McLaughlin with 3 positives; Gets 30 day ban..

[ELA]

These discussions are circular at best for a variety of reasons. Let me preface my comments by saying I am defending no one. Period. I am in this for the sport, for the game that I am passionate about.

So, you have the label of "cheater" -- Dutrow being mentioned here. You want to call him a cheater, OK. Who is next? The next guy comes up positive one time, for X, is he a cheater? I'll bet to some people he is and to others he's not. I'll also bet it has something to do with "I met him and he's a nice guy" or "my friend has horses with him and says he's a super guy" and everything else along those lines. Next -- two positives? Three? The label is part of the problem here. Clenbuterol? Etorphine? Something really exotic?

With Dutrow, or some of the other "bad guys" -- there is never an excuse. Never. It's not allowed. It's a burn them at the stake mentality. But when one of the nice guys comes up positive, every excuse in the world is put forth. It's natural, we defend who we like, care about, etc. Sometimes we see the same thing with victimization.

We've seen this time and time again. Some people have asked for unform medication rules -- how about uniform prosecution, persecution, penalization or whatever else is going to happen in this sport?

Eric