[Lt1]

Ok since my post #15 was mentioned by FTL I would like to expand that answer. Doc was indeed answering Ted but other teaching members were quick to chime. Vic Palermo borught up the Fair Grounds, Bruce Jorgeson mentioned Yakima Downs, Finger Lakes and Oaklawn Parx were also mentioned with Jimmy B nodding at Oaklawn being mentioned. The point being none of them seemed concerned with layoffs at the initial point of selecting contenders. As FTL stated the safest way to approach those tracks would most likely be to take a wait and see. approach. I would also like to revisit my post #28 where it was hammered home by all the teachers present [both on tape and in private conversations] that if you make a horse a contender you must give it every chance to win. That in itself indicated to me that the last line would not necessarily be the correct line to use to achieve that goal. And recall this was 1993 where the best of the last 3 comparable dist and surface was being taught. To the best of my knowledge the 63% winners figure being tossed around was the desired goal of PIRCO in the beginning. I also believe that no one could become a teaching member unless and until they reached that level. While I'm at it I like to point out another way that Col. Bruce used in selecting his contenders and that is he kept any horse that beat half the field in its' last. As part of his approach he would examine all the entrants pps to see how many times they beat half the field. There were some laughs but he was serious. I ended up checking it out[I'll try to find my survey] but darn of it's not pretty effective. Points out consistent animals.
Tim