HORSEPLOP.COM
General Category => Harness Racing => Topic started by: Beard on November 08, 2025, 06:08:50 AM
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Are we witnessing the end of Alagna? He was not at Harrisburg all week. Not sure he bought any yearling stock here this year. The amount he spent on stock last season has to be close to, or outweighing his earnings this year to date of 2.2 million. His udrs is sitting at .249. Some of his race horses sold yesterday to new connections that may put the final nail in the coffin. Where did he go wrong? Or do you think I am blowing things out of proportion? I’m well aware of the ups and downs that come with this game, but he seems to be trending downward when a just few short years ago seemed like he was on top of the world.
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Hook up with Micki Rae stables and that is one pretty difficult operation to deal with. Myron is their mentor and it is really a shit show!
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Tony is indeed alive and well and did attend both major sales this year and did purchase more than a few. Like those before him, his rise to prominence happened when he didn't have issues like buying and running a farm and all the nonsense outside just training horses. Has he made money for 90% of his investors, that's a big no. But who really cares if Myron and company lose their collective millions and Tony makes a decent living? Tony is good to his horses and staff and deserved the opportunity that was afforded him. Very few horsemen can go pick out value from the yearling sales year in and year out.
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Tony is indeed alive and well and did attend both major sales this year and did purchase more than a few. Like those before him, his rise to prominence happened when he didn't have issues like buying and running a farm and all the nonsense outside just training horses. Has he made money for 90% of his investors, that's a big no. But who really cares if Myron and company lose their collective millions and Tony makes a decent living? Tony is good to his horses and staff and deserved the opportunity that was afforded him. Very few horsemen can go pick out value from the yearling sales year in and year out.
Toby has a rough couple years for the money spent. Plus his mom passed they were very close. Tony will be fine he didn’t just wake up and forget how to train a horse.
Brian Brown is another great trainer that had similar down years, Brian didn’t forget how to train either. Very true owners are loyal through the down years.
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So it's the randomness of picking out good horses every year and personal grief and nothing to do with all the trouble he's been in pushing the envelope and getting popped and suspended over the past 5 years?
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i recall one 30 day suspension in 2025
were there others ??
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So it's the randomness of picking out good horses every year and personal grief and nothing to do with all the trouble he's been in pushing the envelope and getting popped and suspended over the past 5 years?
How many suspensions has he had?
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Several positives going back to 2021
American history was one for sure
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His barn hasn't made a profit in years. Guess owners are tired of losing money.
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Tony is not done. He won't be the force he once was and won't have the backing he once did. Like him or not, there's no denying that he is absolutely on a bad run. It's exacerbated by the fact that his clients are: getting older, downsizing, buying less (yes, with some of them because they have not done well in recent years), breeding more and not buying, and so on. Look at his clients. Some of you may know them. Look at his clients who are breeders, including Myron, who was never playing with all of his own money. It all comes down to.....he simply has not been producing results in recent years. His owners aren't making money, and neither is he. He certainly won't have the horsepower he once had, but he'll downsize, get rid of overhead, and will rebuild, albeit it on a smaller scale.
It's happening to other trainers as well. Not anywhere near to the same extent, but it's happening.
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i think that is a fair assessment
i am sure even tony would agree he took on too much
too many horses, the farm etc
other than burke he had the most horses by far, and likely had the most 2 yr olds for a few years
long term it might be better for him to downsize, simplify, take some pressure of and focus on the horses and be more hands on
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One thing I can tell you for sure , the bulk of the owners are getting crushed but Myron’s not going for a penny. He’s always got himself protected with side deals and kick backs.
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Tony is not done. He won't be the force he once was and won't have the backing he once did. Like him or not, there's no denying that he is absolutely on a bad run. It's exacerbated by the fact that his clients are: getting older, downsizing, buying less (yes, with some of them because they have not done well in recent years), breeding more and not buying, and so on. Look at his clients. Some of you may know them. Look at his clients who are breeders, including Myron, who was never playing with all of his own money. It all comes down to.....he simply has not been producing results in recent years. His owners aren't making money, and neither is he. He certainly won't have the horsepower he once had, but he'll downsize, get rid of overhead, and will rebuild, albeit it on a smaller scale.
