The saying goes, "spare the rod and spoil the child," but does using a whip on a racehorse actually encourage him to go faster? Not necessarily, according to researchers from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Sydney in Australia who recently completed a study on the topic: David Evans, BVSc (Hons), PhD, honorary associate professor; and Paul McGreevy, BVSc, PhD, MRCVS, MACVS (Animal Welfare), professor.

"We expected that whip use might be associated with superior race outcomes because that is the rationale for their use," Evans explained. "We … investigated whether or not whip use significantly influenced the likelihood of finishing in the first three placings."

The researchers analyzed whip use among 48 jockeys in five 1,200-1,500 meter (about three quarters of a mile to nine tenths of a mile) races at the Canterbury Race Track in New South Wales, concentrating their focus on the last 400 meters (about a quarter mile) of the races.

After analyzing their results, the team explained that regardless of their placing, all the horses they observed slowed over the last 400 meters of the race, likely because they were fatigued. Horses that were already ahead at the 400- and 200-meter positions from the finish line were more likely to finish in the first three spots regardless of how much their jockeys used the whip