Thoughts on integrity, Gural, Schnittker and Leavitt
That and much more in this week’s edition of harness racingâs most popular advice column.
by Ron Gurfein
Tidbits: I have recently been privileged to receive what I would consider inflammatory banter between both thoroughbred and standardbred industry leaders via email during the height of the 2019 season. I will not name names because It is not in the best interest of our sport, plus I stir the pot often enough.
The many claims that Jeff Gural was mistaken in declaring that we had a serious problem with drugging in our industry were not only recently proven way off base by the FBI, but they look to me to have been an insult to Jeffâs intelligence.
Obviously he was well aware of the scheme of misconduct that was rampant in both industries, but to protect the ongoing investigation was tight lipped and for good reason.
I am not asking any of the naysayers for public apology merely a personal note would suffice.
* * *
No one has a better voice of truth and reason in our sport than Ray Schnittker. The opening article of last Fridayâs edition of HRU (full story here) says it all.
You may think he is curt, and he can be at times, but he hits the nail on the head every time he raises the hammer.
I could not agree more with his assessment that the New York State Racing and Wagering Board needs to do some immediate soul searching. True they donât have the capacity of the FBI but since the FBI has done their dirty work itâs time to respond.
All who know me are well aware that I am not a hanging judge and many have accused me of being on the wrong side of track, defending the bad guys.
This is far from the truth. I just get incensed when I see a miscarriage of justice.
I have always been an outgoing guy and after spending my life in harness racing I find oft times the accused are my personal friends. I still believe they should hang if guilty.
New York has done nothing in my lifetime to truly clean house. The FBI has afforded them the opportunity, hereâs hoping they donât miss the boat.
* * *
Lots of wasted ink in HRU last Sunday. I like Art Gray. He is intelligent and an inventive individual. However, his outlook on integrity, although well meant, is based on a premise that doesnât work anymore.
I am getting tired of hearing myself say these words but, Out Of Competition Testing is the only prayer that our commissions have that can work and to this writer it doesnât work too well.
In the metropolitan area of New York, there are few stabling areas where sniffing dogs can apply their trade. None of the big drug trainers are stupid enough to have syringes in their possession at a track. The ones you will catch are some poor guys that canât afford a veterinarian. Ninety-five per cent of the stalls that weâre available on racetrack grounds in the New York City area are gone forever. Drug detecting dogs at Vernon would be a major waste of money.
It is well documented that Macyâs doesnât listen to Gimbles. Rene Allard and Richard Banca were permitted to race at Yonkers and Chris Oakes and Allard both raced at Pocono but neither was permitted to race at the Meadowlands. Is it up to Jeff Gural to present his case to New York and Pennsylvania so there will be mutual exclusion? I donât think thatâs going to happen. Each commission protects their own authority. Is it right? Absolutely not, but as of this date I am not certain anyone besides you and me care. It blows my mind that a Rick Kane or a Cammie Haughton wouldnât pick up a phone and call Jeff or Jason Settlemoir and say what do you have? What should I know about this situation? The answer is simple: nobody wants to make waves, no one want to get involved in any litigation.
Until this behavior is reversed, the federal government will be our only savior.
This brings me to Alan Leavittâs claim that there can never be a Commissioner of Harness Racing. I agree, as I have stated in the last paragraph there is no parity between states. But like all things, change is necessary to achieve greatness.
A group of three or four selected by the USTA president and his Canadian counterpart should formulate a plan and present it to the membership for comment, change and approval. Then they should meet with one Commission member from each state and province to discuss the method to which it would be implemented.
My personal suggestions for the group would be John Campbell, Jason Settlemoir, Ray Schnittker, Bill OâDonnell and Blair Burgess. This is not some pie in the sky idea, it is very workable. Somewhere someone has to take the first step.
* * *
My friend Per Henriksen wrote to add some pertinent information on my article on headpoles in Europe as posted a few weeks ago. One correction, you can use one headpole now in Sweden but you cannot use two. Two points of interest: 1. Henriksen feels that the veterinariansâ scrutiny in Europe is far superior to North America and that many of the horses that we race that are passed by the vets would be scratched in Scandinavia. 2. He also points out that the Euro tracks have way more banking in the turns than do our ovals and therefore the amount of stress on the right knee is far less than it is here.
* * *
I have been trying to avoid comment but no questions came to me in print so I feel compelled to vent.
