I’ve been reading about the popularity of oval racing in another group and that sent me down a rabbit hole considering what happened to harness racing. I know in the 1800s and early 1900s that harness racing was very popular. Every county fairgrounds would have an oval where the locals would compete and occasional big names would sometimes race. But today if you ask most people to name a horse race most will likely say Kentucky Derby and almost nobody will even know what the Hambletonian is. Why did racing change so much? What happened to displace harness racing?
Back in 1900 everyone drove horses, so it would be inherently interesting (like early days of stock car racing).
Same as with other horse racing venues, the audience can’t lose their money fast enough. At casinos you can lose steadily, no wait time for the next race. Audiences have no patience with any waiting to throw down their money.
Along with that is less attendance of children, no bringing them up “in the excitement” of the track as happened in the past. Kids enjoy what they come up with. No exposure to horses as kids means they never learned to appreciate them, not interested in horses as adults. Too many other interesting entertainments to enjoy.
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Internal combustion engines.
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The fair in the next county still has it, as do several others in PA, but usually only for 2 days and at weird times. When I worked nights in the early 2000s I would go because it was at like 11 AM on a Tuesday. I was typically the only person there under 60. And they don’t have betting, so there goes half your audience.
Thoroughbred racing seems to be slowly headed in the same direction.
Things just get replaced by newer, flashier things. How many other pastimes of the 1800s and early 1900s still exist and are popular? Maybe baseball and basketball, but that’s about it, and even things like that look vastly different or have had many rule changes to keep them relevant. They are also more easily accessible to the common man - anybody can play them as well as watch. You can buy a basic version of the necessary equipment for 5 bucks. There’s probably a court or diamond within walking distance to even the poorest citizens, or you can easily create your own makeshift version. Not too many people have the means to get into racing or just horse ownership or even lessons.
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I dont think harness racing ever had the prestige and money of flat racing. The Queen does not own Standardbred pacers as far as I know. Both TB flat and STB harness have declined a lot in popularity in the past 40 years. The money was all from gambling while racing was one of the very few legal ways to gamble. Now that there are 24 hour casinos everywhere, there are easier ways to scratch the gambling itch.
Our local 2nd tier TB track is in decline and trainers furious that the government ministry of casinos has installed slot machines at the track which divert more cash out of the racing world.
We still have one STB harness track. Used to be more I think.
This goes far back in history. In Tudor times gambling was limited to the royal court, the aristocratic and wealthy elite, and the Church very much disapproved. Under the Stuart kings, horse racing became a suitable aristrocratic pastime as the skills of knightly tournaments had became prohibitively expensive and functionally redundant with improved guns. James 1 & 6 far preferred hunting and racing. Running horses, coursers, began to be bred specifically and obtained the high value previously placed on the tournament destriers. The status gained by risking life and limb in a joust was replaced by the slightly disreputable financial risk of gambling as a form of conspicuous consumption. Horse racing took place around the country so the opportunity to gamble spread both geographically and down the social scale though most races were still matches between horses with wealthy owners. Horse racing was banned in Cromwellian times because the groups of aristocratic owners and crowds associated with races were deemed to be dangerous opportunities for plotting insurrection. Then along comes the Restoration, with Charles II so obsessed with racing that the entire royal court moved to Newmarket for the cycle of racing meetings. Government either ground to a halt or officials had to also travel to Newmarket to be with the king. Gambling became highly fashionable and almost a declaration of loyalty to the monarchy. The Church thoroughly disapproved on moral grounds but was stymied because the Puritans had previously banned it. By the 18th century gambling had spread to all classes and was not limited to horse racing but also cards, bareknuckle fighting, cockfighting… (think Georgette Heyer novels here). Increasingly, gambling was identified as a significant moral problem for the Lower Classes. One solution was an Act of Parliament that required any race horse to have a value of £1000 (off the top of my head so value might be lower) and gambling was only permitted during the actual races. It was illegal to bet off course. This had a profound effect on the history of horses for two reasons. First, the high value specialist running horses bred by aristrocrats and gentry developed into the Thoroughbred. The General Stud Book was first published in 1793 and the first edition traced racing bloodlines back into the previous century. Part of the TB value was knowledge of their breeding: “Thorough” in the sense of “careful”. Flat racing was established as the elite sport.
Second, trotting races were largely limited to lower class people, such as tradesmen, who had horses for work purposes but also enjoyed a race or two. These working horses obviously never achieved the high values of the racehorses, it was illegal to bet on them and the social kudos was far less. Generally the trotting races were ridden. The Welsh cobs became famous and achieved 16 miles an hour for extended distances. They are still shown in hand by handlers wearing running shoes. The other trotters such as the Norfolk Roadster or the Yorkshire Grey were specialist carriage and coach horses. Carriage racing never really caught on possibly because roads were busy with other traffic.
