Editor's Note: the author of this letter is known to the publishers of the TDN, but has asked to remain anonymous.
At this point, we have to be skeptical of any news story about the horse business. Most journalists have an agenda, and there are a lot of angry, envious people ready to feed publications what they want to hear. There are also a lot of readers eager to consume such negative stories.
It's a perfect storm of bogusness, with dishonesty at each stage of the pipeline, from the sources through the writers to the readers. This doesn't mean every story about the industry is wrong, but it means wrong will be the default. Clickbait and sensationalism is what they want. Sources of most stories are agitators that pull the strings by contributing to online fearmongering publications. The most intriguing aspect of the horse business is that money alone can't buy you a champion. It's multifaceted–from how horses are sourced to how they are prepped to how they are managed and ultimately trained. Average investors can play the S&P and look smart over time. Average investors can't win the KY Derby or develop champions without excellent infrastructure and laser focus. People always believe they know better and their structure will achieve higher returns. The only way to win with any consistency at the highest level is by retaining the help of proven sources that have established winning trends in the classic and championship races over several decades. Industry participants become very soured by competitors, who win and win at the highest level with regularity. We now more than ever need a level of enforceable accountability from our racetrack and industry publications. As an industry we need to hold our media to a higher standard.
Be Better.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
