I hear you, and trust me, when it comes to quality dogs, The Old Man would spend it to get a quality dog (if he liked it) ... and he would bet heavy as they come on the dogs he believed in. We're talking about a guy who made his living playing cards, pool, etc. for $40K a game sometimes.

He did some things in dogs I didn't agree with, but he also had extremely high standards, and if he said a dog was "game," you could pretty much bet the farm the dog wouldn't quit on top

Remember, the fastest horses are the ones with the most money bet on them at the track. Sure the trainers, jockeys, breeders, etc. all love a good horse, but their expertise centers around the ability to bring home the $$$.

The Old Man didn't give a damn about his dogs "being in a magazine" ... he wanted to have his dogs being good enough to bring home piles of money against anyone, anywhere

Jack