It is called corruption and the US Congress needs to hold hearings about it.

The gambling at race tracks may have to be curtailed if the industry cannot treat the horses humanly and the races are not run according to the rules. 

This is not Baffert's first scandal. He doesn't the horses. He doesn't love their running heritage. He wants winners. He wants winners at any cost. That is a trainer that cannot be trusted with some of the best horses in their generations. There is no excuses left for Baffert, he has been a trainer far longer than he should have and he knows all the ethical practices with thoroughbred race horses. This was not an oversight, it was a manipulation of Medina Spirit and the cold will never be known to his real capacity as a race horse. As a horse that will be bred, his reputation is scarred for the rest of his career.

June 2, 2021
By Jason Frakes

The New York Times (click here) reported Wednesday a split sample of Medina Spirit’s drug test following the Kentucky Derby confirmed the presence of betamethasone, further jeopardizing the horse’s status as the winner of the Run for the Roses.

The New York Times’ Joe Drape reported lawyer Clark Brewster, who represents Medina Spirit owner Amr Zedan, said the laboratory at the University of California-Davis confirmed the presence of betamethasone, a corticosteroid.

While legal as a therapeutic aid for horses, betamethasone is illegal when found in the blood on race day because it’s considered a possible performance-enhancer.

Medina Spirit trainer Bob Baffert announced May 9 — eight days after the Kentucky Derby — that Medina Spirit had tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone....

Additionally, Santa Anita still had racehorse deaths in the year 2020. Each dead horse had a life insurance policy. Their policy is worth more than their running careers.

There are many people within the thoroughbred industry that sincerely loves the horses, their heritage, and the nitch they have in providing a pastime for Americans. Jockeys put their lives on the line every time they mount a horse to race in some of the best ideas of the sport, but, they are little valued for their sportsmanship or dedication to a breed of horse that has seen its species nearly gone due to the corruption in the industry. Trainers and managers were producing winners that should not be in the winner circles and going on to breed offspring that continued the diminished vitality of the thoroughbred racehorse.

Congress needs to hold hearings on this sport and it's link to gambling and whether or not that endangers the animals as well as the people that like to watch them run and follow a horse's and jockey's career. The public needs to know they are going to a race track with a good reputation and wagering on horses that are honestly displaying their odds to win.

NO MORE DEAD RACEHORSES WHO ARE TOO YOUNG TO DIE OTHERWISE.

December 16, 2020
By John Cherwa

Southern California’s main thoroughbred tracks (click here) had their first racing or training fatality in more than three months when an unraced 2-year-old filly suffered life-ending injuries during morning training at Santa Anita on Wednesday.

Penelope Rose had not run a race and was galloping on the main track when she fractured her right front humerus, the bone that joins the shoulder to the elbow, while galloping. Radiographs showed that the injury was unrecoverable and she was euthanized. As is standard, a necropsy will be performed and reviewed by the California Horse Racing Board.

It was the second training death this year for trainer Eddie Truman. Miss Romania, a 3-year-old filly, died on Feb. 12, also of a fractured humerus....