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Your Key to Harness Racing

How does harness racing differ from thoroughbred racing?
Thoroughbreds run or gallop. Harness horses must maintain a specified gait, and are guided by a driver seated on a sulky instead of being ridden by a jockey in a saddle.

What does “gait” mean?
Gait refers to trotting or pacing, specific methods of locomotion peculiar to the Standardbred or harness horse. While the tendency to trot or pace is inbred in most standardbred horses, the ability to maintain gait at high speeds and over a distance of ground is acquired only through long months of intensive training.

What is a Standardbred horse?
The modern Standardbred horse is a thoroughly pedigreed animal and originally was called that because the horse had to race up to a certain set “standard” of speed. This “standard” has steadily decreased time-wise as improved breeding methods produced faster horses. With but few exceptions, to claim Standardbred status for a horse, his ancestry must have been standard and registered for generations.

What is a trotter?
A trotter is a Standardbred that races with a diagonally-gaited motion. His left front and right rear legs move forward almost simultaneously, then the right front and left rear. Often noticeable is high knee action and a left-right nodding of the head.

What is a pacer?
A pacer moves both left legs swinging forward in unison, then both right legs. It is a piston-like movement often called a lateral gait and most pacers seem to sway from side to side. About 19 out of 20 will wear hobbles, leather or plastic straps worn connecting front and rear legs on the same side to encourage the legs to move forward and back together.

Which is the faster gait?
Little more than a second separates the world trotting and pacing records (the pacing record is faster). A pacer, generally, is considered slightly faster within a specific race classification, and a pacer can get away faster at the start.

What is a break?
A break occurs when a horse leaves its required gait and “breaks” into a gallop. A break coming up to the starting gate could be caused by a speed that is uncomfortable for the horse. Where clearance exists, a driver must bring a breaking horse to the outside away from traffic and pull him into his proper stride. A breaking horse must lose ground while galloping.

How is post position determined?
The luck of the draw is used. A numbered ball is placed in a shaker for each entrant in the race. A person designated by the Presiding Judge draws or rolls out one ball as each entrant’s name is read. The number drawn becomes that horse’s post position.