Derby Aftermath

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by moses

At what point should the trainer care about the welfare of the horse? I read this post waiting for that consideration to be brought up...and nothing.

I don't mean this in any disrespectful way but I think that anyone that believes that everyone does things in the best interest and welfare of the horse is living in a world that isn't real. I'm not saying that they don't care and that they are trying to hurt the horses but I just don't think they care as much as people think. Surprisingly, lol, I don't know much about the drugs and their actual impact on the horses. Was Medina Spirit's physical well being compromised in the short or long term by the medication? Brad Cox said he's doing what's in the best interest of the horse by not running Mandoloun in the Preakness. With the possibility of a DQ of the winner, Mandaloun moves up. Being a Derby winner and having a shot at the TC, does that mean that he reverses course and now runs? Is that now in the best interests of the horse.....or the human connections?

I actually do sympatize with the guys that are trying to do it the right way and are beaten by the guys that cheat. But again, the bigger responsibility for fixing this is on the sport, not the trainers. If it's not Baffert, it's going to be someone else looking to take every advantage to fill the void he leaves. Like Jim Rome says, "if you're not cheating, you're not trying and it's only cheating if you get caught."