The Standardbred is an American invention. There is a small amount of organised American style trotting, using Standardbreds, apparently concentrated in the Welsh Marches for some reason. Most people, if they know anything of trotting would probably think of the travellers and gypsies who organise match racing along public roads which is truly horrifying to watch, sparks flying from the hooves as they trot flat out down the pavement. That is about as low status racing as one finds on the UK even though the best horses are valuable and high sums of money are gambled.
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@Willesdon, wow thanks for the background! I kind of thought that was the general situation but didn’t know the details.
Shortly pre-covid, Maryland was putting a fair amount of money into promoting standardbred racing. One of the neat events they were hosting at Rosecroft Raceway was the opportunity to ride in a jog cart around the track when you come to the races. I thought that was an awesome promotion that not a lot of horse sports can replicate.
But standardbred racing in American has always been second class to thoroughbreds. Thoroughbreds were the sport of kings, Standardbreds were the sport of the average man.
The industry doesn’t help itself, not unlike TBs. I have tried to get involved and learn about it for some years now, but like most racing, it can be hard to get your foot in the door. I thought my wealth of TB experience might encourage someone to let me do something low key, like muck stalls. But as an “outsider,” you get met with the cold shoulder unless you know someone. TB racing is guilty of this, too. I get it, it’s a business. But at the same time, you need to attract a new generation to keep the sport going.
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Interesting topic! I have some history in this sport.
I would agree that legalized casino and sports gambling has hurt both TB and harness racing. Back in the hey day of the big city tracks in the 1950s thru 1980s, there was less competition for gambling dollars. Of course there are many other factors.
But there is absolutely nothing in this world like standing right on the rail and watching and hearing a field of pacers and trotters lined up behind the starting gate. And it’s also a sport where owners can get involved in a hands on way by jogging horses on the track.
And of course, Standardbred horses are very versatile in many other disciplines.
Texarkana (hope I got that right), the US Trotting Assn used to have an annual program where folks could spend a few days at a training center, learning about care of horses, harness and equipment, and they would even take you out on the track in a jog cart. I don’t know if they are planning to do it again though.
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For a time I lived near Goshen NY and worked with a woman whose husband trained racing Standardbreds. The old track in Goshen (original home of the Hambletonian) was beautifully quaint. There was a lot of training and some kind of qualifying races in which horses had to achieve a certain time to be able to race at the bigger tracks. No pari-mutuel betting for those. Most of the families in attendance would wager dimes against each other.
There was a fire a few years ago, but they have rebuilt the barn. I would love to visit it again! http://goshenhistorictrack.com/
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Australia and New Zealand have a well established harness racing industry - both trotters and pacers. The Miracle Mile for example is a million dollar race, but there are a few big races.
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My pseudo-step-sister (?) races trot horses in Aland, Finland and used to frequently travel with them by ferry to Sweden. They have PONY trotting races where her daughter drove her pony!
I got to go out with her (the adult, lol) exactly once in a training cart, down a gravel road and it was exhilarating and TERRIFYING … even not at full race gait, those back feet are really uncomfortably close! And just toodling along is FAST!
Here is a link to the track (Google will helpfully translate into Engish.) Looking through the site and finding “trotting school” I looked at it … lol, it is my relative who is running the program! (Edited to add the link, duh!)
https://alandstravet.com/
Anyway, at this location they have a lot of French and Russion trotter influence, American STB are very expensive but are much faster. I believe they don’t have any pacing at this location.
There used to be Pony Trotting races here in CT! When I was a kid, my parents would take me to the North Haven Fair and we would watch the little guys race! I believe they had some kind of circuit and raced at other fairs too. Dont know if they still do.
Goshen NY (Orange County) is a great place to visit! At Goshen Historic Track they usually hold non betting races, including some stakes races, in late June - early July. Great family atmosphere! Horses train on the track year round. And next door to the track is the Harness Racing Museum. Definitely worth a visit. Lots of fun exhibits including interactive exhibits.
I have the impression that the gallopers have higher status? The Australian/NZ TB industry is plugged into the international market and has wide influence. The trotters are much more local?
Yes, TB racing is much more lucrative and attracts international competitors. Harness racing is more of an Australian and New Zealand thing, with the higher level horses travelling between the two countries. I’m not sure if Australian horses ever travel further than NZ for races, but if it happens it wouldn’t be very often.
If you’re truly interested, I could get you in contact with the right people.
At least one of the big stb outlets also has thoroughbreds, so that might be another way in.
That said if you compare Sunshine Meadows (STB) to Palm Meadows (TB) in terms of facilities, calling STB outfits pretentious is kind of funny in comparison.
It’s been my experience that STB has a heavily European influence - some of the big trainers are Swedish, Italian, French-Canadian. That said I have been hearing that a lot of the horses that would normally race at Woodbine have been racing here in the states instead.
