Blasi fined...

[KY_Sasquash]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

Yes, that is true. In some cases, the trainer may not go to the barn. He may just be waiting at the paddocak for the horse to arrive. In most cases, the trainer would probably at least stop by the barn a couple of hours earlier.

In this particular case with Blasi, we don't even know if he was in town when this happened. They probably have horses running in 6 different states. Blasi can only be in one state at a time. Since he is the listed trainer, he is the one responsible, but chances are he wasn't even there. Assuming he wasn't there, it is the fault of his assistant trainer at that particular track.

I bet a pick 4 this day at Churchill and I remember this happening and wondered why the horse was scratched. On the live simulcast feed via BRIS it sure looked like him standing in the stall in the paddock. I couldnt figure out why the horse was scratched and then I heard about it and put it together. Total BS and I wonder how many times theyve pulled it off prior. There's no excuse for the wrong horse being brought to the paddock-especially when they look at the horse everyday. The guy is sharp, I think he'd recognize if it were a different horse.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by KY_Sasquash

I bet a pick 4 this day at Churchill and I remember this happening and wondered why the horse was scratched. On the live simulcast feed via BRIS it sure looked like him standing in the stall in the paddock. I couldnt figure out why the horse was scratched and then I heard about it and put it together. Total BS and I wonder how many times theyve pulled it off prior. There's no excuse for the wrong horse being brought to the paddock-especially when they look at the horse everyday. The guy is sharp, I think he'd recognize if it were a different horse.

I doubt "they've ever "pulled it off prior". There is a "horse indentifier" who stands at the entrance to the receiving barn. He checks every horse before they are allowed to enter the receiving barn. He checks their tatoo idenitification number which is under their lip. There is pretty much no way to run the wrong horse. The horse identifier will catch it.

Oh geez, are you kidding me here?
Good Lord I'm so tired of the conspiracy theorists, truly. They really are a pain in the ass because they whine and cry wolf so many times that when something of a real crooked nature happens, people are desensitized to it.

They only have about a zillion horses. They screwed up, and hes being fined. The safeguard to this is the lip tatoo, which the identifier reads to insure who is who.
If anyone really thinks that Blasi wanted to run a ringer in a cheap race, they really need to get a clue about risk/reward. What does he gain? Well maybe possible embarassment and humiliation and a tongue lashing( I'm sure hes had plenty of all three). For a cheap claiming race? Does anyone truly feel that they were trying to put one over? LOL!! Were they gonna get the identifier in on it?
It happens, figure makers blow numbers, jockeys blow rides, grooms who are being paid very low wages bring over the wrong horse.
The guy got fined, and maybe it should have been a little higher, but since it was their first offense with this type of transgression(kenny mcpeek committed the same act this summer for the 2nd time in his career, and I'm sure noone ws more upset about it than kenny).
Newsflash, when a guy like Blasi has a bunch of horses in(and lake, Pletcher, Dutrow, whoever) they don't walk back to the barn after each race and walk out with the next runner. Its logistically impossible if you have a horse in back to back races. By the time the first race is over, and you talk to the jock, there is no way to sprint back to the barn and get the next one. You count on the asst or most often groom to lead the horse over.
Obviously there is a trainer responsibility issue and Blasi is ultimately responsible and was issued a fine.

[blackthroatedwind]

I can't imagine anybody realistically thought there was any funny business going on but considering the shenanigans this barn has been proven to have been involved in I would say they should get whatever is the maximum fine.

One of the biggest problems facing racing is the continued nonchalance with which people flaunt the rules and the lack of real penalties applied when these rules are broken. I would say this lacksidasical approach has a lot to do with getting us to where we are now....which is pretty much a game full of cheating whether you like it or not.

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

I can't imagine anybody realistically thought there was any funny business going on but considering the shenanigans this barn has been proven to have been involved in I would say they should get whatever is the maximum fine.

One of the biggest problems facing racing is the continued nonchalance with which people flaunt the rules and the lack of real penalties applied when these rules are broken. I would say this lacksidasical approach has a lot to do with getting us to where we are now....which is pretty much a game full of cheating whether you like it or not.

I really can't see what if any relation this incident has to cheating.
The horse identifier has the job of identifying the lip tatto and matching it to the the papers on the horse.
These guys are quite diligent about their work, I've read about horses getting scratched because they brought over the wrong horse, but very few if any actually running under the wrong identity.
Noone in their right mind would attempt this, noone.
The guy got hit for 2500, and I'm sure that Veitch and company(himself having been a trainer) called in the people associated with the event and questioned them as to how it happened.
Noone is sweeping it under the rug, and I don't see this an event that shatters my faith in anything. If anything horseplayers should be happy that the identifier is diligent and competent.

[blackthroatedwind]

No sane person said they were cheating in this instance, but they are convicted cheaters, and serious ones at that, and thus deserve the optimum fine.

$2500? Really? How much did the late scratch of one of the favorites cost Churchill in revenue? I would guess substantially more than $2500. Of course, why should the barn have to participate in the costs they incurred. Nobody is ever to blame for screwups, honest or dishonest, but whatever the case the horseplayers get screwed one way or another.

This barn has been convicted of a severe violation, and the trainer was eager to admit it, rather than face the possible consequences of a far more severe violation. Sorry if I don't care whether it was an honest or dishonest mistake. As far as I am concerned they are the enemies of anybody that bets horses and the sooner the game is rid of their ilk the better off we will all be....whether we are bettors, owners or fans.

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

No sane person said they were cheating in this instance, but they are convicted cheaters, and serious ones at that, and thus deserve the optimum fine.

$2500? Really? How much did the late scratch of one of the favorites cost Churchill in revenue? I would guess substantially more than $2500. Of course, why should the barn have to participate in the costs they incurred. Nobody is ever to blame for screwups, honest or dishonest, but whatever the case the horseplayers get screwed one way or another.

This barn has been convicted of a severe violation, and the trainer was eager to admit it, rather than face the possible consequences of a far more severe violation. Sorry if I don't care whether it was an honest or dishonest mistake. As far as I am concerned they are the enemies of anybody that bets horses and the sooner the game is rid of their ilk the better off we will all be....whether we are bettors, owners or fans.

I understand what you are trying tyo say, I truly do.
But what you are proposing would be the same as asking a jock who blows a race with a horrible ride to compensate the fans.
Or say a trainer who does a lousy job preparing a big fave for a race to compensate the bettors for what they blew.
They are called mistakes. Like splitting a variant on two sprint races 30 minutes apart at Calder where Shake You Down ran the same time as Valid Video did at the same distance on the same track and giving Shake You Down a subtsantially higher figure. LOL!!!! We all know how that one turned out don't we? Valid Video won the Kings Bishop at an overlaid price, and Shake You Down blew his next stake at an underlaid price. Where should bettors send their claims to the money they blew on the atrocious figs?
Nobody makes mistakes on purpose, thats why they are called mistakes.

Noone was hurt here, the horse was scratched and the money refunded with plenty of time for those who liked Blasi's horse to bet a different one if they chose to.

[sumitas]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

I can't imagine anybody realistically thought there was any funny business going on but considering the shenanigans this barn has been proven to have been involved in I would say they should get whatever is the maximum fine.

One of the biggest problems facing racing is the continued nonchalance with which people flaunt the rules and the lack of real penalties applied when these rules are broken. I would say this lacksidasical approach has a lot to do with getting us to where we are now....which is pretty much a game full of cheating whether you like it or not.

I agree. There is cheating everywhere on and off the track. Horse racing needs much tighter policing.