Worlds apart

by Trey Nosrac

Harness racing is unique because almost everyone participates. Unlike a fan of Alabama football, who passionately watches a dozen games each season, people in harness racing don’t just watch — they do things. They buy horses, sell horses, wager, train, study catalogs, scroll auction boards, read racing programs, worry about purses, and take part in a multitude of activities that make up the sport. The ability for our participants to be actively involved with beautiful animals in the fresh air is an asset that may become even more valuable in the future.

Here is a true vignette that illustrates just how diverse our game really is.

An acquaintance named Davy and I have been in the harness racing world for about the same length of time. However, we come from very different worlds — so different, in fact, that the other person may as well be a devotee of Quidditch. Our racing paths never cross.

Consider this: Davy only races horses that are 4 years old and older, and he may keep racing them until they are 14. I race horses at 2 and 3. He races pacers, while I race trotters. He grinds his horses through overnight races every week, all winter long, in the northern cold. My interest in racing goes dormant after the hammer falls on the last yearling in the November sale. Davy has never been to a yearling sale. This year, his horses will go to the post 30 times or more, while my 2-year-olds, if we are lucky, may race eight times. My big thrill this winter might be visiting a foal on a farm, while he may be thrilled winning a $10,000 claimer in a snowstorm. Breeding, broodmares, and sires fascinate me, but they do not interest Davy in the least.

Neither of us does much wagering. Neither of us pays much attention to the national scene or the Grand Circuit. Davy and I each understand our own small segment of the sport, and we are perfectly comfortable living there.

My world of racing is more expensive and carries a higher risk, but also the possibility of a higher reward. Davy’s side is less expensive, more predictable. Nobody is right, and nobody is wrong. We simply gravitated to different harness racing tribes.

And there are many more tribes than just Davy and me.

We have overnight players, major-stakes players, and state-program players. We have breeders, owners, trainers, and gamblers of every size. We have people who love the farm, people who love the grandstand, and people who love the sales ring. We even have people who cannot gamble for religious reasons but still love the sport. Harness racing has always been a place where all of these worlds could exist at the same time.

For many years, that was not a problem. The sport managed to be a big tent, and most of us found a corner where we were comfortable. But we may be reaching the point where the game can no longer be all things to all people.

One thing most of us feel, whether we want to admit it or not, is that the future of the sport is not secure. Changes will be required. If we try to build a system that works for everyone, we may end up with one that works for no one. If we refuse to make choices, the choices may be made for us.

So, here is a tricky question. If you were asked to help steer the good ship harness racing away from the shoals ahead, where would you point the bow?

Toward my pal Davy, with overnight racing, claiming races, and a gambling-driven product that must run week after week to survive?

Or toward people like me, of all stakes racing, yearling sales, and a model built on ownership, farms, and long-term investment?

It is easy to give the polite answer and say we need to help everyone, but every sport eventually decides what it will be. At some point, the sport has to survive on its own terms.

My own thoughts lean toward a fresh start in new territory — a smaller, more controlled, private, stakes-driven world that does not depend on nightly gambling or casino revenue. Many of these ideas come from working in other sports and in entertainment that survived upheaval to find new ways to play and new economic models to support them.

Davy may see the future differently, and he might be right.

The future of harness racing may depend on deciding which parts should be saved, and then finding people with the courage to build around them. You probably understand the sport as well as, or better than, I do.

Looking into the future and creating business plans is free and fun. Which lines would you tug on in search for greener pastures?