While not 100% directly related to horse racing, this morning I stumbled across the trailer for a documentary entitled Bigger Stronger Faster.

The film, from the the producers of Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine, looks at steroid use in sports and the culture that creates cheating to ask the question, is it still cheating if everyone is doing it?

The opening paragraph of the synopsis says it all:

In America, we define ourselves in the superlative: we are the biggest, strongest, fastest country in the world. We reward speed, size, and above all else: winning at sport, at business, and at war. Metaphorically we are a nation on steroids. Is it any wonder that so many of our heroes are on performance enhancing drugs?

It’s good to keep in mind as our discussions and debates about the state of the game unfold, that horse racing is a reflection of a bigger picture. That’s not so say that things can’t or shouldn’t change, it’s just harder to break out of patterns that are ingrained in every aspect of our culture without real incentive and “reward” for doing so.