In the Nov. 17 HRU feedback Bob Pandolfo wrote about shoe changes on trotters and about how shoes off is so important and questioned why this information is not readily available in the past performance programs.

Bob is absolutely correct and I think it exposes racing’s lack of transparency. [It has] never been forward thinking when it comes to the betting public. Over the years, I have had many trotters and you knew when your horse was racing well and when you removed the shoes there was a marked improvement in performance. Now, back then, purses were small so many small timers had to cash a bet to keep things going so this is not anything new, it’s been going on forever. If it was improving trotters back then you can see how important it would be with the high-priced trotters or blueblood trotters that are racing today. From a betting standpoint, with all things being equal, shoes off trotters are some of the best overlay bets in racing.