More than 370 Horses are raced to death every year. Studies have shown that whipping the horses doesn't even help and usually makes them go slower, and can cause the horse a huge amoung of emotional trauma. There's a really sad story on Animal Aid about a horse who on her first race was whipped 12 times during the last furlong and a half, and then every race after she'd start well but slow down at that point through fear of being whipped:
'When she came out for her first race this year, the only words I can use are that she was thrashed. Not by other horses, but by her jockey. She was hit at least 12 times inside the last furlong and a half, and finished third. Her rider was suspended for two days but the harm he did to my horse was incalculable. She has never run the same since. She breaks well but on reaching about the four-furlong pole, when she is nearly always in the first four or five, as soon as she is smacked to push her on, she drops herself out. Her emotions must be in turmoil. She must be expecting to be thrashed again. We have nursed her all season but to no avail. Now I have to make the decision as to what to do with her.'The Jockey Club even admitted that "more races are lost rather than won through use of the whip."
Animal Aid has a lot more useful information and reports online so I'd suggest going and having a read. They've also made this slightly harrowing video of horses being injured:
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