I have a few nits to pick with Brett Sturman’s article in last Sunday’s HRU.

1. You speak of Blair Burgess as being a Canadian Hall of Famer. He is indeed that, but he is also installed in the Living Hall of Fame in Goshen. To not mention his dual enshrinement is not only unfair to his lifetime achievements but could also reflect on his perceived credibility.

2. I would suggest that the race in question was an anomaly and not the norm. Sure there are some races where there are one or two horses that are better than the rest and respect is given to them when they have the lead. But put yourself in the drivers’ position — to pull on them would be nothing but folly — an almost sure death sentence resulting in their horse getting nothing, opposed to them having a shot of a piece of the purse. If Brett thinks it was not always like that, he is somewhat correct. Racing could and often would be exciting as it still sometimes is today. There was also a time way back in the early Roosevelt / Yonkers years when a young buck named Stanley Dancer went to the top and nobody had the cojones to challenge him. That was boring racing.

3. I disagree with [Sturman] regarding race callers. I like when the race caller editorializes, especially when he is as astute and knowledgeable as Ken Middleton and Ken Warkentin. By doing so they add a degree of color and knowledge that is often lacking in race calls.

Murray Brown