The bottom line is that horse-racing - to a far greater extent than other equestrian sports - is about money, and there is a lot of money in the business. Horses do generally enjoy all the attention etc., and they are competitive in that they will try to outrun the others in the race. If they are any good, that is. The ones that aren't interested in getting ahead of the others are the ones that fail. Some of these do come to an unpleasant end, but many are sold on to other horse-lovers who ride for pleasure or competitively in another sphere and have a good home and are well looked after. It is unfortunate that in jump racing (not usually in flat racing) there are accidents and horses are injured and sometimes killed. Not pleasant, but it happens. But cruelty does not help horses to win races, and as others have said a whip is not actually painful when used correctly and there are rules against improper use. So overall the sport is not cruel, and a good racehorse is a pampered animal.