Quote:
Originally Posted by parsixfarms
What about the people who have lost their livelihoods because of guys like Asmussen and his ilk? Shouldn't the system be more concerned about protecting their right to earn an honest living?
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How has Asmussen (and others like him) caused other people to lose their livelihoods?
I am no fan of him, but other than potentially hiring undocumented workers (and allegedly faking papers for them), there's nothing in there that is illegal, and if a trainer should step away from the Derby for hiring undocumented workers, I suspect there would be many more than just Asmussen.
Until the allegations are proved, he's innocent in the eyes of the law. It's not his job to give racing a good image; it's his job to win races for his clients. If the owners are concerned about how things look, they are free to move their horses (and personally, I think Zayat's moving his had more to do with Blasi calling him a name, that meanie! The wealthy are very sensitive and their feelings get hurt easily. We must protect them at all costs from the cold, cruel world). If racing fans should be angry at anyone, it should be at the owners who stayed with him, who clearly care more about winning races than how racing looks to Joe Q Public who doesn't follow the sport. I would wager money (and probably more successfully than I have in the Derby the last few years) that Asmussen doesn't feel he's done anything wrong. If you were accused of something you felt was untrue at your job, would you voluntarily give up your livelihood to make your field of work "look better"? Or would you say, "eff you, prove it first"?
Again, I'm not a fan of his work, as they say, but at this point, demanding he step back from training his Derby/Oaks horses smacks of Polytrack- knee-jerk responding. Horse racing has a lotta image problems (the biggest, and most insurmountable probably being modern US society infantilizing animals that we don't like to eat), but Asmussen stepping down isn't going to do step one towards actually addressing any of them.