I've just looked to see which horse died and it was a different jockey that went to hospital. The whole thing about horse racing is confusing to me. Despite a big part of my job involving working at racecourses I am not a big fan of the sport. I used to hate the idea of the horses being forced to race. However, when you see them being unloaded you can see that many of them are genuinely excited to be there. I wondered if it would be different yesterday for horses that lost their jockeys and whether they would keep running and jumping without the noise of a crowd there. They did keep jumping as usual, so I think there is a big element of them enjoying the races. I would like to see them ban the whips though to avoid the horses being pushed too far.
I was thinking that as well but I guess that is just the training which keeps them running. Anyway it's good to know that your are still managing to keep the hot dog stall going.
Too dangerous to ban whips. You don't want 80-90 stone animal that can run at speeds of up to 40mph out of control. They actually changed the whips some time ago - believe me the horse ain't feeling any pain. They just use it for correction mainly, and to focus their minds to sprint finish. I believe they are changing rules over the next few years to stop whips being used for the focus of their mind/encouragement - they'll always have to carry them for safety.