Back to Belmont today .

As most of you know, my Dad's recuperating here from his hernia operation (sorry for being repetitive, I guess it helps me to deal with it by "talking" about it here). So I set him up with a NYRA Rewards account online, being that he's not really up to heading out to The Island yet.

Anyway, you'd have to be a horse player to understand this, but some of these top trainers are getting ridiculous now. A few of them have two and three mounts for different owners in the same race. It drives me crazy enough when it's a big race, like the Derby or the Preakness. But is it really necessary for Todd Pletcher to have three horses in the same race---by three different owners---on a Friday afternoon in September?

I mean, he's a GREAT trainer. But if you're an owner, how much confidence can you have in your trainer if he has two horses running against you?

This shit was unheard of ten or fifteen years ago. It won't stop me from making a bet, though .