Per emblom

[Grandstand Handicapper]

Expecting the USTA to do something to or about a specific trainer is a massive disappointment in advance. They can say, posture, grandstand all they want, but it's the big bad wolf---who is really a sheep---telling you they are going to huff and puff and whatever else. I don't suspect YR management will do anything. Between them thinking they need him, he fills the box, and whatever other distorted thought processes they have; and the fact that they are probably incapable of doing anything, is simply reflective of the sad state of affairs in this slice of the pie.

Personally, I'd like to see more investigations, more indictments, more jail sentences, and more 20 year, and even lifetime bans. You can talk all you want about Josh Marks being at 4 tracks and 7 farms in two countries at the same time, Nick Surick doing this, that, and 12 other things, and so on.....but the fact of the matter is, the sport and industry are gaining on the cheaters. Little by slowly. Not fast enough. But it's happening. HISA is only going to help, and so will proactive, take action SBOA's and States.

[M P]

Expecting the USTA to do something to or about a specific trainer is a massive disappointment in advance. They can say, posture, grandstand all they want, but it's the big bad wolf---who is really a sheep---telling you they are going to huff and puff and whatever else. I don't suspect YR management will do anything. Between them thinking they need him, he fills the box, and whatever other distorted thought processes they have; and the fact that they are probably incapable of doing anything, is simply reflective of the sad state of affairs in this slice of the pie.

Personally, I'd like to see more investigations, more indictments, more jail sentences, and more 20 year, and even lifetime bans. You can talk all you want about Josh Marks being at 4 tracks and 7 farms in two countries at the same time, Nick Surick doing this, that, and 12 other things, and so on.....but the fact of the matter is, the sport and industry are gaining on the cheaters. Little by slowly. Not fast enough. But it's happening. HISA is only going to help, and so will proactive, take action SBOA's and States.

You said I have mental issues? Any "ground" gained on any cheaters was never and never will be the result of anything the industry does itself. Are you blind? Offenses have never been worse, and that's for what can actually be detected in testing. Not to mention the same people who are doing the cheating are the same ones running the show. Wake up Doc. I do agree, HISA is the only answer. And  do you really believe that even if the sport were cleaned up and transparent, the public wants anything to do with it? Go open a factory that manufactures rotary phones and 8-track tapes. You might actually do better, and I'm not including the free welfare the industry receives to survive. Self sustaining. People in the game crying it creates jobs, so did K-mart, Sear and every other business that went under. How come small businesses that actually contribute to society without killing or abusing animals receive the same benefit? People who put their entire lives into something and raised a family? Also, those connections you mention? All true, I was offered the job after Gareth Dowse got tossed from Yonkers to front for Josh Marks. Twice, and once my wife too. All three times the messenger was Jason Bartlett. That's the fact....Jack.

[Miguel_Sanchez]

HISA is the death of horse racing.  Go look at the 3 senators / congressman backing HISA and see where the majority of there campaign funding is coming from?  Casinos!  The casinos are trying to get rid of horse racing take over the land and build mega resorts and do it all with the license of horse racing.  These casinos played the long game to bully there way into states where gaming wasn't allowed.  Now they are in and they will bully out horse racing just like they have already bullied out dog racing.  Keep supporting HISA and just let them come in and remove horse racing all together.

[M P]

HISA is the death of horse racing.  Go look at the 3 senators / congressman backing HISA and see where the majority of there campaign funding is coming from?  Casinos!  The casinos are trying to get rid of horse racing take over the land and build mega resorts and do it all with the license of horse racing.  These casinos played the long game to bully there way into states where gaming wasn't allowed.  Now they are in and they will bully out horse racing just like they have already bullied out dog racing.  Keep supporting HISA and just let them come in and remove horse racing all together.

Isn't it amusing that the thing that saved harness racing is now being accused of killing it? I want you all to list the tracks that would have closed or not been built had racino/casino welfare been instituted. The problem with entitlement rather than build an industry that can stand on its own.

[Miguel_Sanchez]

Isn't it amusing that the thing that saved harness racing is now being accused of killing it? I want you all to list the tracks that would have closed or not been built had racino/casino welfare been instituted. The problem with entitlement rather than build an industry that can stand on its own.

It helped for a short period and it was the cost of doing business for the casinos and now there going to use there power and money to make Harness Racing go bye bye.  Horse racing should have made the agreements in perpetuity instead of making them 10yr agreements.  What leverage does horse racing have now that the agreements are coming due?  "hey Mr. casino owner - we don't make you any money and we can't grow on our own but we need 10% of your money"

Casino owner response "Go F yourself  - I can make this into a resort and spa and increase tax revenue for the state and increase my bottom line.  We don't need you anymore as we already have the license and the state isn't going to cut there own throat now with all the money we are pouring in with tax revenue.  So your ask of 10% is laughable to me and we can always argue to lawmakers with my billion dollar budget against your poultry millions"

Now tell me how it's going to go any different?  Do you really think lawmakers or State officials care about anything but the bottom line and lining there pockets?

[M P]

It helped for a short period and it was the cost of doing business for the casinos and now there going to use there power and money to make Harness Racing go bye bye.  Horse racing should have made the agreements in perpetuity instead of making them 10yr agreements.  What leverage does horse racing have now that the agreements are coming due?  "hey Mr. casino owner - we don't make you any money and we can't grow on our own but we need 10% of your money"

Casino owner response "Go F yourself  - I can make this into a resort and spa and increase tax revenue for the state and increase my bottom line.  We don't need you anymore as we already have the license and the state isn't going to cut there own throat now with all the money we are pouring in with tax revenue.  So your ask of 10% is laughable to me and we can always argue to lawmakers with my billion dollar budget against your poultry millions"

Now tell me how it's going to go any different?  Do you really think lawmakers or State officials care about anything but the bottom line and lining there pockets?

