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I was never a big owner. My group bought solid race horses that raced in the middle conditions at the Meadowlands. It was a time when the Ledford were pulling their crap and many others weren’t getting caught. Our trainers were a NJ family that did everything the right way and never had a positive test. However where we used to win our share the wins were getting much harder. One night we went to dinner with a track vet who basically told me your chances of winning races were getting slimmer by the day. The vet told me that big owners were demanding their trainers to spend whatever was necessary to keep their horses on top. And he was talking about legal drugs and supplements to the tune of $1,000 a week per horse. Now add the illegal drugs, like EPO, and an honest trainer/owner was climbing a big hill to win. That was a very profitable dinner. It told me it was time to get out as an owner which I did. What’s going on today with all these designer steroids and undiscovered performance drugs is disgusting. The sport has gone to hell and the USTA and many track owners are to blame. They stick their heads in the sand and close their eyes while track after track has closed their doors or race in front of near zero fans. Harness racing is on life support and what a shame it is.
the answer is suspend the trainer AND the horseowners will get the message when their horse is out of the box for 1-3 months
To Emp. Dapple…in NJ yes. In NY no. I believe at least one Salerno, Tony, is a judge for the PA commission. Tony was a very good trainer and a very decent person. It’s been 15+ years since I last saw him. Tony had a terrific second trainer. His name is Bernie Helie. I wish I knew what happened to him after the Salerno’s stopped training. Bernie was a French Canadian and a big NY Yankee fan. We never saw him without his Yankee cap on and a cigarette in his hand. I think he worked for trainer Annunziata and then the Burke’s, I think. We saw him in the winners circle on the Pocono tv feed a number of years ago.
He worked for Allards 6 or 7 yrs ago. He worked for Tony Strollo at Meds and GSP, 20 yrs ago. He's a great guy, funny as hell after ya got to know him.