Harness racing needs its own TV show!

Back in the late 1940’s, our family got its first television.

Black and white it was with four channels with Kukla, Fran and Ollie a favorite of mine and the Texaco Star Theatre starring Milton Berle a weekly tradition for the whole family.

Today, there are, literally, hundreds and hundreds of stations on the air.

Many are specialty stations targeting specific audiences like QVC and HSN for the shoppers, The Food Network, MTV for music, Comedy Central, Catchy Comedy and Laff, National Geographic, several movie channels, Nick and Nick Jr for the kids, Travel Channel and, even, some for countries on foreign soil like TVK (Korea),

Yes, we do have some racing networks, too, like TVG (now owned by Fan Duel as prop betting takes hold), RTN and some local ones.

But, in my eyes, TVG (Fan Duel), for example, puts harness racing on the back burner and, just recently, a commentator for them, said, “Horse racing needs to stop pretending and just be what it is. It’s a great combo of WWE, Reality TV, sports with a healthy dose of ‘BS’ on the side.”

He continued, “It’s a great game, cheating is part of it, death is part of it…”

Tell that to our harness racing folks, many of whom get up two hours before the sun rises and put their heads on a pillow four or five hours after the sun sets at night when the last race is official a half hour before midnight.

Tell that to the trainers and their crew who take care of their horses like a new baby every single day for, maybe, 60 hours a week…and then have around 1:50 or 1:55 A WEEK (yes, less than TWO MINUTES a week to make a living and enough money to satisfy a payroll, feed bills, vet bills, equipment costs, wood shavings at $1,800 a pile, training costs…and an owner who hooves those bills trying to stay afloat and from drowning in debt.

And, quoting the earlier commentator, that’s not “BS.”

That, alone, should put the commentator’s “cheating” comments to shame.

Of course, tragedies happen…but that is in every sport. From auto racing to boxing to baseball…even canoeing, cricket and diving. Polo and skiing, too.

And, sadly, there are tragedies in our sport, as well.

As far as his comments on cheating, with purses the way they are compared to the pari-mutuel handle, I really don’t think any reasonable horseman in a race with a purse of, even, $8,000 would jeopardize that to win $4.40 or $44.00 (or, in Kentucky’s case, maybe $4.48 or $44.80).

We do have watchdogs now that have put some of the past cheaters in prison with substantial sentences and fines as a deterrent for our future integrity.

That brings us to the point of this Mane Attraction…WE NEED OUR OWN TELEVISION NETWORK.

We need to be on the front burner, not the back burner all the time.

We have so much talent in our industry that we don’t need FanDuel commentators or any commentators putting shame on our industry, especially those that are “thoroughbred” experts.

Yes, we need transparency…and that can come from our own in a way to improve things for the future—not detract.

Imagine the possibilities with live coverage of draws and inquiries and expert handicapping by the best in the business.

We can have 24-hour-a-day coverage—just like Harnesslink—on the air covering our sport like a blanket—just like Harnesslink.

Gabe Prewitt, Hollywood Heyden, Dave Little, Ken Warkenton, Edison Hatter, Allison Conte, Shades Demsky, Gary Seibel, Heather Vitale, Heather Wilder, Wendy Ross, Garnet Barnsdale, Nicholas Barnsdale, Nathan Bain, Trey Colbeck,..they could cover North America.

I know I’ve missed some, but you get the idea.

Down under, there’s Brad Reid, Bevan Greig, O’Connor, Michael Guerin, Terry Gange, Sheldon Murtha, Brittany Graham, Shannon O’Sullivan and Cassie Fahey.

This way, we can bring out the best in our grand sport, make it as transparent, entertaining and honest as humanely possible and begin to rebuild an industry that is an important part of our lives.

Sponsorship could come from a small percentage of revenue from casinos, as they have benefitted greatly from voters and legislators who have given them a green light in the first place.

Isn’t it about time that we stand on our own four hooves, instead of being on the back burner all the time and relying on TVG to, maybe, show one of our features…at post time, for a change?

HRL could be our station call letters…Harness Racing Live!

Our slogan…”24 hours-a-day…wherever day is!”

by John Berry, for Harnesslink