It’s un-Australian, I know, but …

Our national Rite of Spring — involving women dubbed ‘fillies’ and cruelty to a noble creature — is a circus I’ve lost appetite for.

Our national Rite of Spring is centred on cruelty involving the most noble creature on Earth.

When Irish jockey Davy Russell punched his horse in the side of the head earlier this year, he did his entire industry a disservice. The YouTube footage is shocking for its viciousness; it’s a sharp right hook into an animal that’s like a beautiful elite athlete in the peak of physical condition. The jockey received only a caution from the Irish Turf Club, no suspension, no fine, but the reverberations of disquiet were telling.

It feels like there’s a subtle cultural shift going on when it comes to horse racing, a growing feeling of discomfort. Attendances at Flemington’s Melbourne Cup Carnival have been steadily falling over the past decade or so. The ugly, spur-of-the-moment punch to the head of that most magnificent of creatures was a reminder of the underbelly of cruelty in the horse racing industry. You’ll see it again this Tuesday. Reluctant horses with tossing heads and flattened ears being rammed into their starting barriers. The rhythmical savagery of a whip on a flank, with some of the animals looking as if they’re being thrashed to within an inch of their lives. Who’d let a person get away with a flogging like that if it was witnessed in any other context than horse racing? Horses have incredibly sensitive skin — a fly lands on them and you see the ripple of a shiver. Will whips be banned in this year’s Melbourne Cup; will they ever be banned? Unlikely, but I wish it so.

And let’s hope this year’s race that stops a nation is nothing like 2014’s, when a dreadful hush of realisation spread through the post-race jubilation. The favourite, Admire Rakti, finished last and then collapsed in his stall following a heart attack — the shocking moment of that glorious animal staggering to the floor was caught on film, like the Russell punch. And as the horses were returning to the mounting yard the seventh placegetter, Araldo, was spooked by a flag in the crowd. He kicked out at a fence in fright and broke his leg. A horse can’t survive an injury like that, with their heavy bodies and leg bones that are prone to shattering — he was put down that night.

Araldo, ridden by Dwayne Dunn, gets tangled in the fence after being spooked by a flag after running the 2014 Cup. The horse was later put down.

“Studies have found that 89 per cent of racehorses have stomach ulcers from stress,” says Ward Young from the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses. Then there’s the chilling industry term “wastage”. It’s the dispiriting word for thoroughbreds that are disappeared or “sacked” after being declared no longer competitive. They’re not fast enough — they’re deemed wastage before they’re even fully grown. About 13,000 thoroughbred foals are bred annually yet only about two-thirds ever make it to the track. “Once they’re no longer an earning proposition, they start costing money,” Young says. “That means they [the owners] need to offload the horses as soon as possible.”

‘The fact that approximately 18,000 ex-racehorses are killed every year for dog meat is deplorable’

Admire Ratki’s stall is shielded by track officials after the horse collapsed and died post-race.

Which could mean the sale yard, where the horse might be bought for riding, or the knackery, where they’ll be snapped up by the Dickensian sounding “doggers” for pet meat. Young believes the racing industry is slaughtering thousands of horses annually to make way for better prospects. “The fact that approximately 18,000 ex-racehorses are killed every year for dog meat is deplorable,” Young says. “These horses who’ve given so much and received so little are the victims of racing’s throwaway culture.”

I’ve lost my appetite for the Melbourne Cup. Every year the desire to sacrifice an afternoon to the whole circus lessens. Our national Rite of Spring — involving women dubbed “fillies” in their ridiculous hats, and centred on cruelty involving the most noble creature on Earth — holds less and less appeal. I’m not even sure I’ll watch this year. I know this makes me egregiously un-Australian but so be it. I’ve loved horses ever since I was a pony-mad schoolgirl, which is why I can never quite subscribe to the sometimes desperately sad spectacle of horse racing.