As The Trainer Turns

A Wednesday morning look at the runners, and the trainers who train them.

The star of the soap opera, Rick Dutrow. In a recent piece for the New York Daily News, Rick called a bunch of his fellow trainers 'cheaters'. Cue the banjos.

How does Oscar Barrera go from winning no races for 30 years and then he becomes the best trainer that's ever trained horses for two years, and then they stop him and he goes 0-for-140. Same thing with Gasper Moschera. Where is he at? How did he become the man in New York by laying carpet and then they stop him and he gets out of the game.

"Pete Ferriola. Juan Serey. You look at this jerk down here Contessa. How does he set records? How does he do it? Come on, man. If everything is the same playing field, we're going to do as good if not better than anybody."

Gary Contessa fired back:

"I shuddered every time he opened his big mouth," Contessa said. "He never says anything intelligent. As a spokesperson he's done more damage to the game than anyone."

"I don't use steroids and I know exactly why I do not use steroids," added Contessa, referring to Dutrow, who has admitted to using the steroid Winstrol on his horses but has also said he doesn't know why. "I'm still waiting for him to say something intelligent because it still hasn't happened. He's a moron."

Trainer Gasper Moschera decided to hop into the fray when asked about Dutrow's comments in the New York Post.

"I have no problem with Dutrow. I wish him all the luck. But he should thank God, and shut his mouth. He talks like a jerk, but he can talk intelligent, too. He's got a brain, but it's all being thrown away. I don't know how his owners stay with him.

"I never had a positive (in a 25-year career) so I don't like the idea he's talking like that," Moschera told The Post. "I take that as an insult, him putting me in that category. That's one of the reasons I got out of the business, because they made Lasix legal, and that opened the door for all the drugs. Ever since then, nothing was the same.

And then a classic zinger:

"Dutrow, they shouldn't test his horses, they should test him."

Now IAEH stable is quoted in several pieces mentioning he is on a tight leash and that they seriously thought about taking away the horses from his care.

Stay tuned for the next chapter. It could be right up there with Who Shot JR.