendorfer is an insane tactic by Frank Stronach
in light of the horrible situation occurring at Santa Anita.

Hopefully the there will be no loss of thoroughbreds at the Delmar meet, which
would produce a major win for Hollendorfer in Supreme Court when suing
Stronach etal.

it would appear the Breeders Cup will shift to a major track;I'm sure
Stronach would push for Gulfstream Park,hoping that does not occur.

Never a dull moment in this game..

Personally, IF Frank Stronach ran SA (which he doesn't), none of this would have happened.

I'm young but as long as I've been watching Gulfstream has never hosted the BC and I'm sure there's probably a reason. Never been there but guessing it plain can't accomodate something like the BC.