Every-day
- Bruno@Racingwithbruno
- 1 hour ago
- 5 min read
For the better part of my career in racing, I have owned and bred horses. Yet you don't see me in a constant furor for attention, retweets, likes, and digital validation by aggressively telling everyone when one of my babies works three furlongs or, in some cases, when they have a bowel movement.
That is today's world.
People can't wait to post, tweet, livestream, and broadcast every detail of their lives as if the public is anxiously awaiting an update on what Joe Six Pack did with his day off. It has gotten completely out of hand.
But it isn't all annoying.
If you're paying attention, all that noise can be useful.
One thing I've learned is that when someone is constantly in your face telling you everything their superstar horse is doing, every breeze, every gallop, every carrot consumed, and then suddenly they go silent, that silence can be very revealing.
Sometimes positively. Sometimes negatively.
In our Preakness issue, I made mention of how quiet Chad Summers had become regarding Napoleon Solo. Here's a trainer who is usually anything but shy when it comes to promoting his stock. Yet before the Preakness he was as quiet as a church mouse.
Why?
Because he had the goods.
He wasn't interested in selling a story. He was interested in winning a race. He brought the least amount of attention possible to the horse and got every bit of 7-1. He allowed the horse to speak for himself.
That is confidence.
On the flip side, we have owners and syndicates that simply won't shut up about their horses. There is one syndicate in particular that I find thoroughly annoying. Every decent horse they own is portrayed on social media as the next all-time great.
Last I checked, hype doesn't make a horse better.
Only the horse can make himself better.
In fact, I've found that the louder people are about a horse, the less likely that horse is to live up to the billing. The truly good ones usually don't require a public relations campaign.
Take the $10 million horse.
What happened there?
Now I'm hearing whispers that there may be an issue. A significant one. Whether it's true or not isn't the point. What is interesting is that the horse is no longer all over social media. He's no longer being photographed every time he sets foot on the track. The paparazzi either don't see him anymore or have suddenly lost interest.
Out of sight. Out of mind.
I've heard similar rumblings about Golden Tempo. He hasn't been seen on the track lately. No fanfare. No bugles announcing his morning gallops. No carefully edited social media clips.
Is he at the farm?
Is he taking a break?
Is there something going on?
If we actually had a racing media that functioned as journalists instead of cheerleaders, perhaps we'd know.
Years ago, The Turf Authority had reporters who chased stories and asked questions. Today much of racing media resembles a box of Cracker Jack without the prize inside.
Of course, social media is loaded with conspiracy theories, nonsense, clickbait, and outright garbage. Most of it belongs in the nearest dumpster. Yet every once in a while something pops up that makes you stop and look twice.
I've always believed that where there's smoke, there's usually fire.
Then again, sometimes it's arson.
Sometimes the smoke is deliberately created to damage a horse, a trainer, an owner, or a reputation. If someone isn't liked, social media can turn a spark into a forest fire. If they are liked, everyone suddenly becomes a member of the same cigar-smoking club.
The challenge for readers is separating legitimate information from personal vendettas.
Maybe somebody had their favorite donut stolen one morning.
Who knows?
People develop grudges over the most ridiculous things imaginable.
We live in a society increasingly fueled by retribution, tribalism, and cult-like loyalties.
So how do I use the internet?
I read between the lines.
People volunteer information every day. Videos. Photos. Interviews. Training clips. Most don't realize what they're showing.
A few years ago, heading into the Breeders' Cup, a trainer posted a video of his star filly. The comments were exactly what you'd expect.
"Looks great."
"What a horse."
"My best bet of the weekend."
Apparently, everyone was seeing perfection.
All I saw was a thin, tucked-up filly that looked as if she had lost a hundred pounds or completely deflated following her previous monster effort.
Thank you very much.
She was a hard no for me.
Another time, a video surfaced of a horse walking back to the barn after training. The clip was on one of those endless social media loops. Comment after comment praised how fantastic the horse looked.
What I saw was a horse that appeared off in the right front.
Nobody else seemed to notice.
And that's the point.
The people who notice these things usually don't announce it. They make a note, put it in their little black book, save the video, and move on.
Anytime I see a horse in motion, I take the time to study it. If I think it's important, I save it. I bookmark it. I compare it later.
The sharpies do the same.
You won't see them posting comments.
The dum-dumbs are the ones shouting, "Looks fantastic!" and "Wow!" as if they've just witnessed the Mona Lisa being unveiled.
Those are the people you want to remember.
The next time they're pounding the table for something, you'll know to run in the opposite direction.
The false confidence on social media is astounding.
A guy or gal can be 0-for-their-last-30 public selections and still talk like they've never lost a bet in their life.
Social media has created a culture where failure is rewarded, confidence is manufactured, and expertise is often nothing more than volume.
Some people get all of their news from social media.
That's about as reassuring as claiming Waffle House is a nutritional wellness center.
I've even noticed obscure accounts with twenty or thirty followers putting out information that is clearly false and designed to push bettors away from a desired outcome.
A year ago, before an NFC Championship Game, a fake NFL account circulated a story claiming a starting quarterback was out. It looked legitimate enough that people believed it. He played, he won.
Now tell me that doesn't happen in racing.
Of course it does.
One guy with an agenda can start a narrative. One guy who thinks he's moving mountains can influence enough people to nudge betting opinions from one horse to another.
The information age has become the misinformation age.
Which is why I often pay more attention to what isn't being said.
You can't shut these people up about their horse for six months, and then suddenly they go silent?
That gets my attention.
Maybe they've got something.
Maybe they don't.
But experience has taught me that silence often tells a far more interesting story than noise.
And if they happen to win?
Don't worry.
You'll never get them to shut up afterward.
And yes, we have Banksy's in tonight, race 6 at Churchill Downs, first time on the grass.
Good luck to us.