It's happening to other trainers as well. Not anywhere near to the same extent, but it's happening.
Agree you summed it up well
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I know he bought more than 20 at lexington and 4 at Harrisburg, several for me. What is done is 2025 and 2026 has begun and Alagna Racing shows videos of the yearlings. I predict a great upcoming year.....
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The videos are on Alagna Racing at Facebook. Several good ones too!
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congrats blackfin and good luck
as always tony bought some quality ones at lexington
24 plus a few homebreds from some of the usual owners will likely total half as many as normal, might be a good thing
hopefully he can lose those caviart horses, also would be a good thing
just curious why you think 2026 will be a good year, what will cause the improvement versus the last 3 progressively worse years
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Everyone know Tony Alagna is extremely dedicated 24/7 and if you look at his selections, they reflect a lifetime of
knowledge. That does not guarantee success but he has again selected yearlings with tremendous potential and will
train them to be the best they can be. You can't ask anything more from either him or the yearling.
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You're drinking the kool-aid brother. And good for you but it comes with a price. Ask Robby Pryde or one of the many Myron Bell victims. Tony buys all the best pedigree from all the Brittany families and pays dearly for them, in the process helping George and Myron, and loses on 99% of them. He needs to do a better job of identifying the mid range horses for 30-60K and produce a 1M winner or two. Casie, Brown, Elliot, and many others do it every year. And he needs to streamline his interests and get away from running training centres and buying farms and just do what his very good at: training horses, most notably babies. I will add he's an extremely good guy and losing his mother had to be extremely difficult as they were very close. I hope he makes the changes I noted and wish him nothing but good fortune.
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Thank you for your nice comments. Everyone knows how hard it is with this intense competition. I would not comment on
others you mentioned and go by my life experience and my research before I started. He needs to have success with his new yearlings and if you look at his selections, you can see how it is possible. I started a thread to select 5 horses for $250,000
from the sales and see how they do. It's not easy. At the end of the year I will disclose my actual 5.
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Remember, part of this, specifically the part having to do with Myron's horses, has less to do with Tony, and more to do with Myron. Myron has been a cockroach in this business for his entire life. If it wasn't for George Segal, Myron would probably still be selling racing forms out in Las Vegas. Myron always looks out for Myron, and obviously it's at other people's expense. So, first, Myron breeds horses (and I don't know what % he actually owns of them), and sells interests in them at prices that Myron sets-----which IMO are grossly inflated. They are partnership horses that Myron then "manages" and if or what he charges for that, I have no idea. Now, I don't know if the people who buy into those horses ask Tony for his opinion before they do, but if they do, that's an inherent conflict of interest. Two, and I can't verify he did in fact do this, but I believe Myron has: a) also put horses through the ring, either bought them back and sold interests in them, and/or, b) Tony bought them for other owners, and Myron retained/bought back into the horse (at the sale price), and then sold interests in that piece he retained/bought back into. Simply another money-making scheme.
Yes, Tony has bought Brittany horses. If a trainer ends up with "overly inflated" priced horses, owners are going to lose money. Period. Buy a colt for $100,000 earn $300k through his 2yo and 3yo year, sell him, and you make money. Arguably, LOL. Buy that same colt for $300,000, and obviously the results change. Regardless, this didn't happen with every horse. As I said, Tony has been on a bad run. His clientele is getting older, downsizing, perhaps leaving the business for the most part, some are shifting more to other trainers perhaps, etc. But this isn't the blame game.
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i hope he comes back and has a decent year in 2026
the sport needs more than one trainer( burke) winning all the races
i hope ryder, daley, takter, pelling ,harris also have good seasons
its good for the sport
also not making excuses for tony as the numbers the last few years speak for themselves but he did get a lot of tds in the first crop and a lot of caviart average homebreds
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Remember, part of this, specifically the part having to do with Myron's horses, has less to do with Tony, and more to do with Myron. Myron has been a cockroach in this business for his entire life. If it wasn't for George Segal, Myron would probably still be selling racing forms out in Las Vegas. Myron always looks out for Myron, and obviously it's at other people's expense. So, first, Myron breeds horses (and I don't know what % he actually owns of them), and sells interests in them at prices that Myron sets-----which IMO are grossly inflated. They are partnership horses that Myron then "manages" and if or what he charges for that, I have no idea. Now, I don't know if the people who buy into those horses ask Tony for his opinion before they do, but if they do, that's an inherent conflict of interest. Two, and I can't verify he did in fact do this, but I believe Myron has: a) also put horses through the ring, either bought them back and sold interests in them, and/or, b) Tony bought them for other owners, and Myron retained/bought back into the horse (at the sale price), and then sold interests in that piece he retained/bought back into. Simply another money-making scheme.
