Race horses are being pushed beyond their physical limits by the use of whips by jockeys, a welfare group says.
The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses has called on the racing industry to address horse welfare issues following the death of Melbourne Cup pre-race favourite Admire Rakti which collapsed after the event on Tuesday.
“We believe that pushing horses beyond their physical limits through use of the whip, and racing horses while under-developed at two years of age are significant factors as to why horses break down on the racetrack,” spokesman Ward Young said.
“We’re calling on the racing industry to start running whip free races and phase out two year-old racing.”
The group claims 125 horses died on Australian racetracks between August 1 last year and July 31 this year.
“That is one horse being killed every 2.9 days,” Mr Young said.
Admire Ratki, a seven-year-old from Japan, is believed to have died of a heart attack.
He had returned to his stall in a distressed state at the Flemington racetrack after running last in the Melbourne Cup.
An autopsy was conducted on Tuesday night at the University of Melbourne and initial results point to likely acute heart failure.
