Area fairs are in full swing, and for harness racing enthusiasts and drivers, that means go time.
Harness racing is an equine trotting sport wherein Standardbred horses pull a driver in a two-wheeled cart, often called a sulky, around a dirt track generally measuring or close to one mile in hopes of winning a purse. Though year-round tracks exist, harness racing typically follows the fair season, or at larger tracks such as Tioga and Vernon Downs or Saratoga from roughly April through November.
According to ustrotting.com, the sport began as a “back-roads” activity in the early 19th century.
“Harness racing first emerged on the scene as a fun, recreational activity for neighbors who owned horses, which was nearly everyone, to earn bragging rights and compete against one another,” the site stated. “These early races initially took place on country roads and village streets, but as the informal events grew more popular, racetracks were built to accommodate the horsemen and fans.”
“The first harness racing tracks were opened in the mid-1800s, but harness racing events could be found as early as 1825 at county fairs all around the country,” it continued. “By the mid-20th century, harness racing was the fastest-growing sport in America. Today, harness racing can still be found at county fairs and numerous racetracks across the U.S. The sport is also popular in … Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France and Sweden.”
Fran Briggs, of Afton, said she’s been around the sport for decades. Briggs, a member of the harness racing program New York State Sire Stakes, is the race secretary for the Afton Fair.
“I start in February or March getting things ready, then it’s just one day at the fair,” she said. “My dad raced for 45 years, so I’ve been around it all my life. I was too small (to be a jockey), my dad always said, but I used to jog and work with (the horses).”
Under the New York Sire Stakes program, 2- and 3-year-old horses race for a purse. Male and female horses race separately. Training begins at age 2 with jogging to build stamina, Briggs said.
“They also have classes called free-for-alls for any age horse, but horses can only race until they’re 14,” she continued. “There’s a cart behind them, and … (drivers) have to start paying an entry fee in February or March. They pay in, and all that money goes into the pool.”
Worcester resident John Horne, a longtime harness racing announcer, said his involvement grew from love of the sport. Horne announces at Vernon Downs.
“I first got into the sport in Goshen,” he said, “where they have the hall of fame for harness racing, and my friend’s parents brought me there. I loved watching the races and, as I got a little older, the closest track was Monticello Raceway. The first pari-mutuel I got to do was there, but I’ve always loved the sport.”
Pari-mutuel is a formatted betting style.
Horne, who worked for decades as a regional sports announcer, said that his entree into horse-racing followed an ad.
“I was the announcer for the Oneonta Tigers for over nine years … and when the Tigers left town, I saw an ad,” he said. “I always thought about announcing horse races and really didn’t know when it would be possible, but Tioga Downs had an ad and I said, ‘I’m going to go there.’ They hired me that day, and I wasn’t an announcer then, but I could announce the qualifiers. Horses have to do qualifiers, so I practiced with that, and got to work with the judges and learn the sport a lot more through their eyes, and I was never on that side of it before.”
Vernon Downs, he said, is the sister track to Tioga.
Dustin Miller, a 43-year-old trainer-driver from Bloomville, said he has been involved for decades, too.
“My significant other owns horses, but I train 13 horses total, for her and others,” he said. “I race year-round. Tioga Downs closes in September, but Monticello races year-round, so I’ll go down there in the winter. It was full-time at one point in my life, then I got out of it and came back in as a hobby, but now I’ve built it back and I work at a full-time job (as an EMT), as well as with the horses. I was always in and helping around the barn, but in my twenties is when I really started it as a career.”
The familial aspect of the sport is a defining feature.
“Most everybody is the sport is born and raised into it. It’s a family tradition,” Miller said. “There are some that come to the track and fall in love with the business and stick around, but mostly you’re born and raised into it. I’m second generation. It was my mom, and then my dad got into as he was older.”
“I’ve gotten real close with a lot of people here and, at Vernon Downs, it’s a lot of small barns — some large — but that’s mostly what Vernon Downs is all about. It’s really a family business,” Horne said. “It’s unbelievable what a family business it is. Their love of the horses is really at the top of the level, and I think a lot of people don’t realize how well cared for the horses are. Horses come first. The horses are great athletes … and the (owners) don’t get rich from it. Around here, it’s more the love of the horses. Your big, expensive horses — there’s a top level — those are the ones that make money at it. But your locals, they don’t get rich. It’s their love and determination and they really bond together.”
