Erasing the rich history of our sport

The history of our grand harness racing sport stretches back well over 200 years.

Even before the father of our breed, Messenger, came across the Atlantic Ocean in 1788, there are writings about the Narraganset Pacers and events that enriched our history.

But, sadly, nose-by-nose, neck-by-neck, length-by-length, our rich history is being subtly erased, some by the closing of tracks and others on casino influence.

With casinos now more in charge of the future of our sport and business, even though they have raked in millions with promises to protect the tradition and sanctity of standardbred racing, those promises have been left at the starting gate, along with a “global glacial warming” of our history as it melts away.

Instead of creating new, lucrative events, names of some of those historic events are being changed and, to boot, there is a never-ending battle for track survival with the help of State legislatures, whose elected representatives are enriched with political dollars courtesy of the voters who enabled the casinos in the first place.

One particular event with a name change concerned Nat Ray, the winning driver in the very first Hambletonian conducted in 1926.

Ray guided Guy McKinney to a straight heat wins in the inaugural Hambletonian, winning the major share of the $73,526.42 purse with the top prize being $45,868.43.

When the Hambletonian moved to The Meadowlands in 1981, it was a fitting tribute to Nat Ray, elected as an immortal in Goshen’s magnificent Hall of Fame in 1978, to name a race in his honor and memory.

But beginning in 2013, Nat Ray was erased from history as that event was “rebranded.”

There have been other similar situations in racing—some with casino influence and some not—but, if a venue wants to honor someone with a named race, do so by creating more history with a new event—not destroying it.

Yonkers Raceway has renamed many stakes races erasing the pioneers of our sport including George Morton Levy and Lawrence B. Sheppard from our grand history…and our sport’s Founding Father, Messenger, has been relegated to second status.

The great Harry Harvey, winner of the 1953 Hambletonian with the grand mare Helicopter, has had his name all but erased from history, replaced with the Bellagio Classic.

There are others, as well, but, to me, history as is important as today and the future.

Heck, even the recent Congressional hearings have verbiage going back to our Founding Fathers and the Constitution.

Back to Nat Ray for a “bit,” he was quite a character who developed some notable performers, Peter The Brewer, Jimmy McKerron and Juno, among them.

Born in Whitby, Canada in 1882, he came to the United States in 1896 and began his career as a jockey and steeplechase rider but, around 1911, found himself in the sulky.

About a month before his Hambletonian victory, he was in the home of a Goshen friend and offered to bet $1,000 even money against the field that his horse would win.

That, to me, in itself, deserves a race named after him and a place in history!

by John Berry, for Harnesslink

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