We are thirteen months out from our Presidential election and the top four candidates right now are all in their seventies. President Trump is 73. Joe Biden is 76. Bernie Sanders is 78, and the comparatively youthful Elizabeth Warren turned 70 in June. Our constitution says a candidate for the highest office in the land must be at least 35, even if Mayor Pete Buttigieg looks half that age (he’s 37 by the way). There is no limit to how old a candidate can be. Don’t worry. This will not be a political column. But looking at the Presidential field, I began wondering about the age restrictions we put on horses and drivers. Currently horses must be at least age 2 to compete and they can compete until they are 14. To drive at a commercial track, a driver must be at least 18, but there is no maximum age limit. And while I don’t want Trump, Biden or Warren sitting behind any horse I own, I have seen plenty of competent drivers compete well into their seventies and eighties. It was just about one year ago that Sam Miller, then 84, won a race at Shenandoah Downs. It was his first win in nine years, meaning he was 75 when he posted that penultimate win at Colonial Downs in Virginia. Freehold has had a pair of 80-year-olds reach the winners circle in the last several years, with James Porter turning the trick in 2014 and Tony Dandeo winning in 2016. I don’t think we should start limiting drivers because of age, as long as they can pass a physical exam. Nor should we be limiting horses. I realize that in this age of animal rights activists coming after our sport, it will never happen, but it should. Imagine a 15-year-old Foiled Again competing against horses one-fourth his age and winning. Arguably the greatest pacer of all time, there is no doubt in mind that he could have continued to race a celebrity schedule, kind of like Jack Nicklaus did when he got a bit older on the PGA tour. The Golden Bear didn’t play 40 tour stops a year. He played 12-15 top tournaments and remained competitive. His last win came at 56. And one of golf’s greatest stories ever was Tom Watson nearly winning his sixth British Open at age 59 at Turnberry in 2009. Satchel Paige pitched against the Red Sox at 59, too. In some cases, horses can race until they are older than 14. Amateur races generally provide an exception, and 15-year-olds can race in British Columbia. I know that both trainer Ron Bure and owner Mark Weaver said that the 14-year age limit was just right for Foiled Again. I think it is time for the U.S. Trotting Association to leave that call to the horse owners and trainers. As far as the animal rights argument (and I will not get into the argument over animal rights, which doesn’t exist, versus animal welfare, which is critically important to our sport and to any endeavor involving animals, including agriculture and food production), the law is simple and the argument is simpler. Horses are chattel, ie:property, and owners should have control over their property, with certain limitations (don’t go all second amendment on me here, I said no politics). Control of the property should not fall to the USTA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or any other organization. Every horse in every race is examined by a Veterinarian prior to racing. If the Vet deems the horse unfit, he/she is scratched. That is because our sport puts a premium on animal welfare. The horse must meet a minimum qualifying standard, or they will not be allowed on the Democratic debate stage, err, racetrack. And race secretaries typically have discretion over accepting any horse’s entry. If they decide the horse is non-competitive, he/she will not race. So there are plenty of safeguards built into the system. We need to hammer these facts away at the humaniacs who want to take racing away from all horses, not just 15-year-olds. But what about the trainer who keeps jamming a classy old horse into a cheap claimer, where they knows nobody will take him, or in cheap conditions where he can compete on memories alone? As with anything, we must trust our horsemen to make the proper decisions. Some won’t, but the vast majority will. The health and welfare of the horse is so critically important to most horsemen that they won’t abuse their discretion. As in any endeavor, a few might, but I don’t see it being an issue. If anything we should be looking at not allowing horses to race until they are age 3. With a common birthday of January 1, most horses turn 2 when they are really just one-and-a-half. Or maybe better yet, at least for the horsemen,  let’s change the common birthday to June 1, so that most horses really are 2 by the time they start training seriously, and a bit older before they start racing. But that is a column for another month. Hope you cashed at Delaware. Now go cash big on the Championship Meet at the Red Mile. Just stay away from those 80-year-old drivers.