I was speaking with trainer Andrew Harris following the draw for the $250,000 MGM Grand Prix pacing final at Yonkers Raceway. With Harris qualifying a pair for the event there was hope in discerning the chances of stablemates Seven Colors and El Rey in the year’s last major contest. It was just a day after the final preliminary leg of the series that saw El Rey race below expectations as he made a weak uncovered bid into the final turn and faded in the homestretch. With enough points to reach the final Harris did what all trainers would do and enter him the following day for a chance at big money. “I really don’t know why he raced that way,” Harris said. “We scoped him after the race, and he was fine. But the bloodwork hasn’t come back yet and the way the draw schedules are these days I had to enter in.” At the time I kind of felt bad for Harris given that he really couldn’t offer much about his own horse and still not knowing the physical condition had to enter the horse. Trainer responsibility being what it is in most cases means the conditioners are keenly aware of the health of their horses before declaring for a race. While Harris’ concerns were answered days later and El Rey earned $20,000 with a fourth place finish in the final, there was a sense that valuable information had sidestepped those who would wager on El Rey’s next race. While I didn’t learn of any bloodwork results to help explain El Rey’s disappointing sixth place finish in the final preliminary leg of the MGM Grand Prix, Harris did reveal that the horse “scoped” clean following the race. Had I not contacted him knowledge of this test to me and the rest of the public would not be available. The question is why? I’m certain hardly a day goes by in the racing business when a horse’s performance doesn’t lead a trainer to question whether breathing issues could have kept the horse from racing to the highest level. Countless times over the years I’ve spoken with owners and trainers following a race and the subject of a “scope” being used to determine the cause of a poor performance has been mentioned. For a long time, I considered this information more valuable to a trainer to explain away a loss as opposed to a more serious issue that could limit the horse’s capability on a given night. With the speeds our horses need to travel to compete even a minor level of congestion to its breathing can be the difference in a race. My issue today is that trainers and owners can get this information rather quickly following a race with a veterinarian’s examination revealing grades of severity while the betting public is essentially kept in the dark on both good and bad reports. While track management has tried to make the game more transparent by summoning trainers to opine about their horse’s chances in each race, little has been done over the years to make public the results of scoping a horse following a race or for that matter bloodwork that could reveal other issues that might have dulled the performance of said horse. Given the technological advancements in messaging that has been achieved in the last decade information travels in milliseconds and millions of people share and pass it along just as fast. Earlier this month I had bloodwork done as part of an annual physical and the results of the tests were made available that evening on a doctor’s network portal. As with all handicapping information it is up to each person to evaluate the impact of any segment of a horses’ past performance as they choose. Yet in 2025 to selectively disseminate the results of veterinary testing following an actual race to just a few and not the masses seem negligent in an industry that tries to pride itself on the integrity of its races. As a bettor, every bit of data is vital towards analyzing a race. Some 50-odd years ago when I first started going to the races, I would often hear scuttle in the grandstand of owners that went to the paddock to get inside information that only the trainers or drivers could reveal. In a competitive gambling game, all players look for the edge that separates their chances from the others. The question in 2025 is why the standards of inside information are still in place? Why should only the owners of trainer of a horse have this data to keep secret or share with a minimum number of others? It is simply no longer acceptable and something that needs to be addressed by those with concern for the gambling public. It would seem logical in our times that veterinarians be required to post test results in some public forum following an afternoon or evening’s races. There is no doubt results can be scaled in a way that the public can understand whether a horse had potentially “limited” breathing issues or whether they were more severe. While the results of a horses’ individual bloodwork may be an indirect cause of poor performance, I see no reason results need to be kept confidential. In many ways behind the scenes our sport has become more sophisticated. Our trainers have much more technical data to draw on with regularity to help them bring horses to the racetrack in the best condition possible. Often, without their knowledge horses can show no signs of illness heading into a race with only poor performance the first indicator that the horse wasn’t 100 percent healthy. It’s an issue that all trainers must deal with yet at the same time it’s one that should be shared equally with those who wager on our sport. It seems while others race ahead at breakneck speed to expand wagering on sporting events harness racing is still dragging a wooden sulky around giving insiders the upper hand. [DRF HARNESS: Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter]