COMMERCIAL horse racing, which killed five horses in two days of racing at Cheltenham, is not a sport.

Two-thirds of the 15,000 foals bred for racing each year aren’t good enough for the grade and are often simply killed.

Every year 375 horses are raced to death; a horse’s heartbeat increases tenfold during a race, causing heart attacks; most horses suffer stressrelated lung haemorrhages and almost all horses suffer from ulcerated stomachs.

A real sport involves consenting human participants, not abusing and whipping defenceless animals into winning a race. And all to line cowardly and greedy pockets.

Emma Richards, Halland Road, Brighton