Calling Steve Byk to rebuke Finley's drivel
 

Finley's piece in TDN is vile drivel and requires a response from an expert writer and someone who has command of not just the facts but the English language.

Steve racing needs your help PLEASE

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I found him predictably silly. Understand that he and other pundits are in the pocket of the perpetrators of this canard, The Jockey Club & The Stronach Group.

Hope you and everyone heard Jay Privman's measured and brilliant excoriation of the CHRB and TSG today and John Sikura's remarkable dissertation Thursday.

As to helping stakeholders and interested parties, I'm doing my best over the air and in consult with authentic industry leaders to answer every bell we can.

I don't think you understood what he was saying. Here is what he was saying: It doesn't matter what any of us think on the subject. It matters what the public and what the politicians think. Did you not hear what Rep. Judy Chu said? Let me quote her:

"I am outraged by the deaths at Santa Anita racetrack," Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, said in a statement. "Animals deserve to be treated with dignity and compassion, and the use of race-day medication like Lasix must stop. The U.S. is an outlier when it comes to the practice of injecting horses with this drug on race day, and we need answers on the impact of this practice at Santa Anita and throughout the country.

"I am calling on the House Energy and Commerce Committee to investigate and hold a hearing on the treatment of horses at Santa Anita and throughout our country, and to examine legislation like the Horseracing Integrity Act that would improve safety for racehorses," Chu said. "I will work with my colleagues to ensure that all animals are treated humanely and to get to the bottom of this crisis. Until we know the horses are safe, the Santa Anita racetrack should be closed."

There is a danger that they could totally outlaw racing in California and maybe other places too. It matters what the people in power think. If you have to make moves to placate them, then so be it. That is the point. You can't just tell Rep. Chu to fu"" off. She can shut the track down. You need to do something to placate her, even if it's something that won't help the horses. That was Finley's point.

Chu can chew on this. What makes you think Belinda gives a rats ass if they shut down the track? The property is worth many multiples of what the underlying business is worth.

You may be right. There is already a chance that Belinda may want to sell the property. But there is also a chance that she won't sell and will keep the track open. If Chu shuts the track down, then Belinda won't have a choice.

Chu is a hack House Member how the heck does she shut the track down? Civics aren't taught in schools anymore, are they?

Even if she could somehow influence people who have the ability to shut down the track, it’s likely that she simply wants to be seen as “doing something” about the issue and putting out a strongly worded press release that is combined with some nebulous self-imposed “reforms” by the race track that “make racing safer” is enough to keep people happy until the vast majority of people forget about the topic.

Politics is governed by crisis these days. Once the Santa Anita issue fades away, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of the changes announced by Stronach walked back a bit. But I’m also a little cynical from knowing too much about New Jersey government so maybe California doesn’t work that way.

I didn't literally mean that she had the power to just unilaterally shut the track down on her own. But she obviously has some power, as does every House member, and I believe she represents Arcadia. Whether she is a hack is irrelevant. I think most of them are hacks.

House members from the great state of California have a habit of being FOS and alleging nonsense, the only people who take them seriously are themselves.

If you've read any of my posts in the politics section, you know I am no fan of liberal politicians. But regardless of politics, nobody is going to tolerate horses breaking down left and right. Something is going to give if this keeps happening. If there is too big of a public outcry about something, politicians will take action. We may like racing but we make up less than 1% of the population.

By the way, there was just another breakdown at Santa Anita (in the 4th race).

Correct. I don't think any one of us who even halfway have been exposed to racing and the facts DON'T see the absurdity of the response and the response of politicians (and the track). I think we all get it. It's laughable and sad.

None of that matters. Just like it didn't matter what the facts were around the PETA "hidden video." The message and issue were lost. There was no way to recover.

I'm not saying that is the case with Santa Anita. I don't know what the outcome will be. But the narrative is already gone, lost. Those who love racing and understand the reality of how the animals are treated....don't matter -- period.

I got roasted on here when I pointed out that it didn't matter what any of us thought about PETA's undercover tactics. The vast majority of the public would think nothing but "oh those poor horses, shut all this down."

That's what's happening again.

Here is the difference if you get it or not. The industry stood together after the PETA video and denounced it for what it was, propaganda swill. This time TSG embraced the narrative got morons like Finley and others to legitimize the "fears and concerns." This is the equivalent of eating your own. This is why I thought Steve should pen a killer Op-Ed to stem this tide and disinfect this narrative.

Why don’t you a Titan of industry write that Killer Op-Ed instead of trying to throw someone else into the line of fire?

because I am FN illiterate

You make a great point.

Perhaps JMS62 is on to something? I can write the Op Ed and you can sell the FreddyMo decoder.

You need a liquor license to sell the FreddyMo decoder.

Actually Freddy, the industry didn't stand together until the distortions and fabrications of the video were fully demonstrated. In the immediate aftermath, Dinny Phipps in fact, vilified Steve Asmussen saying he shouldn't show his face at Derby/Oaks. Those that defended Scott Blasi and the barn as a whole were attacked by the agenda machine. My memory on this is particularly clear.

There's far too many working parts to try to 'stem the tide' in one sitting or with one voice. On ATR, we have 15 hours a week to offer proper perspective to Stronach Group's obfuscation of the original problem's root issues and the resulting flood of misinformation and wider opportunistic pandering. Beyond my own ongoing commentary, we've presented appropriate pushback from Hill 'n' Dale's John Sikura (industry leadership vacuum), DRF's Jay Privman (TSG irresponsibility), Dr. Steven Allday (anatomy of breakdown clusters) and yesterday, RacingUK's Nick Luck (appropriate response to animal welfare question). Florida HBPA board member Chuck Simon visits in studio today and I'll be broadcasting from Santa Anita Wed-Thu-Fri-Mon and will deliver an array of stakeholders, including Eclipse's Aron Wellman & LRF's Billy Koch) to voice their views and concerns.

We're offering drivel-rebuking op-eds on a daily basis.

Nick Luck was excellent yesterday. Yes, of course, you are dealing with this extremely well on air. I believe several people within TDN that either worked for or with them were mortified by the decision to allow Finley's piece all hoping someone would put Willy's thoughts in proper context. Now we have genius Ellis Starr tweeting youtube films about how poppers are more painful to horses than they would be to humans.