The lack of self generated revenue is what will make Harness Racing go bye bye. And yeah, politicians will only push what helps them. Nobody was crying when those same politicians supported these subsidies keeping tracks open, right? Do you really believe the free ride would last forever? And worse, what makes you think it deserves it? A dirty industry that abuses and kills horses. Sorry to burst your bubble, but it is. And we all know it. Why aren't people putting all this effort into forcing the scumbags out of the game and stop fearing them. And what makes you think casinos "need" harness racing? The shift was built in long ago that one day racinos would become full blown gaming and decoupling would happen one at a time. Pompano wouldn't have lasted as long as it did without the life support. Few decades ago most people could never have imagined state governed casinos in NYS. Times change, people's tastes change. Harness Racing is obsolete. And for some reason the industry ignores reality. Let's keep racing 25 minutes between races in a building with nothing else to do. Unless it has a sportsbook, then even there the industry wants a cut. What's next? Is the deli across the street from a racetrack going to have to send 20% of their gross to the track because they do better business? It's the panhandling sport, plain and simple.

[Slobbert23]

Doesn’t the Yonkers casino need the racetrack to operate? I would love it if they didn’t and Yonkers racetrack got shut down today.

[The Exporter]

You don't need a crystal ball to figure this out. Just take a look at the facts when states align with casinos and not just govern them. Michigan, Illinois, Maine, Iowa and now New York. NY just invested $500 million in NYRA with the understanding, Aqueduct will close after Belmont is complete. Gural, approaching 90 years old sold the property in a leaseback deal at Tioga. Freehold, will soon be a housing and retail project.
 All the positive tests and the states refuse to do anything but hand out fines and keep everything on an administrative level.
 Once HISA in its current form pulls harness racing under its umbrella the costs to owners and trainers may make it difficult or impossible to continue. 
 With no leadership from harness racing as well as no unity, the game will see just how a self appointed government agency with supreme power operates. They will out power and out spend you to do as they please.

[Mr.Turnpike]

  Aqueduct,Tioga and freehold  don’t forget Saratoga

[Miguel_Sanchez]

You don't need a crystal ball to figure this out. Just take a look at the facts when states align with casinos and not just govern them. Michigan, Illinois, Maine, Iowa and now New York. NY just invested $500 million in NYRA with the understanding, Aqueduct will close after Belmont is complete. Gural, approaching 90 years old sold the property in a leaseback deal at Tioga. Freehold, will soon be a housing and retail project.
 All the positive tests and the states refuse to do anything but hand out fines and keep everything on an administrative level.
 Once HISA in its current form pulls harness racing under its umbrella the costs to owners and trainers may make it difficult or impossible to continue. 
 With no leadership from harness racing as well as no unity, the game will see just how a self appointed government agency with supreme power operates. They will out power and out spend you to do as they please.

Very well put and 100% correct

[bond]

There is one glaring oversight: the treatment of therapeutic medications by administrators, judges, and racing stewards/secretaries. Nearly everyone involved in horse racing aims to make money, not purely for the joy of it. To achieve this, trainers—just like in human sports—must use their skills to the best of their ability, which often involves therapeutic medications.

These medications, both for humans and horses, should be an accepted part of training. HISA, judges, and stewards misinterpret this and, in doing so, harm the sport. Cheating does NOT involve using therapeutic medications. Penalizing trainers with days off and publicly shaming them erodes public confidence and damages the sport's integrity.

Every week, trainers are penalized for therapeutic medications with fines, disqualifications, and severe days off—even HISA imposes life-changing penalties for these meds. This approach is misguided and will continue the slow death of the sport unless it's dealt with through monetary fines/points only.

ONLY performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) should be dealt with severely, with harsh penalties, including life suspensions for blatant cheating.

For instance, Per Engblom came up positive with three Class 1 PEDs. If this were HISA, he would get a competitive ban until the matter was cleared up. In our society, if you face a capital charge, you don't get to walk the streets. But in harness racing, you get to continue like nothing happened.

[M P]

Doesn’t the Yonkers casino need the racetrack to operate? I would love it if they didn’t and Yonkers racetrack got shut down today.

That's a racino not a casino.  Big different. Falls under VLT law. So yes to keep the racino they must offer harness racing.

[Grandstand Handicapper]

There is one glaring oversight: the treatment of therapeutic medications by administrators, judges, and racing stewards/secretaries. Nearly everyone involved in horse racing aims to make money, not purely for the joy of it. To achieve this, trainers—just like in human sports—must use their skills to the best of their ability, which often involves therapeutic medications.

These medications, both for humans and horses, should be an accepted part of training. HISA, judges, and stewards misinterpret this and, in doing so, harm the sport. Cheating does NOT involve using therapeutic medications. Penalizing trainers with days off and publicly shaming them erodes public confidence and damages the sport's integrity.

Every week, trainers are penalized for therapeutic medications with fines, disqualifications, and severe days off—even HISA imposes life-changing penalties for these meds. This approach is misguided and will continue the slow death of the sport unless it's dealt with through monetary fines/points only.

ONLY performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) should be dealt with severely, with harsh penalties, including life suspensions for blatant cheating.

For instance, Per Engblom came up positive with three Class 1 PEDs. If this were HISA, he would get a competitive ban until the matter was cleared up. In our society, if you face a capital charge, you don't get to walk the streets. But in harness racing, you get to continue like nothing happened.

Excellent point! This is where the "innocent until proven guilty" goes to a degree, an extent, perhaps an extreme, that is damaging. IMO, there needs to be a very specific, strict standard. Unless a certain, specific requirement is met----there should be an immediate suspension, pending everything; not immediate business as usual and status quo.