Horse Racing...... ? Cruel or Not ?

I think its cruel too. My 2 eldest DGD's are quite horsey and assure me that horses are natural runners and jumpers ( often can't bear to watch) but even they agree that jump racing is cruel.

I think it's cruel, and I hate to see the horses being whipped. Have we not moved on from this sort of thing?

Is four miles a long way for a horse to gallop?

My own personal view is that much of this is cruel and unnecessary. Race-horses are fatally injured and destroyed on a regular basis at race-courses all over the UK. I read that from 2010 to 2015 the average number of horses killed every year because of racing is 193. Most of these deaths occuring in National Hunt racing (also known as jump racing or steeplechase) which includes the Grand National and Cheltenham Festival.
That's without horse deaths that occur during training or elective euthanasia (this is defined by the BHA as euthanasia carried out on welfare and/or economic grounds when the injuries do not fulfil the criteria for immediate humane euthanasia).
Races can be long (over 4 miles) and the fences are too difficult. Can suffering for "sport" really be justified?