New rules cause quite the controversy

As you all know in harness racing, I’m not a controversial kinda guy.

Since my first writing appeared in the Horseman and Fair World more than 59 years ago, I have gotten involved in the middle of few disputes—very few.

My last column about the rule changes at The Meadowlands brought out opinions from both sides of the aisle with the vast majority backing my arguments for the horsemen and their credentials and a few on the other side of the coin…one even “kidding” me about being a “rabble-rouser,” which, in fact, made me feel quite proud sticking up for these guys and gals. I even got a couple of “thank-you” calls!

Besides the replies online and by phone, I was invited by Peter Gross to be on his outstanding “Down The Stretch” podcast from Canada to defend my words. Scott Zeron was on the podcast, as well, and articulated the horsemen’s concerns on the subject, especially if those same rules creep into Canada.

The main contention was the “expulsion” rule with my argument being that any “enforcer” 1,000 miles away watching television monitors with no on-track experience in the sulky, taking task to the best professional drivers in the business with over 70,000 wins and $1.5 BILLION in purse earnings for owners.

So, after a meeting with the horsemen at The Big M last Friday, the expulsion threat came off the table and that, in itself, could have saved both sides from any interruption of racing.

Ya know, I applaud Mr. Gural and Mr. Settlemoir for, one, saving racing at their outstanding facility and, two, trying to make the product as great as possible…the exact same thing the horsemen competing there are trying to do.

Their product has spawned a very healthy increase in handle this season…and deservedly so.

That is proof, in itself, that all sides are doing their best.

In any race—not just at The Meadowlands, but at every track—drivers have to make split-second decisions to avoid mishaps which, we have seen in the past, can be disastrous or, even, fatal and it’s amazing to me that these professional horsemen and women don’t have even more situations.

Horses can be strange creatures at times. They have personalities of their own and ANYTHING can happen in, literally, 1/100th of a second, whether it’s a shadow on the track or a stepping on clump of limestone or one of them throwing a shoe or a hobble breaking or broken line, among other things.

To put it mildly, it’s a dangerous sport with every move possibly affecting the wagering dollars of our bettors and the investments of owners and trainers.

Tragedy is nothing new in our sport. We all know what happened to Billy Haughton in 1986…and Shelly Goudreau…and Wayne Smullen…and Hal Belote…and, even going back a whole century, Pop Gears. There are, of course, many others, as well.

Maybe, especially in the last couple of decades, that’s exactly why trainers use the best (catch) drivers in the business to give all investors in our sport a fighting chance to avoid drowning in horse related debt.

Longtime trainer Jim McDonald, aa winner of well over 1,000 races in the sulky, used Wally Hennessey as much as he could the last few years at Pompano Park and, when I asked him “why,” he said, “If Wally’s in the bike for me, I know he’s not going to beat me with another horse.!”

Look at the driving rosters of just about any track—“A” track, “B” track, any track—you’ll see the best catch-drivers in the bike these days.

It’s great for the owners…great for the bettors…and it’s great for the BUSINESS of harness racing. And that’s how we get new owners to invest in harness racing…as a BUSINESS!

Now, one last thought on the new Meadowlands rules…You can take the controversy out of the whole shebang by PUTTING THE ENFORCER IN THE STARTING GATE!!!

End of story!

by John Berry, for Harnesslink