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Originally posted on 06/10/2018:

Str is it common for these ownership groups to have several horses in this type of race? I know it happens but man it seems like I’m hearing a lot about how one horse or another might not do what suits him best in this race because he owned by same group as another and it would hurt that horses chances. Maybe I’m naive but seems that really sucks!

Appreciate all your thoughts as don’t have 1st clue how to cap the ponies so always just rely on reading as many things I can then just picking and choosing what sounds the best to me! Lol. Gl on your action!!

You are not naive 2daBank, it does suck. In my time training, early in my career it was not common at all. But as we got into the 80's some partnerships started to emerge, led by Wayne Lukas. By the 90's it was catching on and it has become more and more common since.
The other problem that has accentuated this issue is the "super trainer" phenomenon. By that I mean one trainer with access to 200 horses of which he chooses the top 40 for his main barn , the next 40 for his 2nd string and sends away the bottom 100 or so to other trainers but they can stay in his name or be transferred back to his main strings if they improve. Now add to that the idea that when a horse flashes brilliance early on, big money can be offered to smaller stables. Money that is larger than it should be in actuality. It is hard to say no to a larger than reasonable price. Typically , if purchased , the horse will be in a syndicate, which is why they can over pay, and go to a top 5 trainer in the country.
The syndicate thing is at an all time high and I see no end in sight . So while my answer would have been no a couple of decades ago today the answer is yes, and we better start getting used to it.

There was a time when a trainer HAD to be in the paddock to saddle his own horse no less than every other day. If not, the horses were required to run in another trainers name. But that rule changed in the 80's which allowed guys to train 150 plus horses at a time at multiple tracks and not actually be there.
I will be talking about the race itself with the next question from EASY if you care.

Thanks for the question 2daBank. Hope it helped. And I want to say to you that when I was first here years ago, I spent a lot of time in players talk. We joined about the same time. But after a couple of years, and maybe it's me, it seemed to change and a lot of trolling set in. Between the politics and the constant arguing, I lost interest in PT.
I rarely post there anymore and glance through some threads but when I see you have posted in one, I almost always read what you have to say. I have always respected your opinion, especially in baseball and football and you are as good as PT has to offer. If I counted on one hand who is worth a read there, you would certainly be on that list.
Keep up the good work sir, and if you ever want to discuss anything, horses or not, let me know. I will hope to offer whatever insight I might have. Go Cards.