The GOAT Challenge as an attempt at entertainment in the middle of a horrid pandemic for sure had merit. That said, thatâs about all the positive I could glean from the project.
To begin with, there were, in this writerâs opinion, at least a dozen horses that should not have been mentioned in the same breath as the others.
So, letâs say for fun thatâ s not important. The ceding was pathetic. They have ended up with two 15âs in the final four. Niatross and Mack Lobell were the two. If anyone that is functional and has watched harness racing since 1970 can name 28 better horses than those two I am buying you dinner.
Bill Bigler asks: You had a great run in one decade winning the Hambletonian three times in six years what are the chances that that can happen in this decade?
I have stated many times that the secret of success to Hambletonian victory is in the draft. What happens at the two major sales dictates future Hambletonian winners.
My feeling is that it is more likely now than it was in my time.
In the â90s there was more competition than today so itâs likely the best yearling prospects will end up in the same hands.
Today, there is only a handful of major buyers and fewer top trotting trainers. In my era, I had to contend with Takter, Sylvester, Eriksson and Dancer, winners of 16 Hambletonianâs combined.
Today, there are only two trainers with multiple Hambletonian wins: Chuck Sylvester and Blair Burgess both training small stables without the ability to financially compete with the Scandinavian juggernaut in the sales ring.
Donât get me wrong, there are many talented trainers out there with the ability to win the big dance. The trouble is that most donât have the money to compete in the sales ring as well.
So that leaves us with only two trainers with the ability and the clients to have that degree of success in the 2020âs. Both Ake Svanstedt and âBaby Trainerâ Marcus Melander have the opportunity.
Someone out there is saying right now, âHow about Tony Alagna?â I am a fan. However, the ability to buy one top trotting colt cannot be the answer. Can Maverick win the Hambletonian? For sure he can, but what I am saying is Tony trains about 20 pacers to every trotter, he just doesnât have the numbers to win three in nine years.
I am not saying that that wonât change, but he would have to acquire owners that want him to train their trotters as well as pacers. Marvin Katz would be a good start. As the breeder of Maverick and now part owner, a big season for the colt would achieve a major step in that direction.
Right now, Svanstedt and Melander, both with a good eye for horses as well as help from talented horse whisperers like Lina Alm, have all the money they need to buy the best.
Paul Robertson asks: The beaches are starting to reopen. It is time for The Guru to unleash some fabulous reading material for the summertime. Whatâs new and good?
What happened to the modern novel? The best writers of recent time that have come up with Jack Reacher, Harry Bosh and Amos Decker â names that we all love â have apparently gone on mental vacations. Lee Child, Michael Connelly David Baldacci and John Grisham have turned out nothing but trash for over a year.
It seems almost inconceivable to me that all four who rank among my top 10 favorite modern novelists could all go from great to dismal at the same time.
And the beat goes on. In the last two weeks I have started to read Walk the Wire ( Baldacci) and Camino Wind (Grisham) to no avail.
Please donât get me wrong, these offerings are readable, but not up to the class and polish that we are used to getting from the pens of these great writers.
On a good note, I have a summer reading suggestion to any horse racing fan. Itâs not a Hemingway piece and closer to what I would call fluff, but in hard times like these it will bring a smile to your face. Itâs called The Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told by Mark Paul. Itâs the ridiculous and totally unsophisticated story of two 31-year-old gamblers that make a sizable future wager on Winning Colors in the Kentucky Derby. Itâs just plain fun with a lot of description of the D. Wayne Lucas machine of the late â80s and early â90s.
The funny thing is that I knew Wayne Lucas (to say hello to) at local restaurants in Lexington especially Debbie Brownâs Dudleyâs when it was on Mill Street. By coincidence, due to the extreme cost of colts, he had talked to his owner, Gene Klein, about trying to buy a top filly to win the classic. I did the same with my band of clients and as it turned out we both were victorious at the same endeavor in a relatively short period of time.
However, I was a little pig and tried to do it again and really bit the bullet for a big ticket filly that at least became a good broodmare. Her name was Meadowbranch Magic ($335,000), and never made it past breaking an ankle in a 2-year-old baby race.
Thanks to all of you for the kind words. Please keep the questions coming in. Instead of making this column too long I saved two interesting questions for next week⌠Stay tuned and have a wonderful week.
Have a question for The Guru?
Email him at GurfTrot@aol.com.