Show me a regulated market that is free of front-running. It doesn't exist.
Surely the answer is in "just the right amount" of regulation. Getting to this sweet spot is a process, but one human societies have been approaching for some time. We would be foolish to throw out all that effort because it couldn't be perfect.
Everyone knows that Wall Street got bailed out in 2008 by the very same regulators you say are for our own good. Everyone knows Wall Street and Black Rock got the biggest squeeze from the Covid stimulus. In return we got $1400, 10% inflation, and a drop in real income. And front-running still happens. Hell the whole business model for Robinhood, the app, which charges zero trading fees, is to package up their retail users trades and sell the orders to high frequency traders who will squeeze out profits from front running or sandwiching the orders.
Also, everyone knows that Congress does insider trading and the speaker of the House is the worst offender. Everyone knows that the revolving door that moves between regulators and the financial sector is incestuous.
The regulations you praise are written by the lobbyists and companies who benefit the most. And I'm not in that club. Maybe you are and that's why you defend it. But it ain't me.
It's kind of like saying "show me a market without corruption". Obviously all markets have some amount of shady behavior, but it hardly means every market is equally corrupt.