@dadpad,
Yes--it is cruel. I once got up close to a fence at Aintree and there are two inch thick branches in the top of those fences. They look quite fluffy to the viewer but they are not.
A horse is required to carry a rider over 4.4 miles and 30 of those fences and is then flogged all the way up the long run in to the winning post.
In return, the horse gets pampered and petted and fed on the best grub all the rest of the year. Those not good enough to race are usually shot because they are no use for anything else.
But the jockeys put themselves through forms of torture too.
People do not realise the pain involved in all top level sport but any that a man or woman inflict upon themselves is a free choice. Not so with animals. Cruft's has cruelty in it.
Dog racing is okay. The dogs love it.
On Ladies Day the girls love it too. The pain is inflicted upon their husbands, partners, fathers and boyfriends and often with masochistic enthusiasm. Paying out hard earned cash to render a wife "sexy" is ridiculous imo. It would make more sense to staple a statement of a bloke's assets to his shirt front rather than him using his squeeze as an advertising hoarding.
The funniest thing yesterday was the short feechewer Richard Pitman did on the horse that was fitted with a tounge-tie. He described it and explained what it was for. Then they cut to Clare Balding, a well known lesbian, who made some remark I didn't quite catch about tounge ties but it was dismissive. She knew she had been set up.
