Well any business is about money or it would not be a business. If there were no racing, these animals wouldnt have seen the light of day. To suggest that owners and trainers do not care about what happens to their charges is just not true. Of course there are the callous few - but winning is not about money - its about the glory of winning - as in most other sports.

A horses true value comes into play after it has finished racing - in stud fees for stallions (massively more than race winnings) and in breeding good bloodstock out of black type mares.

Most top jockeys are pretty close to millionnaires and make a healthy living.

Over=use of the whip is a banning offence to any jockey for a few days or weeks in extreme cases (very rare). Modern whips in UK are nothing like those used in days gone by - flat and wide and not thin and whippy.

I saw all the measures they took to try and save Barbaro. In the end he still had to be put down. There is a point when you have to decide what is best for the animal. Several months of pain and multiple surguries for the possibility they will have to be put down anyway? I wouldn't want to live like that.

Kate, I know what you were asking with this thread, and I think it was a legitimate question. I wish people would read all the responses and not just jump in with both feet and argue a point that doesn't need to be argued about here.

Thank you for realizing how simple this was all supposed to be, Clarasue. In spite of the strange fire this topic seemed to generate, I read some polite comments that contained actual information. That's what it was all about, really.

The broken bones protruded through the skin and had dirt in them. There was no way she would have avoided a massive bone infection.