Question for the board

[Bigredgoer]

Perusing the AP pp\'s  today, does anyone have any interesting info regarding
\"Midwest Thoroughbreds\" operation?  It seems that their operation win a significant fair share of the races that they enter.  Anyone noticing unusual \"jump ups\" with their horses??

Thanks!!!

[miff]

Midwest TB,win in droves,mainly claimers. Employee very high percentage guys like Jamie Ness, Brad Cox,move ups off the wall. Conspiracy theorists have them as cheats. Don\'t race here in NY, dont know what their true story is.

[drbillym]

Rick B. is the expert on AP and Midwest TB-wait for his reply or ppm him.

[Rick B.]

drbillym Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Rick B. is the expert on AP and Midwest TB-wait
> for his reply or ppm him.

Don\'t know if having a big mouth makes me an expert of any
sort, but I see horses from Midwest Thoroughbreds enough
(hell, I see them in my sleep), so I have formed some opinions
about their operation:

* As Miff noted, they employee Jamie Ness and Brad Cox as
trainers, and here in Chicago they run under Roger Brueggemann.
These are all highly capable guys who specialize in claimers,
esp. in *improving* claimed horses. None of them have been
busted for anything scandalous, but as TGJB has pointed out
in the past, that might not mean much. Apparently, these guys
are at least smart enough to not leave syringes in desk drawers.

* The key to the success of the operation, IMO, is proper
placement of their stock. The owners are not starry-eyed
dreamers, and know what they have: if a horse is competitive at
$20K, that\'s where it runs -- not for $25K. This gives them
a giant edge over the competition, most of whom can never
understand why their poor horse gets his head ripped off
every start. (Then, of course, the complaint becomes that
MW T-Breds must be \"juicing\", because they win so much.)

* Pursuant to the last point, the very best time to play
horses from this owner is when they move up in class, esp.
if the last race doesn\'t look so good. I offer no opinion
why this is so; it\'s just something I\'ve noticed.

Hope this helps. If there is a specific question I have not
answered, just ask and I will make up some outrageous lie.

(Just kidding!)

[plasticman]

Miff

does it matter if they win 50% of their starts by cheating or by being honest? As far as bettors are concerned, it doesnt really matter all that much WHY they\'re winning all the races they win, it just matters that they ARE winning all these races....it makes for bad betting situations, a Midwest 3-5 shot is damned if you do, damned if you dont, they create betting races that arent necessarily competitive. I know people will say \"skip the races where the 3-5 shots look like winners and bet against the vulnerable ones\" Thats a decent idea, but personally, i\'d rather have the betting favorite 5-2 or 3-1 and see a \'wide open race\' i\'d rather bet on horse racing as opposed to trainer racing. Maybe that\'s just me.

[Bigredgoer]

Appreciate the input guys, thanks