https://www.truenicks.com/articles/273968/some-of-americas-safest-trainers-share-their-secrets
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If only more owners shared this viewpoint:
**Owner Jay Alonzo and three partners had paid $90,000 for the filly—“the most expensive horse I ever bought,” Alonzo said. The costs associated with surgery and a long layoff were significant for the small-time partnership. **
"Ray’s bills ain’t cheap; I’m sure nobody’s are," said Alonzo, who figures La Salvadorena’s healing process costs his group $5,000 per month. "But it’s like anything else: You buy a nice car. You want to take your girl out on a date. But something might be wrong, so you probably don’t take that car. . .
"As an owner, I want to run every day. Ray’s patient. There’s always next month if something’s wrong. That does (upset owners) because we want to run. We want the checks. That’s short-termism. But you’ve got to do the right thing for the horse. Short-termism never works. Long-termism always pays off."
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So… common sense?
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The most interesting name was the person on the top of the California stats:
Doug O’Neill 1,762
Who had that on their bingo card for the end of 2023? Additionally he runs at every level and that is a ton of races on every track in California to not have anything go wrong. Good job Doug…
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That stood out to me too!
And also happy to see Shug McGaughey on the NY list. Growing up near Saratoga, he was my idol. My dad always bet a horse he entered and was rarely disappointed.
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It was especially shocking because he has never had a squeaky clean reputation.
I have a lot of respect for him. I have admired how he has navigated a lot of muck, too. I have very little first hand experience with his program minus a blip in time where he kept a string at Delaware Park for a hot minute.
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And as you know, common sense from some owners seems to be sorely lacking and I think a trainer can either foster those unrealistic beliefs or put a stop to them. It depends on the trainer to guide newish owners to understand horses and what is best and realistic for them.
Some trainers seem to do very well at this, others, not so much.
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I don’t know really know Doug personally but the one time I met him I was astonished by how welcoming he was. As a trainer, we are all careful not to even glance into another trainer’s shedrow, let alone walk through their barn. I was walking through the barn area at Del Mar and he stopped us and invited us in and even introduced us to some of his more well known horses. One of which promptly attempted to bite me in the boob but that is not Doug’s fault! I guess it’s easier to be welcoming when you don’t have a barn full of claimers you don’t want people checking out.
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Don’t be fooled–Doug trains plenty of claimers especially Calbred ones. He’s legitimately one of the friendliest guys on the backstretch you will ever meet and I always thought that “Drug O’Neill” stuff was just jealousy. I haven’t looked at his stats recently but generally he’s a 16 -18 % trainer which doesn’t imply massive use of pharmaceuticals. I think he sees himself as an ambassador of the sport which is to his credit.
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At one time, when he was winning at a much higher clip, he fell subject to the same accusations that any high percentage trainer receives.
He had some negative press around some positives and unflattering situations years ago when he was newer to the game. Did he deserve it or was it just jealousy? I don’t know.
But, since he has been more of a household name, I admire how he conducts himself on every level. When he has had negative situations arise (which is pretty uncommon anymore), he confronts them head on. He doesn’t play the blame game, and, he truly seems to learn from them. He has maintained a high level of transparency in the social media age: his stable truly seems to “get it” when it comes to social media and public relations, unlike so many operations.
So I’ve been a massive Doug O’Neill fan for quite awhile now. 
But I’m still surprised to see him on this list! One more plus in his column, as far as I’m concerned.
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