I Am Curious - "Smaller Tracks Related"

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Disclaimer - I am at the bottom of the popularity polls on this site. I am very aware of that so no need to bring that up ok? I can still post here, so I may occasionally like I am now.

I am especially curious to hear from some of the experienced Horsemen on this site about this which has bugged me from time to time. I am VERY well aware that some of the horses that are sent out at some of my local home tracks (Beulah, River, Thistle and Mountaineer) are not in the best shape to put it mildly. I can not speak intelligently on this matter, their condition, cause I am not even close to knowing what it takes to send a T-Bred out, lets make that clear. However, with that said, I have been around enough to know that some of these trainers, whom I have gotten to know some from being a self proclaimed junkie, that they take pride in their work. The reason why I say this is .................................................. ..............................

I got a call from someone that is a "fairly" good Horsemen round these woods, the Tri-State Area. I referred him to this site several months back and told him it was a cool place, which it is on the most part, to read about the sport most of us share a passion for. The thought he wanted to share thru me to this site because he is not a fan of posting on message boards is that not all Horsemen are cruel to their stock. Also, the references to how low some of these Tri-State meets are in comparrison to other meets are not necessary, lets not state the obvious. If a Jockey has to ride at The Mountain, so be it. Last thought from him is that a good number of these men and women work just as hard if not harder to keep their love and passion for this game alive as the top gunners. Its not cool he said to lump the bad apples into the complete bunch.

Nuff said. I pretty much quoted him word for word. No, he does not want to be named. Thank god, all I wanna say, for the core of Horse Racing, the men and women who bust their nuts 360 plus days a year for the sport they love that does not reward them in their wallets or purses -

The one we love to watch and wager on. Ya never know, you may be making fun of a track one day and then the next thing ya know a jockey or trainer or horse may win a Graded Stakes and guess where they were not so long ago. Maybe Mountaineer? Just a thought from me.

And yes, I will always make fun of Beulah's conditions as long as that paint exists. But never will I make fun of the Horsemen.