tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560898823512627114.post2076524960516867811..comments2024-02-01T00:37:24.768-05:00Comments on PTP: Good Points, Mullins II & SpencerPull the Pockethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05082676049275768769noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560898823512627114.post-91708930356249197242009-04-07T00:17:00.000-04:002009-04-07T00:17:00.000-04:00Allan,I think the old days with $200 purses is the...Allan,<BR/><BR/>I think the old days with $200 purses is the main reason, however, you make a good point. I was at the ponies once and a driver was shaking the reins and a few people thought he was pulling the horse back. This is a newbie thing of course, but pertinent.<BR/><BR/>Trainer/driver is a good point as well.Pull the Pockethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05082676049275768769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560898823512627114.post-1332661218838306612009-04-06T16:22:00.000-04:002009-04-06T16:22:00.000-04:00As a side note. When I get friends telling me har...As a side note. When I get friends telling me harness races are fixed and not t-breds, I ask them "Who has more control over a horse, the guy behind the horse or the guy on top of the horse?" That usually shuts them up. <BR/><BR/>Here is a question: Do you think the fact that in harness racing the owner may be the trainer and/or driver may make people think it may be more crooked (the logic being if you own the horse yourself you don't have to answer to a trainer or owner)? Mind you, I am not suggesting we change the rules; I think we have owners training and driving their own horses as a throw back to our agrarian origins.Allannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560898823512627114.post-79454575092990727802009-04-06T14:55:00.000-04:002009-04-06T14:55:00.000-04:00I don't think that either side (harness or thoroug...I don't think that either side (harness or thoroughbred) is profiting from problems of the other, to the broad public any scandal is a scandal in "horse racing", hurting the image of both sports. No one decides to become a racing fan, then chooses what type they will follow, and existing fans are much more likely to change the amount of interest (and bets) than decide to switch over to the other side.<BR/>If harness numbers developed favorably over the last years (especially when compared to the thoroughbreds) the reason might be that your side seems to have tackled its problems much earlier and is now starting to reap the rewards, whereas ours is still in the early stages of coming to grips with the dungpile amassed over the decades. <BR/>Over at Railbird's, you mentioned a number of penalties handed out in cases comparable to Mullins at Woodbine Harness, and the Mullins case shows just how far behind American thoroughbred racing is in this quest.malcerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02913127739083446726noreply@blogger.com