Walter Case Hearing In Boston - Page 3 - Horse Racing Forum - PaceAdvantage.Com

badcompany · 07-03-2012, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marksinger

I agree. I think the longer they wait the worse it is for him.

I think this is true becaus the longer they wait the greater the chance that won't be a sport where Case can return.

Pacingguy · 07-03-2012, 03:53 PM

Personally, I think the MA racing commission should give him a conditional license. Let's face it, if the racing commission found Case deserving of a license in 2008 and there have been no infractions or problems since then, how do you logically go and deny him a license now?

I don't think you can. That being said, it should be his last chance. Here is his chance to show he has changed his ways so give him the chance. If he messes up this time, he has no one to blame but himself.

jimnancy · 07-03-2012, 04:48 PM

I guess the question is would harness racing be better off with Case or not.
One thing never in question was his trying to win with evrey horse he drove. Most of his problems occured off track. I think they should let him have a 3 or 6 month license and see how he does.

I think there would be a lot of people watching the outcome of this. And if Case passed his probation in MA maybe then he could look for other places to race.

Just think if he made it back to the Meadowlands I would be watching and I think others would be also.

Saratoga_Mike · 07-03-2012, 05:52 PM

I'd deny him a license. That said, if he obtains a license, he should stick to half-mile tracks that's where he always dominated.

madbee310 · 07-05-2012, 03:34 PM

Oskar...you seem to have the inside scoop on this matter. Have you heard anything new in regards to Case? Thanks for any updates.

Oskar · 07-05-2012, 06:25 PM

The ruling has been continued again, to the next meeting which is Tuesday July 10 at 1 pm. The livestream of that meeting should be available at:

http://www.mass.gov/gaming/

Oskar · 07-05-2012, 08:18 PM

This is one of the most polarizing issues in the world of NA harness racing. And the interesting part is that, unlike some other issues, it cuts across the generational spectrum. Case has been out of circulation for a decade and many of the younger fans that frequent the message boards are only familiar with his story: they’ve never seen him drive or bet on one of his horses. I was called to testify at the hearing about the level of interest in whether or not Case gets his license back, and it wasn’t easy to break it down. For instance, some focus exclusively on the crime that landed him in prison. It all begins and ends there for those folks. Some of them say that what he did disqualifies him from ever being a licensed participant in the sport—end of story. While others say that he’s done his time and paid his debt to society so there’s no reason to deny him a license.

Others concentrate on the fact that he generated so many fines and suspensions for kicking horses. For some of them the fact that he treated horses in an inhumane manner disqualifies him. Others fear that licensing him would invite PETA to go after the sport at a time when it is already in free fall. And for a third group the fact that many of his fines remain unpaid gets their goat.

The notion that he was never accused of fixing races is a major selling point for some.They’ll take a driver who sometimes tried too hard to win over a chemist who is robbing them blind and repeatedly getting away with it.

You also have the “who cares” segment of the harness racing community. Some of them are convinced that his skills have eroded to the point where he would no longer be a factor on the track. Time can take its toll; we can’t answer that question until and if he drives again. However, I believe Case was born in early March of 1961, so he’d be eleven years younger than 62-year-old Herve was when he returned from his seven-year hiatus in 2002. John Campbell is 57 and Cat Manzi just turned 62.

Case apparently hasn’t slipped up since being released from prison, and didn’t commit any infractions while driving at Plainridge in 2008. If Cameron recommends against licensing him I assume it will be on the basis of a sudden shift to high moral ground on the part of the freshly minted Massachusetts Gaming Commission regulators.

LottaKash · 07-05-2012, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oskar

You also have the “who cares” segment of the harness racing community. .

Uh, that would be me....

Been around this game a long time, and I was the greatest supporter of him and his driving talents....But, these days, I really don't give a rat's ass about him anymore....

He had his day, just as I did....I am retired now, and he should be moving on with his life as well....

