#Soundbites - What advice have you given or would you give your assistant if he or she decides to go out on his or her own?

Article by Bill Heller

Tom Amoss

         My assistant is probably going to do that within the next year, Kinnon LaRose. I sat down with Kinnon a number of times. The advice I’ve given him is twofold. As it pertains to clients, you have to communicate as much as you probably can. I email all my clients once a week and give an update on their horses. I’m readily accessible on the telephone, and if anybody calls and I don’t answer, I call right back. I think communication is the key to someone that’s starting out because you’re offering the client something a lot of the bigger trainers can’t possibly do, which is really managing their investment in the Thoroughbreds. The second piece of advice is that you have to constantly be tending your horses, not only in the barn but also as you’re planning races for them. You can’t not go out there on a daily basis. If you take days off it’s going to catch up to you.

D. Wayne Lukas

         I would say the major thing is that they are ready to make a commitment, a complete and 100 percent commitment to the profession and what they want to accomplish because it’s a very difficult and demanding profession. So make sure that you’re ready for it.

Leonard Powell

         First, don’t go on your own too early. Take plenty of time to learn from other people’s mistakes. Make sure you surround yourself with good people. That goes for staff and owners.

Chris Englehart

         Be honest with owners. It’s a tough business. There are pressures with making payroll. Just be honest.    

John Shirreffs

I would have to tell them as assistant to find a client that you’re going to train for who is committed to you as a trainer and as an individual and will not waver over X amount of years. Always have fun in racing. It makes everything just a little bit better.

Kenny McPeek

The key is finding good horses to train. Take care of every horse you get, but if you want to go to the next level, you’ve got to get better quality horses. The racetrack life is tough. It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s pretty cool when it all comes together.

Jim Bond

         Listen to the horse. The horse will tell you everything. Patience is everything. Run them when they’re ready to run.

#Soundbites - Would creating a uniform standard for drug testing horses be good or bad?

By Bill Heller

The Horse Racing Integrity Act currently before the U.S. Congress would create a uniform standard for drug testing horses that would be overseen by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Would that be good or bad?

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Ralph Nicks

It would probably be good. It would level the playing field. We need standard medication rules.

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Rick Schosberg

The jury’s out. I think uniform medication rules are a good thing. Whether it’s the government’s job to do, I’m not sold on that. A lot of people have been working very hard in the industry to get all the jurisdictions on the same page without government intervention. But absolutely it’s important that it gets done. 

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Eoin Harty

I think it would be good. Anything that’s going to enhance the public perception of our industry would be good. I believe this is a step in the right direction. I think it’s very important to enhance confidence in our industry. I think it’s at an all-time low. Anything that would improve that is a good thing.

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Norm Casse

I’m all for uniform rules, but I’m not in favor of the government being involved. It doesn’t seem like it ever works. I think we’re an industry that should be able to regulate ourselves rather than have someone else do it.

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Tom Proctor

When is the government getting involved ever a good thing?

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Ian Wilkes

Bad. I don’t think we need Congress getting involved in our sport. I think our testing is very sophisticated now anyway. I think it’s quite good. Yes, we need uniform rules, but we don’t need Congress involved.

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Jim Bond

It would be bad, though the way it is now is chaos. It’s sad. Ninety-nine percent of the people in our business are good people. You can have all the rules in the world, but they don’t punish the people that have overstepped boundaries hard enough. Not 60 days or 90 days. Make it real. Put some teeth into it. But getting the government involved would not be good. It never seems to work.

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Tim Hills 

If it’s properly instituted, I think it would be good; but horsemen must be included on how it would be set up and how it would be implemented. The horsemen have to have a seat at the table. They would have to be included in setting guidelines. We must be included in how it’s written up. 

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Chris Englehart

I guess it all depends on what the rules were. You’re talking about uniform rules. That would be fine, unless the rules included banning Lasix. I wouldn’t be in support of that. Where would we race our bleeders? I think it would be a good thing to have uniform testing. In a lot of ways, it would be great.

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ALAN SHUBACK (17 October 2011 - Issue Number: Issue 22 )