Whipping 'won't make racehorses run faster'

London, Jan 29 (ANI): If you think that whipping would make your horse run faster as it nears the finishing line, then you are wrong.

A new research has suggested that whipping racehorses does not make them run any quicker.

The Australian research meant that "horses are being whipped in the final stages of a race, in the face of muscle fatigue, for no benefit", the Daily Mail quoted Sydney University Professor David Evans, as saying.

The results should help end the debate over whether there was a place for whipping, added fellow researcher Bidda Jones, chief scientist of RSPCA Australia.

"This study has found jockeys use whips to try to make their slowing horse recover speed in the closing stages of a race in the hope they will get a place," the Daily Mail quoted him as saying.

"That's not surprising. What is surprising is that whipping doesn't make any difference," he said.

Study co-author and animal behavioural expert Paul McGreevy said racehorses were bred and conditioned to give their best and, combined with a skilled rider that was 'all you need'.

"We have evidence here that great horsemanship does not involve flogging tired horses," he said. (ANI)