"Cancel Culture" is not the reason Baffert was replaced as a trainer. He broke the rules.

Breaking rules is not "Cancel Culture," in horse racing, it is unethical and dangerous to the horses. It is my guess that under a different trainer, Medina Spirit would never have needed corticosteroids. Betamethasone reduces inflammation and suppresses any immune response. The question is did Medina Spirit perform as the fastest horse on the track because he felt no pain?

Inflammation is pain. If a horse has issues that lead to inflammation while running on the track he will not perform well. Secretariat at one time in his career wasn't performing well after a lot of impressive victories. His performance fell off and finally, a veterinarian was called in to examine the champion thoroughbred. He was sound as a dollar. He had no leg problems, but, he wasn't eating well. He was off his feed.

The veterinarian finally diagnosed an abscessed tooth in the back of his mouth. Did he give him painkillers or steroids of any kind to put the horse back on the track? No. The vet treated the abscess and Secretariat was back to running in no time without any injuries or ailments.

When animals for any reason are given drugs to improve their performance it is usually the people involved that have the illness. They see the animal as a commodity. That point of view is what placed the thoroughbred race horse in jeopardy as a viable breed about a decade ago. Most of the horses racing, even the champions, needed a diuretic in order to win. The breed itself was being looked at as more of a detriment to breeding strong and healthy racehorses. The champions weren't really champions as the horses of the past.

What Bob Baffert did was wrong. He is of the "old school" that racehorses need to be handled so they always win, including using medical enhancements. That is not the way champions should perform. Champion racehorses that win prizes like the Triple Crown are supposed to be the best of the best. A drugged-up horse, no matter the drug is not performing in the true spirit of the breed. It was wrong to provide an enhancement to Medina Spirit's performance in the Derby. It isn't cancel culture. 

May9, 2021
By Matt Hegarty

Medina Spirit, (click here) who led from start to finish in the Kentucky Derby on May 1 to post a hard-fought half-length victory, tested positive for betamethasone, a regulated anti-inflammatory, after the race, according to his trainer, Bob Baffert, who acknowledged the test result Sunday morning during a press conference on the backside of Churchill Downs.

Medina Spirit tested positive for “21 picograms” per milliliter of blood serum, according to Baffert, who was accompanied at the press conference by his attorney, Craig Roberston. Baffert said that Medina Spirit had “never” been administered the corticosteroid, and he vowed to fight the positive, which has not yet been confirmed through a split-sample test....