Is Horse Racing Ethical or Cruel?

Whether horse racing is ethical is a question people answer differently, and both sides have serious points. What we can do is set out the facts: how often horses are hurt, what the arguments are, and what has changed. You can make up your own mind from there.

The welfare record in numbers

• Britain: according to the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), the fatality rate on British racecourses has fallen by about a third over 15 years, from 0.3% to 0.2% of runners. That is about two deaths for every 1,000 horses that run. The risk is much higher over jumps than on the Flat.
• United States: The Jockey Club’s Equine Injury Database recorded 1.07 fatal injuries per 1,000 starts in 2025, the lowest rate since the database began in 2009 and nearly half the 2009 rate.

Those rates are falling, but they are not zero. Every one of those numbers is a horse that died, which is the heart of the debate.

The case that racing can be ethical

• Care and regulation. Racehorses in licensed yards are fed, exercised and checked by vets, and racing has rules on medication, equipment and the condition of the track. Horses can be stopped from running if they are unfit.
• Safety keeps improving. Fatality rates in both Britain and the US are lower than they were. Changes such as the 2024 Grand National reforms, which cut the maximum field from 40 to 34, moved the first fence closer to the start and brought in a standing start, aim to reduce risk further. Our Grand National betting guide covers the race as it is run today.
• National oversight in the US. Since July 2022, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has applied national racetrack safety rules to thoroughbred racing, followed by a national anti-doping and medication program.
• Life after racing. In Britain, Retraining of Racehorses, the sport’s official charity for retired racehorses, was set up by the BHA in 2000 to help horses move on to new careers and to act as a safety net for vulnerable former racehorses.

The case that racing is cruel

• Horses die and are injured. Even at today’s rates, a 0.2% fatality rate on the more than 90,000 runners a year that the BHA reports means more than 150 deaths a year in Britain alone, most of them over jumps. Barbaro, the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner, broke down in the Preakness two weeks later and was euthanized in January 2007, after months of treatment.
• Crises still happen. At Santa Anita in California, 30 horses died during the meet that ran from December 2018 to June 2019, and the track shut for several weeks. California gave its racing board new powers to stop racing at a track in response.
• Doping. US federal prosecutors charged 27 people in 2020 over a scheme to dope racehorses, and two leading trainers went to prison. See is horse racing fixed for the details.
• The whip and the life of a racehorse. Campaigners object to the use of the whip, to racing young horses, and to what happens to horses that don’t make it as racehorses, not all of which are rehomed.

Where that leaves the question

Racing is safer than it was, and regulators in both countries have tightened the rules. It is also a sport in which horses still die, and some people will judge any level of risk to be too much. Both positions are held by people who care about horses.

If you do bet on racing, the bet calculator and the odds converter help you understand exactly what you’re staking and what it pays. Keep it a paid-for pastime: our responsible gambling page lists free help if it stops being fun. You might also be interested in our look at whether horse racing will ever be banned.

Frequently asked questions

How many racehorses die in Britain?

According to the British Horseracing Authority, the racecourse fatality rate is about 0.2% of runners, roughly two in every 1,000 horses that run, and it is higher over jumps than on the Flat.

Is horse racing getting safer?

The figures say yes. The British fatality rate has fallen by about a third in 15 years, and the US rate of fatal injury in 2025 was the lowest since The Jockey Club began recording it in 2009.

What happens to racehorses when they retire?

Many are retrained for other equestrian careers or kept as companions. In Britain, the charity Retraining of Racehorses supports former racehorses and acts as a safety net for vulnerable ones.