Yes, Tony has bought Brittany horses. If a trainer ends up with "overly inflated" priced horses, owners are going to lose money. Period. Buy a colt for $100,000 earn $300k through his 2yo and 3yo year, sell him, and you make money. Arguably, LOL. Buy that same colt for $300,000, and obviously the results change. Regardless, this didn't happen with every horse. As I said, Tony has been on a bad run. His clientele is getting older, downsizing, perhaps leaving the business for the most part, some are shifting more to other trainers perhaps, etc. But this isn't the blame game.
Myron got banned from Harrisburg for the exact thing you mentioned. He has always been a conduit for george to get outrageous prices for his yearlings. And as you've articulated, he always used others money to be involved. Those well to do saps that believed his nonsense got crushed for millions and I don't feel one bit sorry for them. Tony made his bed and at the end of the day benefitted tremendously because his relationship with Myron. All good things come to an end.
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I don't know that Myron got banned from Harrisburg, but I'll take your word for it. Being that the arena is owned by the State, and that the SHSC owns and operates the sale, I am not sure if they can "ban" someone, but again, I'll take your word for it. Myron was more a conduit, shill, promoter, etc., for Tony than he was for George. George has a long history in the sport, is well respected, and had a very high-quality, excellent broodmare band. The Brittany yearlings always sold well, without promotion from anyone, and they were purchased by leading owners, trainers, etc., and Brittany made every effort to have that happen. I was never a fan of being a buyer from them because I felt you couldn't compete against their "preferred" clients. Plus, by they culled and kept. Back in the early days, by the time the ones that were being offered got to the sale, Gene Riegle, Bob McIntosh, Bruce Nickells, Guida, Continental, Per Eriksson, etc., had already been through them and knew everything there was to know, LOL. In more modern times and in many recent years, it's Trevor Ritchie, who consults to George, whatever trainers George may be using, and yes, Tony was one of them, and there are absolutely still "preferred" clients of course.
I agree, Tony made his bed by dealing with Myron, and while he benefitted from it, he will also bear the consequences of it.
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Trust me he's banned from the sale. And although George had a great band and spent a ton to get it, you're terribly naive to think he didn't have Myron directed his group of pigeons to be on his yearling. And some did slip through cracks, just ask Casie. As for Trevor, another over rated driver with brand recognition that gets crushed five ten years running. Why guys that have money just don't ring up guys like Ryder, Elliot, Moore, Brown and a select few others that have demonstrated that they have a keen eye for what a good horse ought to look like. Sure they get it wrong but they swing a lot in the 25-60K range and hit killers.
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You are giving Myron far too much credit and power. Many people talk to Myron. Less tolerate him. Even far less than that do business with him. That's why he ended up on George's payroll. Yes, Myron had a group of stooges, and those were the ones who either bought/sent horses to Tony, and/or bought those partnership horses. Small group. Trevor's driving and resume as a driver has zero to do with this. The fact is he's paid by George to assess and advise on the Brittany yearlings, and that's all I was saying. He's got the inside line on the crop. As a horseman, judge of yearlings, horseflesh, whatever, you may think zero of him, but, obviously George doesn't.
As far as owners and how they pick trainers, what they do, sure, plenty of them do. I guess many others simply don't know, listen to others, agents, advisors or whatever you want to call them. In some cases it's the blind leading the blind, LOL. The old joke is very smart people come into this business, and they check their brains at the stable gate/farm entrance, LOL. I've been a fan of Moore for a long time. He has always taken on a limited # of horses every year, and never wanted to bigger than he was comfortable with. Rather than get bigger, he had the opportunity to buy better quality horses. Regardless, he's done exceptionally well and has a great track record. Now he's retiring so it doesn't matter, LOL. Personally, I don't think there's a shortage of very good trainers out there, but it's certainly not a very long list. LOL.
