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That's true; and there's also an accepted sense that certain trainers - usually those with big strings - do have them ready fto, and others don't. There's a distinction though for me between fto for the season and fto ever.

Personally I'm all for giving young horses a good experience on their first visit to the course - it's an often quite stressful experience for them already, without being whipped to win a race, which can put them off for good. The only reason for giving them a hard time is the gambling - and those who back in maiden races with a lot of fto horses should imo understand that Maiden races with many previously unraced horses are very risky betting propositions, not least as there's no way of knowing how ready the animal is, esp on TV.

Seeing horses from a huge string like Ballydoyle where there is no difficulty getting them more or less race fit fto for the season being tenderly handled is another matter, esp as punters tend to back them blind. The Stewards should deal with it; but no doubt the usual social and professional networks make this difficult