Horse Racing is the idealist sport that Americans continuously tune into every spring while wearing pretty hats. However, in truth, the barbaric, “Hunger-Games”-esque sport is the definition of turning a blind eye to suffering. The 152nd Kentucky Derby will be held on May 3, 2026. This marks the 152nd year that horses will be betted on and viewed as sport, while being forced to run for their lives. Horse Racing marks itself as one of the cruelest sports, celebrated in America as approximately 2000 race horses die every single year in training. While it may be easy to tune into a tradition that feels central to being American, you should think twice before watching this year’s Kentucky Derby.

At its core, the Kentucky Derby is an expensive event, where people gather to see which horse can run the fastest. Never mind that the horse is a living creature that is running out of fear, and has been trained to extents that are deadly. The Kentucky Derby is a human display of wealth and greed, with no concern for the living animals that die every year for our entertainment.

Horse racing has been under fire for years. Cruelty concerns include the use of whips, doping, horses’ living conditions and the most damaging factor, the unavoidable number of horses who die each year in training.

According to WorldHorseWelfare, whips are used “to get a horse’s attention or to steer it away from danger.” A common argument in support of jockeys using whips is that it causes the horse no pain, however, 2020 research published in an academic journal, found that horses feel as much pain from whips as humans do. Whips are permitted for use at the Kentucky Derby – makes sense that a show for entertainment would allow the whipping of an animal for spectacle if the audience is barbaric enough to ignore the pain that makes the horse they bet on run faster.

Claims that horses need to be whipped in order to run fast and stay in line are contradicted by whipless-races in Sweden, where horses are still raced in an orderly fashion but without whips since a ban in 2022. While whips are only one factor of the cruelty of this so called sport, the Kentucky Derby shows how little regard is given to the horses’ wellbeing. Joakim Lövgrens was banned from harness horse racing for a year, due to excessive use of a whip. The ruling concurred that he inflicted mental and physical pain on an animal to win money. While whips are an easy thing for viewers to see on the screen, the true horrors of horse racing occur behind the glitz and glamor of the race.

In 2020, a major doping scheme broke through the racing industry. Dozens of trainers and veterinarians were charged in a scheme to dope racehorses. The drugs the horses were doped with targeted performance, allowing the horses to train longer hours, and living more grueling days than they previously would have been able to handle. Trainer Jason Servis was sentenced to four years in jail for doping and racing horses.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams spoke about how Servis’ use of unapproved drugs risked the lives of racehorses for profit, leading to his sentence. “Today’s sentence sends a clear signal to those in the racehorse industry that no one is above the law. Endangering the welfare of animals for profit will not be tolerated,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. “Illegally doping racehorses is a serious crime that will be met with a serious sentence.”

Greyhound Racing has been prohibited in most US states over the past 20 years, with only two active tracks left, both in West Virginia. I wonder what is so different about Greyhound racing, that it is made illegal while horse racing stays legal, and even betting on horse races is legal in all but nine states (additionally, Washington D.C.).

Servis had horses in over 1,000 races between 2018 and 2020. 2020 was not the first time Horse Racing was accused of doping; the commonality of doping racehorses shows how little regard the horse racing industry has for the living animals it relies on. I assume this is due to the amount of money involved in horse racing; winning the Kentucky Derby rewards a prize of over 3 million. 80% of this loot goes to the owner, with the jockey and trainer splitting the remaining sum. With millions on the line, it is no surprise that morals would be bent to make their horses run faster. Doping and injuries are problematic on their own, but the reality is that dangerous training conditions lead to thousands of horse deaths a year.

When a horse sustains an injury during training, especially to the ankle or leg, the horse often cannot make a full recovery. The horse is then euthanized because the injury would prevent the horse from standing for months. In these situations, euthanasia is the most humane day of life that the horse will most likely have experienced. Horses are more likely to get injured if they are doped up on drugs that are meant to increase training hours, hence subjected to extreme exhaustion.

Patrick Battuello runs a website, “Horseracing Wrongs” that documents the names and deaths of racehorses in America. Battuello’s website estimates that 1,800 racehorses die at U.S. racetracks annually. Leading causes of death to racehorses are listed as limb injuries and respiratory/multiorgan system disorders according to a National Geographic article – written after Churchill Downs had to suspend racing operations in 2019, and after the death of 12 horses in only a month.

What are the lives of the thousands of racehorses that will die in training this year worth? A $10 bet, or perhaps a fancy hat? The Kentucky Derby isn’t going anywhere. Horseracing is a symbol of high society – a place where the rich get richer and blow money on a horse that is all dollar signs to them. This moral failing in society doesn’t have to fall onto your shoulders. All I ask is that you don’t make a spectacle out of animal abuse. Watching the Kentucky Derby is an act of complicity. Making a bet on the Kentucky Derby is a direct act of support.

Animal rights movements do not have to be radical. It is as simple as turning the TV off.