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BTW, heard through the grapevine-----no, certainly not here, LOL-----there is a potential buyer/deal for the farm. Good step in the right direction for Tony.
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fallout winning would sting especially for past owners
horse underachieves all year and makes almost as much money in this start as he made all year
sure they got $500k for him which is great but maybe not given what he should have earned in 2025 and what he will earn in 2026
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You can only spend 5 million a year and be lucky to make 2 million not counting training bills .
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People who throw out over $100,000 on ANY yearling do not care about losing money for the crapshoot of babies is just that!
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People who throw out over $100,000 on ANY yearling do not care about losing money for the crapshoot of babies is just that!
Agree
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Will Tony get desperate and push things. It is impossible to compete at he top being honest. The top cheaters are pushing harder than ever.
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It seems like Tony started going downhill when a bunch of EPO suppliers got busted.
Imagine how good some young trainers would do, spending what he does for his stable. Ex: Nick Gallucci from Canada, imagine if he started the year with Tonys horses...
He was on a tear for abit but has tailed off in the last few years (Fallout was good as a 2y.o but they couldn't get him to do anything this year).
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did not take long for burke to fix fallout
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I thought $500k for Fallout was ludicrous. For anyone. It's not like he was going to be the ML favorite for the Progress. He was 20-1! Tight photo too, LOL. Easy to say after the fact that, but anyone can be a Monday morning QB. Luck or not. The check clears. LOL.
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BTW, I was there when the horse sold. While I believe there were live bidders, I don't know who else was on the horse. I was very surprised this horse went for $500k. Talented 2yo, didn't come back at 3, and wasn't showing being a top 3yo at all. Showed little. Whatever they were thinking, they just got back a nice chunk of change.
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agree that $500k was way over the top , i thought $300k would be about right
i don't believe the burke brigade got run up, too smart for that
one of the other likely culprits was in on the bidding
grandstand, who is a monday morning qb??, who cares what the morning line odds were, my point was the horse ran a huge mile( no luck in that) and got the dough
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The videos are on Alagna Racing at Facebook. Several good ones too!
Not, the kind I was looking for but looking good none the less.
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Not, the kind I was looking for but looking good none the less.
tmbz1
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agree that $500k was way over the top , i thought $300k would be about right
i don't believe the burke brigade got run up, too smart for that
one of the other likely culprits was in on the bidding
grandstand, who is a monday morning qb??, who cares what the morning line odds were, my point was the horse ran a huge mile( no luck in that) and got the dough
Agreed, I didn't see, but it had to be the usual suspects. Harris? As far as the Monday morning QB, I am not saying anyone specifically was doing that. I was simply saying it's easy to say anything after the fact. Nobody can say they bought the horse with this specific angle in mind because the horse was going to be ML favorite for $280k. Did the horse run big? Absolutely. He outran his odds, his recent performances, and I say there was some luck in this. To each their own.
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It will be interesting to see how Fallout continues to perform. He will need to go a lot faster than 150 to compete next year
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he will be in Kentucky for most of the year , making loads of cash
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If you think Burke would dole out 1/2 million if he didn't know he could win all the big ones next year, then you're very naive. Burke has a massive edge and he is spending serious capital because of it.
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There's no doubt that Burke was thinking this horse would be a major, perhaps very major, factor in the KSDF/Sire Stakes program next year. He was definitive, confident, and put his money where his thinking was, and get just got a nice pay day because of it. Improved performance, luck, doesn't matter. The purse check cleared. Burke's operation is big enough, with enough spreading of risk, that if this horse turned out to be a dud, it wouldn't decimate them. Give credit where credit is due. Obviously, Burke didn't think he overpaid that much. At least not to the point where he stopped raising his hand, LOL.
