RIP California Harness Racing

Harness racing in California reached the end of its nine lives last Friday night at Cal Expo.

After 60 years, the trotters and pacers will no longer be in action anywhere in the Golden State, the result of a domino effect following the end of racing at Golden Gate Fields and the Northern California fairs.

I first discovered harness racing in 1972, three years after falling in love with the thoroughbreds, and many a night was spent under the lights at Hollywood Park watching some of the best sidewheelers in the country go about their business.

Seeing the mighty Niatross perform was a certainly a highlight, along with the opportunity to watch the Charlie Whittingham/Bill Shoemaker of harness racing in the form of Joe O’Brien, as he displayed his mastery as both a driver and trainer.

Roy Shudt’s “Starter Call for the Pacers!” and the arrival of Gene Vallandingham from Chicago with those red and white colors, flowing blond hair and theatrical style, are also emblazoned in the memory.

Harness racing is also where I met the most interesting character of my life, trainer Roger Stein. He eventually went over to the thoroughbreds while also being a prominent radio host for nearly 30 years until his death in 2019.

The first crack in the armor

Things first got dicey for the sport when Hollywood Park expanded the track for the Breeder’s Cup in the early 1980s. This made the one-mile start impossible, and at that point harness became the red-headed stepchild of California racing.

The sport nearly vanished in the 1990s before getting a literal and figurative new lease on life through Premier Harness at Los Alamitos. Harness racing in the spring at the Orange County oval continued until the new millennium.

For the last 26 years, Cal Expo has been the home of the trotters and pacers.

It was initially run by Capitol Racing, followed by a stint under the direction of the State Fair and most recently by Watch and Wager LLC.

The latter group has been ably manned by harness racing die-hards Chris Schick and Ben Kenney, with longtime trackman and program director Marty Bridges doing the charting and Scott Ehrlich handling announcing duties.

I wrote my first harness column for Daily Racing Form in 1978, and it’s been a pleasure to handle the advances and feature stories that appeared in the Cal Expo program for the last two and a half decades.

The owners, trainers and drivers have been great to work with, and harness horses lend themselves for good copy, racing on a weekly basis as they do and easily building a fan base.

A special tip of the cap goes out to trainer Bob Johnson, who was one of my first interviews 47 years ago and one of my last a couple of weeks ago.

It’s been a great ride, but now it’s time to unhook the sulky and head back to the barn.

by Mark Ratzky, for Cal Expo Harness