Get over it Walter, you blew it !....Accept it !!

madbee310 · 07-06-2012, 02:21 AM

Thank you for the update and insight to his plight. As a fan for many years, I have never seen any driver impact a horse like this guy. From the top tier horses at Yonkers, to the 3,000 claimers at Northfield. They all would go lengths better than before. He always had them in position to win and he routinely got more out of the horse.
What guys don't realize, is that Case seldom ever used the whip. He only needed his hands and wrists (and maybe his boot a time or 2) to make them go. He has never been a slasher. If they ever had an entire whip-less meet, with the all time top drivers...Case would bat about .520 and all the rest would be scrambling for minor spoils. He was, and hopefully still is..THAT GOOD!

Mr G · 07-06-2012, 05:21 PM

An interview with him that took place in November 2008

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/new...r-case-jr.html

If he has indeed stayed sober and doesn't drink any longer then I would be for him getting a license...but if he still drinks, even if its just a little here and there, then I would vote no license.

Does anyone know if he has quit drinking for good?

Oskar · 07-06-2012, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr G

An interview with him that took place in November 2008

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/new...r-case-jr.html

If he has indeed stayed sober and doesn't drink any longer then I would be for him getting a license...but if he still drinks, even if its just a little here and there, then I would vote no license.

Does anyone know if he has quit drinking for good?

He no longer drinks.

Obviously none of us know that for sure, but testimony was given by someone close to him that he has not been seen drinking during the four years that person has been around him on a regular basis.

Mr G · 07-06-2012, 06:30 PM

Well then good for him and I would vote to grant him a license on the condition that if anytime in the future he goes back to drinking the license gets pulled immediately and shredded....gone forever.

Saratoga_Mike · 07-07-2012, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr G

Well then good for him and I would vote to grant him a license on the condition that if anytime in the future he goes back to drinking the license gets pulled immediately and shredded....gone forever.

Why? As long as he's sober for races, why does this matter? Are you more concerned that he might drink than by the fact that he stabbed a woman in the back?

Mr G · 07-07-2012, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saratoga_Mike

Why? As long as he's sober for races, why does this matter? Are you more concerned that he might drink than by the fact that he stabbed a woman in the back?

A guy I know spent many years in the upper level of the federal prison system. Not the warden but right below the warden.

And one day we were shooting the breeze and he told me that from what he has seen that over 40-50% of the convicts in his prison who were there due to comitting a violent crime did so while they were intoxicated....the excessive booze in their system triggered an emotion normally not there in the absence of excessive alcohol....he went on to say how many in prison today are life long criminals and sure don't need to get shit-faced to commit a crime but he was trying to get across that more than half of the prison population were locked up due to causing bodily harm while drunk.....

So what does this have to do with Walter Case? Well, the little I have read about him is that it became clear that alcohol was his weakness...not just drinking but excessive drinking....did drinking lead to him stabbing his wife? I don't know but it appears he is not a career criminal and when I first heard he has a drinking problem I immediately thought of what my friend the prison official had told me long ago. Regarding how excesive drinking can ruin ones life in a instant due to an aggressive action the person takes while intoxicated....an action that according to him more than likely wouldn't have happened if the person wasn't shit-faced.....

I recently read that his new wife and his family is supporting him 100% and that he has finished his parole trouble free and has been a model husband and person since..

I don't know if that is true or not but just something I have either read somewhere or heard a fellow gambler say.

So if the man can't hold his liquor and does criminal things due to that then I say if he has quit cold turkey and is no longer drinking then I would vote to give him a shot at getting a temporary license so he can do what he can to legally earn a living.....He has fully paid his dues for the stabbing of the wife incident.....prison then a successful parole.

But I sure you know much more about him then I do but I'm trying to explain why I said earlier if he quit drinking totally I would vote to give him another chance in his previous occupation.

pandy · 07-08-2012, 06:37 AM

There's no question that he's a completely different person when he's drunk. He won't be drunk when driving harness horses, that's for certain.

That's why his serious problems always happened away from the track. On the track he was the hardest trying driver in the sport and even fans that didn't like him personally admitted that he always tired to win even when he didn't have a good horse.

I think he'll eventually drive again and some fans will hate him because of the crime he committed.