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Tony needs to start to be more of a businessman, cut his numbers back and get rid of the dead wood. He's not looking for overnight horses and that's what he's got now. The 2 farms has to be a big burden not just monetarily. I think his Ky property is far easier to sell than Tullo's, but the future is Ky not NJ. Long term he's going to be better off to get out of NJ. Even if he has to take a loss, better to bite the bullet now, He also doesn't train at Sunshine Meadows anymore, which was far less stressful and he had a audience that he doesn't have in NJ
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Tony needs to start to be more of a businessman, cut his numbers back and get rid of the dead wood. He's not looking for overnight horses and that's what he's got now. The 2 farms has to be a big burden not just monetarily. I think his Ky property is far easier to sell than Tullo's, but the future is Ky not NJ. Long term he's going to be better off to get out of NJ. Even if he has to take a loss, better to bite the bullet now, He also doesn't train at Sunshine Meadows anymore, which was far less stressful and he had a audience that he doesn't have in NJ
Are you saying tony is selling the KY farm also?
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Tony needs to start to be more of a businessman, cut his numbers back and get rid of the dead wood. He's not looking for overnight horses and that's what he's got now. The 2 farms has to be a big burden not just monetarily. I think his Ky property is far easier to sell than Tullo's, but the future is Ky not NJ. Long term he's going to be better off to get out of NJ. Even if he has to take a loss, better to bite the bullet now, He also doesn't train at Sunshine Meadows anymore, which was far less stressful and he had a audience that he doesn't have in NJ
I also think the pressure of producing top stakes juveniles leads to overclassificatio n. Pelling starts many in the TSS series or other grassroot programs until they develop and show they can go with the big dogs. Tony time and again throws them to the wolves way too early and stunt their development. Whether its owners who want the recognition of racing in the big races, he's got to judge his stock more adeptly.
I see lines on a few horses who look like they have a bit of ability and only have 10k on their card when they might have 50-60k if they were managed better and find softer spots to make money.
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Maybe focus a little more on profit rather than trophies.
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Maybe focus a little more on profit rather than trophies.
Agree
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Maybe focus a little more on profit rather than trophies.
Profit only means something to the owners that can’t afford to play at the top. Oh and Tony sold the KY farm long ago
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Profit only means something to the owners that can’t afford to play at the top. Oh and Tony sold the KY farm long ago
Wealthy people have heathy egos, which is why they get i trouble to begin with but is also the reason they eventually exit the business. The only difference is their means: they simply can afford to get cracked for a cool million or more so their stay in the game in a little longer. Make no mistake, any owner playing the baby game, let alone with a guy like tony, is getting his head kicked in annually.
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Very few ever really get ahead when playing the baby game. But it doesn’t matter to most of them. Do you think they are ever gonna make money on their yacht or country club membership? Absolutely not but they still buy them. Best advice I ever received from an owner. I was sent a really small homebred that his top trainer didn’t want. First time I met the owner I said “hopefully I cagey him to the races and make you a little money “. He says don’t worry about my money just give him a chance and he will be what he is. A few months later he invited me to dinner. When he was showing me his brown Jug trophy he said “ do you know what I did with that purse check?” I said no, he said me either but every time I look at that trophy I remember that day and that is priceless
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Very few ever really get ahead when playing the baby game. But it doesn’t matter to most of them. Do you think they are ever gonna make money on their yacht or country club membership? Absolutely not but they still buy them. Best advice I ever received from an owner. I was sent a really small homebred that his top trainer didn’t want. First time I met the owner I said “hopefully I cagey him to the races and make you a little money “. He says don’t worry about my money just give him a chance and he will be what he is. A few months later he invited me to dinner. When he was showing me his brown Jug trophy he said “ do you know what I did with that purse check?” I said no, he said me either but every time I look at that trophy I remember that day and that is priceless
tmbz1
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Very few ever really get ahead when playing the baby game. But it doesn’t matter to most of them. Do you think they are ever gonna make money on their yacht or country club membership? Absolutely not but they still buy them. Best advice I ever received from an owner. I was sent a really small homebred that his top trainer didn’t want. First time I met the owner I said “hopefully I cagey him to the races and make you a little money “. He says don’t worry about my money just give him a chance and he will be what he is. A few months later he invited me to dinner. When he was showing me his brown Jug trophy he said “ do you know what I did with that purse check?” I said no, he said me either but every time I look at that trophy I remember that day and that is priceless
I guess based on that assertion, Myron, George and Robbie are all staring at their Metro Pace trophy while another 240 US goes down the drain. The hits just keep on coming.