“It’s such an amazing community,” he continued. “Usually, they’re coming from families that have already (been involved). Our leading driver at Vernon is a guy by the name of Leon Bailey, and he’s a third-generation driver. His grandfather was probably the greatest driver at Vernon Downs … and that’s common.”
That insularity, paired with shifting cultural tendencies, has drawbacks, too.
“I don’t see as many (new people) as I’d like to see, and I think that’s mostly due to lack of exposure and lack of understanding the industry,” Miller said. “I think it’s becoming, unfortunately, less popular, and I think it’s because everything is available in the palm of your hand, now. So, from a gambler’s point of view, you’re not going out to the track to bet on races anymore, you’re doing it from your couch, on the phone. Twenty years ago, you would’ve brought the whole family to the track to place a couple bets but, just like sports betting, there’s so many different apps you can use now.”
“It depends on the track,” he continued. “Tioga, Vernon and Saratoga always have people in the stands but, somewhere like Monticello, there’s like 10 people. And the overall popularity of county fairs is declining in general, not even just the horse-racing part of it.”
“We need more youth in it,” Horne said. “A lot of the people here have been doing it for a lot of years and, as in every sport, you’ve got to find a way to have that youth involved. My assistant announcer is 16, and he started with me at 14. He gets to announce a race a week. I want to help the youth, and that’s all my announcing. I always want to help those guys come along.”
“Unfortunately, what keeps it together is the casinos, and it hurts it at the same time, because that’s just a different kind of gambling,” he continued. “People are more addicted to slot machines and that quick (kind of gambling) now. We get some new people, but, again, a lot of the people that bet here and come here have been coming for a long time. Getting those newer ones is hard for everybody, but we have a lot of ways we try to do it.”
Horne cited Corntastic Weekend, Aug. 15 and 16, “where we give away corn from local farmers,” as one such outreach effort.
“I think the horses are faster and I think the popularity hasn’t changed much over the years,” Briggs said. “It’s just generation after generation. I just really think it’s in their blood and it’s all they’ve ever done. There is usually a crowd that follows, but there is more population at a pari-mutuel track, because there’s betting. People do take their kids, but it’s mainly older (attendees).”
“Not all 50 stated have racetracks, but it’s all over the country and all over. They have them in Australia,” she continued. “And it’s all ages. My grandson is really into it, and has his groom license, and he’s 14. He just got ‘Groom of the Week.’ He can’t drive in races until he’s 16, and he gets a license for that.”
Briggs estimated that 50% of drivers own their horses, while “a lot buy horses and send them to a trainer.”
The unpredictability of harness racing has pros and cons.
“If the horse doesn’t make it to the races, you’ve put all that time in and everything,” Briggs said. “They train all year. But it is rewarding to see your horse race and see it win.”
“For me, announcing is really hard because, when it’s horse racing, every race has the same numbers, but there’s different horses with every race,” Horne said. “So, you’ve got to be familiar with the horse names, and you want to get them right, and the owners, trainers, drivers. And you want to make it as exciting as you can. I want the guy racing for $3,000 who gets a win to be as excited as the guy that wins the $300,000 race, so I try not to differentiate.”
“I’m way up high in a booth and we have a 7/8-mile track, so you need binoculars and a little of the TV, because, to see everything is really hard,” he continued. “Harness racing is by far the hardest (to announce), but I’ve been lucky enough to announce some of the great horses. The biggest race in harness racing is the Hambletonian, which is this week, and four of the horses racing in it, I announced this year already, so I’m excited. I have announced a world record (winner) once at Tioga Downs – that was a pretty cool thing. But when I look in the winner’s circle and it’s the local people I see all the time – and sometimes wins are hard to come by – when I see them as a family and see them smiling, that really makes my day. I feel my job is to cover, as much as I can, the human side of it, and the horse side of it, and when they’re in the winner’s circle … I feel as excited for them as they do.”
“Every day is something different, and it’s a huge adrenaline rush every time you go on a track, it doesn’t matter if you’re racing for $1,000 or $100,000,” Miller echoed. “(The hardest part) is when you lose a horse you’ve put your heart and soul into – whether to a claiming race or you sold the horse or injury or illness – because, if you have horses, they’re your lifeblood, whether it’s riding or racing or pasture pets. But (the best part) is taking the young horses, the babies you’ve bred or bought at a sale, and seeing them go to the races and become racehorses. That’s a feeling of accomplishment. It’s like a major league scout going to watch your No. 1 draft pick become a star.”