No prying eyes at a private training center
 

Something tells me this is going to be a long thread.

i'd think that biancone being laid off a year would be more than a 'think you know' violation. everyone knows he's a cheater now. i'll take sanctimonious over cheating any day.

a shame that people still want to employ a trainer such as biancone when there are plenty of others out there who do a good job, work hard, and don't have cobra venom stocked in their fridge.

as for sumwon, who ever said she was a derby prospect? probably dusty, cheap beer said so....

What do you think about Private Training Centers Chuck? I've always wondered. I mean, obviously if racetracks had real tests, for the real problems, instead of skirting the issue ( as you pointed out in your other thread ), it wouldn't matter where the horses were trained.

I guess the answer is that, unlike a racetrack, nobody can raid your barn.

The day is coming where more of the top horses are trained away from the tracks over which they run. As that has been accepted, more trainers will move to private training centers that allow them unlimited stall space, freedom to race whereever and whenever they desire without the racetrack putting any pressure on, and being free of any security measures that are taken at the track. It is also can be an anti-suspension device as the authorities can prevent you from training at racetracks but they can not keep you from training at private property though the horses would have to run in someone elses name. Pletcher has most of his best horses at Palm Beach Downs which is a private training center, Dale Romans just bought a place in KY, Nafzger and Ian Wilkes train a lot of their horses off track as does Niall O'Callaghan and many of the guys at Fair Hill like Matz, Klesaris and Shuman. Now I suppose that owning a barn at a place like Fair Hill is different than owning your own land but either way the tracks have lost control over their horse populations and as this trend continues, it will only get worse.

You dont think it is worthy of discussion the news that a huge name in the sport who is currently under suspension in a high profile case has bought a private training facility? I did not comment, only posted the news.

He's pretty huge.

Wasn't Patrick stabled in a private place in Saratoga for many, if not all, the years he was there? Didn't he use the Payson barns.....or is that considered part of the Oklahoma?

The point about racetracks losing control is an interesting one. But, let's face it, they've already lost control, pretty much, at least with Pletcher. He's pretty much used NYRA barns, be it Belmont or the Oklahoma from April through October, as his headquarters to ship wherever he wants. I guess he can do whatever's best for his owners and one could say it's NYRA's responsibility to control that. IMO they haven't protected their interests as well as they could, or should, have. But, I'm sure there's more to the story.

On a tangent, seems to me we're seeing a real fallout at Gulfstream from the lack of talent, or even runners, in Todd's current 3YOs. Considering the vast number of horses he got, and the dearth of actual runners, 3YO races have been very thin, and not even filling ( which is incredible for Gulfstream ). It's a scary glimpse into what can happen when one person gets a lions share of the potential runners.....and for whatever reasons they can't, and don't, run.

I was just talking to Dave about Payson Park (Indiantown, FL.) Apparently, Court Vision has been stabled there and I wondered if it was difficult for the public to get in to see the workouts, etc. I can't blame anyone for wanting their horses away from the track... it seems like it would be a quieter environment and therefore better for high-strung thoroughbreds.

Why should the " public " be allowed on any backstretch....be it a racetrack or not?

She's probably talking about the morning workouts. It's got to be stressful for the horsies to workout in front of thousands of people.

Where does this happen.....and why, pray tell, would that be stressful?

Yes, I was talking about the morning workouts.

There's a handfull of people at the morning works. Maybe Saratoga has a few hundred people....but how that affects the horses in some negative way is beyond me.

There's a handfull of people at the morning works. Maybe Saratoga has a few hundred people....but how that affects the horses in some negative way is beyond me.

I guess having less horses around might be considered better. I wouldn't know for sure.

The Oklahoma training track at Toga was pretty busy in the mornings. I've never been at any other track early in the mornings, so I'm only comparing to that one, but one would think that a quieter environment in the mornings would be less stressful for young horses.