Pocono qualifiers

[Scooteroo]

Let's flip this around, how about if the other car is doing 80 and the Porsche 70, does the Porsche still get pulled over because he's driving more aggressively and has tinted windows, I say yes. If you go with the flow and blend in with the other cars, even if you're speeding, as long as you stay in the same lane, you're probably okay.

[Parked]

If you are in NYS no one except ICE will bother you.

[Grandstand Handicapper]

Aside from the analogy, many people thought when Pena came back he is was going to pick up where he left off. It would be another Pena show of lighting the world on fire. On the other hand, some people think from day one Pena was a beard. That aside, when Pena came back, all he could do is apply for a license. That's it. Whether he could train and race is a completely different story.

I never thought he'd come back anywhere near what he was doing before. I didn't think he'd have the support, the horsepower, just little to nothing. I thought Pena would be like a horrible memory. Great horseman or not, Pena had gone well beyond the vomit point. When he finally came back, people said this guy is a beard for Pena, that guy is a beard for Pena, and so on. But I don't see 5 or 6 trainers, each with 40 horses, bearding for Pena, and all of them are lighting the world on fire. Listen, one guy bearding with 5 horses is a problem. I believe in time that will change. Little by little. But, Pena has been relegated to a horrible memory.

[Harness racer]

He’s coming back with some big time owners again.  They know something.  They always seem to know who the next super trainer is going to be.

[Grandstand Handicapper]

I wouldn't hold your breath. People said the same thing about Jeff Lapoff and every other "hot" trainer who took a hit. How many actually came back? The real horsemen did! Where's the flash in the pan super trainers of the last 30 years? Nowhere.

[Harness racer]

I could be wrong.  When he first came back he didn’t have the support he seems to have now.  Time will tell.

[Grandstand Handicapper]

You know, while I felt Pena was an "Al Capone" thing, I for one felt it was a case of "the ends justified the means." When this whole thing went down, everyone (horsemen) was talking about it. Everyone in the sport was writing about it. Anyway, during the Harrisburg sale, one night a group of us were talking and this had become a major topic of discussion. We had a long talk about it.

The most interesting comments came from someone, who I have nothing but admiration and respect for, someone who I think is the most underrated trainer in the business, and that person is Blair Burgess. I don't know if Blair ever had a positive test in his career, but if Blair is not a legit horsemen, then there isn't one. Blair's take was that this was an Al Capone thing. He wasn't defending Pena at all, and said that obviously the guy was a lightning rod for scrutiny. He even said obviously the guy was not racing on hay, oats, and water. However, he also said that many of the items (medications) that he was suspended for were considered therapeutic (if they were properly and accurately administered). Blair also said that it sounded like Pena did not get a positive test for any of these drugs, yet alone some exotic or designer drug that has zero place on a racetrack or farm; and that these violations were more about record-keeping and vet records, logs, etc., than they were about actual positive tests.

So what did Pena get thrown out of racing for? What he did, or what everyone thought he was doing, but they just didn't catch him? In the end, the violations were just that, violations. If a governing body went after Pena for things that many others are "guilty" of-----and they didn't go after the many others-----so be it. It's still a violation. If 20 cars are speeding down the road, the cop decides if he pulls over one, more, or none. Sometimes the means do justify the end.

[Calhoun]

Didn't Dan Nance do an investigation and determined Lou Pena did nothing wrong?

[Grandstand Handicapper]

Didn't Dan Nance do an investigation and determined Lou Pena did nothing wrong?

Wouldn't surprise me. Honor among thieves? LOL. Listen, guilty people rationalize and justify their crimes. They also do it for others who are also guilty. It's affirmation. Dan and/or his brother took a hit for what again? I forgot what that drug was called. I kind of remember there was a string of positives for the same thing.

[BigMFan]

She posted on Facebook she’s selling Peeler, owned by her, her brother, and Howard Taylor.  Whole thing smells.

[firhill]

Two cars speeding down the road. The first car is doing 80. The other car is doing 70. The first car is a Porsche 911 with tinted windows and changing lanes, passing cars, etc. The second car is a small SUV, going with the flow of traffic, staying in their lane, etc.

Cop sees both go by. Who does does the cop pull over?

The one being driven by the black guy

[remington]

With juice Pena is nothing.