Success is Rare, and So is the Good Retirement

The successful racehorse lives better than most humans. Those who can breed have it far better than geldings, as they can generate money for years and "earn their keep" many times over. Successes are a TINY fraction of racehorses.

The average racehorse works until he breaks down and then often gets abandoned, lives in squalor, or even gets euthanized before it's necessary. Some get lucky and get rescued by wonderful people at sanctuaries, but there aren't enough of those to accommodate all of them.

The racehorses who show little promise at the start probably have it best, before they get too injured by racing they often get re-trained to become the beloved partner of a rider who rides for fun or competes in non-racing disciplines, where the horses are more partners than tools for making money. I'm not saying there aren't shady folks in every discipline , just that the ratio is higher in racing because there is SO much more money at stake.