Who’s to blame for our slow demise? Look in the mirror!

When I first started enjoying our grand sport 64 years ago in the Chicago area, tracks were abundant with Sportsman’s Park and Maywood the stalwarts, followed by Washington Park, Balmoral, Hawthorne Racecourse and, a bit later, Arlington, with an occasional trip to Aurora Downs.

Down south in the Prairie State, we had Cahokia Downs and Fairmount Park and, sometimes, we’d go out way west to Quad City Downs.

The fair action was wonderful, too, with places like Sandwich, Mendota (playing host to the great Su Mac Lad as a two-year-old) and the great Springfield and DuQuoin tracks, as well.

Of course, the majority are all gone now, along with a list of tracks all over the country—both pari-mutuel and fair—leaving harness racing just a shell of its former self.

No more Hollywood Park or Santa Anita on the west coast…no more Roosevelt Raceway on the east coast and, of course, in the south, no more Pompano Park.

Brandywine, Hazel Park, Liberty Bell Park, Louisville Downs, The Rock…a few more of the many that have perished over time.

I remember talking to the great Gene Riegle one night at Sportsman’s Park after he won a race (maybe with Ione Hanover?) and he said something like, “well, we were lucky enough to get a breather in the middle 3/8ths of the mile…gotta try and save something for next week, you know…”

Yes, many of the drivers carried stop watches back then trying to get to the three-eighths mark in :48 seconds so they could maybe win in 2:03, instead of having to be pushed there in :45 and lose in a 2:02 mile.

The strategy and thinking were preserving your horsepower until when you need it most—in the stretch through the wire…and having something left for the next week.

Stanley Dancer was a master at that by taking control and dictating the terms of a race. So was Haughton and Curly and O’Brien and Ralph Baldwin and Frank Ervin and Delvin and Sholty, again, just to name a few.

Yes, the standardbred was bred—from day one—as a breed of endurance…with endurance having many meanings.

We have records on the books for up to nine heats, for 100 miles and age with horses like Abax having a start at age 26, Baldwin at 24 and Ada Symbol, at 23, just to name a few…and we can’t forget Lord Sherbrooke, age 21, who raced against his five-year-old son, Lord Sherbrooke II..and beat him!

Today, of course, it go…go…go…and, thinking about that, it’s causing the slow demise of a sport we all love.

Yes, we had two-year-olds racing back a century or more ago—and we even had marks put on YEARLINGS, too—but the speed today has taken a toll on the horse population which, in turn, has contributed to the oozing demise of our grand sport.

Yes, purses are strong at tracks supported by casinos or legislatures but, as we’ve seen, support can be shaky and there seems to be a constant and continual threat on the continuance of that support.

And, on the other hand, opportunity has shrunk for those horsemen and owners not quite as fortunate to race at Yonkers or the Big M or Chester or Woodbine or The Meadows or Dover or in Indiana or Ohio with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer trying to stay above the financial waters and not drown in debt.

Kentucky is a bright spot, yes, but soon, the “little” owner may be pushed out by the affluent owners and trainers who can afford to being their more expensive stock to The Red Mile (especially in the fall) and Oak Grove as the exceptionally strong purses lure those owners and trainers.

Where will Mike Murphy or Trey Brinson go?

Never heard of them? THAT’S THE POINT, TOO! These gents work as hard as anyone to make a living in our sport—in their sport—so this is a subject matter that affects the minority—who outnumber the majority probably 12 or 15 to one…or more!

Furthermore, as our once cherished “2:10 two-year-old” list has become obsolete, the breeders have honed this industry to where 2:10 gets nothing, 2:05 gets nothing, 2:00 gets next to nothing and 1:55 might be the breakeven point…if you can muster enough finishes in the top five.

IT’S STILL JUNE AND WE HAVE THREE TWO-YEAR-OLD PACERS IN (1):53 AND CHANGE ALREADY!

Trotters are in the same boat as last year’s top juvenile trotters were in the 1:52-1:53 range with one trotter with a 1:53.4 mark at two won only $27,750.

Another one with a 1:54.1 mark as a two-year-old won only $5,400!

Now some will argue that some of these horses with fast marks and short earnings were injured…and THAT’S EXACTLY THE POINT!

Speed can take a toll on a horse, especially a young one that has little time to develop. After all, many vets say that they aren’t fully developed until age four or five.

And what about the aged horses—those over, say, five?

Just about every single race goes faster than Bret Hanover ever raced…or more.

That takes a toll on horses over the season or two…or three…or more!

The “Seatrains” and “Southwind Amazons” and “Foiled Agains” are freaks and the odds of having one in any barn are a million to one.

I believe that the number of aged horses—the ones that fill racing programs night after night will lessen considerably over time as 1:53 becomes the standard for our “4” claimers.

If we think seven and eight horse fields are short, just wait a few years when they shrink to five and six.

Speed is wonderful and exciting for us to witness…but horse can’t talk.

They can’t say “ouch!” They have to wait until a tragedy happens to really “tell” you how they feel.

Then…it’s too late!

by John Berry, for Harnesslink