I always wondered why the horseracing industry embraces unscrupulous business people. Some of you may remember Garden State, a harness track in New Jersey. The track was founded by Robert Brennan. The press called him a "financier."  My dad was a stockbroker. I remember telling him about the new track and he said, "Oh, year, Robert Brennan. He should be in jail." He then explained to me how Brennan ran a boiler room operation selling worthless junk bonds and penny stocks to unwitting suckers. Well, my dad was right, because a few years later Brennan did get a 9 year sentence and is still in jail. He once tried to buy The Meadowlands for 1 billion dollars. He lived the high life, the life of a multi-millionare.  Now he's flat broke and lives in a tiny cell, a common criminal.

What bothered me about Brennan was not that he was a corrupt businessman, the world's full of them. But the racing industry, including the press, embraced this con man. He was lauded in the papers as some sort of Golden Boy who was going to resurrect harness racing in the Philadelphia area. Everyone knew what he really was, but went along with the con.

There are currently thoroughbred trainers who cheat and drug their horses. But, again, the industry, including the media, doesn't seem to care. Many times these trainers are given awards and accolades.

But it doesn't stop there. Hollywood Park has a major stakes race called the "Cash Call Mile." Cash Call is a money lending company that advertises on TVG and sponsors the race. Some of their ads feature Gary Coleman, the dimunitive actor. Another has a guy who looks like he could star in The Godfather who says, in a raspy voice, something like, "You need money, give me a call, I'lll send it to you."

One day I was watching the commercial and I paused the picture to read the fine print. The APR is 99.25%. I'm not making this up. A $2,600 loan for 42 months will cost you over $9-grand to pay off. The company is run by J. Paul Reddam, a major horseowner who formerly ran DiTech, a mortage company which he sold to General Motors. DiTech also had cheap looking commericals, so I guess the secret to marketing success is cheesy advertising. Reddam and his company prey on the poor, or anyone who is down on their luck. He's basically a loan shark, except somehow it's legal, and, of course, loan sharks charge much less interest than Cash Call does.

The real blame here goes to the government, because Cash Call, and other businesses like it, should be illegal. Cash Call also has a reputation as a hard pressure company that assigns sales people to harrass its customers when they miss a payment. Not surprisingly, the Better Business Bureau gives Cash Call an "A" rating. I worked for the Better Business Bureau for a while and in my opinion, the BBB is a joke. The only thing the BBB is interested in is collecting the fees from businesses. People think that the BBB is reputable because it's a non-profit organization. But it's just a privately run business that looks to put money in its owner's pockets and doesn't care about anything else.

But money rules in this country. Hollywood Park should not have a million dollar stakes race, or any kind of race, sponsored by a horrible company like Cash Call and a bloodsucker like Reddam. This company and it's association with horse racing and Hollywood Park is a black mark for the sport. As for those sickening ads on TVG, I just wish they'd go away. Horse Racing is supposed to be the Sport of Kings, not crooks.