Using technology to create more headlines and fans

by John Berry

Back when harness racing was in its infancy, trotting speed records were kept in seconds, half-seconds, and quarter-seconds.

Back in 1853, the untouchable world record for 100 miles was 8:55.33 — eight hours, 55 minutes and 33 seconds. It, of course, hasn’t been eclipsed, and never will, although there are three such attempts still on my books.

Even before that — in 1846 — when the mare Ariel set the world record for 50 miles, that time was measured in half-seconds being 3:55.40½. That’s three hours, 55 minutes and 40½ seconds.

There were also world records on the books at distances of 30 miles, 20 miles, 10 miles, six miles, going down the line to five, four, three, and two miles with the three-mile record of 6:55½ sets in 1893 by the chestnut mare Nightingale with her splits times in 2:22, 2:19, and 2:14½.

As time marched on, in 1894 — when they had races for trotting teams — found was a race timed in quarters-of-a-second as the 4-year-old fillies (yes, they classified a 4-year-old female as a filly back then) as Roseleaf and Sallie Simmons were clocked in 2:15¼.

Our sport, back then, had world records for trotting to wagon, trotting under saddle, three abreast, four-in-hand, and on half-mile tracks, any size track, and on highways, country roads, and village streets.

Places like New York, Philadelphia, and Boston hosted contests that were held on pretty darn good surfaced roads.

Back in 1818, for example, Boston Pony was challenged to trot a mile under 3:00, and he did it, marking one of the earliest of celebrated performances that made the headlines.

And he wasn’t the first one to accomplish that feat.

In 1806, the trotter Yankee — some spell it Yankey — trotted a mile in 2:59 in Harlem, NY, that being the first recorded sub-3:00 mile with historical accounts referring to that mile as the beginning of American chronology.

Eventually, there were also speed records on the books for a-quarter-of-a-mile, a half-mile and, of course, one mile, followed by 14 additional record for odd distances, plus records for the fastest 2-year-old gelding, colt and filly plus the same for 3-year-olds, 4-year-olds, 5-year-olds, green performers.

Also listed were heat races with those performances reflecting first heat winners all the way up to ninth heat winners, that one during the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893, which took three days to complete.

Multiply that by two adding the pacers and you’ve got some very neat headlines, which is what harness racing should be all about to survive.

In fact, the pacers even had a 10-heat race in 1898, with the 4-year-old filly Kitty R winning the fifth, sixth, and 10th heats.

What’s it all mean?

Well, there were well over 200 world records on the books — trotters and pacers, distances from one-quarter mile up to 100 miles, including ages beginning with yearlings and up to age 5, with further records including older geldings, horses, fillies, and mares, some as ancient as 20 years old.

In fact, until the powers-to-be put the age restrictions in place with mandatory retirement when a horse reaches 15 and amateur combatants 16, there were horses racing for purse money in North America as old as 26.

There were records in races and conducted in time-trials, eventually spreading to half-mile ovals.

Headlines! They all got the headlines, something our sport really needs in this era where headlines are few and far between when one veers away from harness racing internet sites.

Gam(bl)ing sites want nothing to do with our grand sport.

It is at its crossroads as we continue to lose our aging fan base to other forms of gambling where one can now bet on “two cock-a-roaches crossing the street,” as described by a longtime BDHC (Broken Down Horseplayers Club) member.

The illegal numbers racket found legality when states decided that they could reap huge rewards by addressing it as the lottery.

The lottery takeout should make most sane gamblers cry and now there are sites popping up all over the place vying for your dollars and bribing you with bonuses that seem too good to be true.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Harness racing needs a good shot of modernizing, getting headlines, and introducing initiatives that entice new players, new blood, new young blood.

We need the cooperation of newspaper and internet sports editors from those papers.

We need to pal up with on-air sports reporters and anchors.

We need headlines.

In my old racetrack days, yes, we did everything in fifths-of-a-second and made a big deal of new records established, even by a fifth-of-a-second.

More than 20-years-ago — Oct. 5, 2005 — there was a 2-year-old trotting gelding by the name of Famous Mark who set a track record for age, sex, and gait, covering the mile in 1:58.1.

I went up to see the timer that night and Eddie looked it up and said, “his actual time is 1:58.256.”

I thought “1:58.256? They can do that these days?”

That’s the ticket to, just maybe, getting an extra headline or two out of this.

Most others didn’t think so, but my crusade was only beginning.

Other examples followed like Delivered From Zin, 1:48.83 in 2011.

The 8-year-old trotting horse Chucaro Ahijuna on Feb. 26, 2005 in 1:53.798.

All I needed was one more track record mile for a headline.

It took nine years to get it.

Tug River Dylan, older trotting horse, March 17, 2014, 1:53.740.

I got some mileage out of it, too, until, a couple of years later, the 6-year-old trotting gelding trotted in 1:52.490, the track record, period.

We have had other close calls at Pompano Park with the track record at 1:48 3/5 by Panocchio and the aforementioned Delivered From Zin stopping the clock at 1:48.830 with Duc Dorleans at 1:48.970.

At 1:49, we had the mare Velocity Vespa at 1:49.030, the gelding Prairie Jaguar at 1:49.040, and the gelding Scott Rocks at 1:49.081.

There are many more split by a hair but, with the prolific number of miles encroaching on the impossible 1:45, the possibility of garnering more headlines as the splits can be in the 1,000’s of a second, not a half second or a quarter second.

The Hambletonian was decided by two one-thousands -of-a-second.

Let’s make something of it!

There’s no disputing the 1:45.4 mile achieved by Bulldog Hanover.

But there are three 1:46 performers — all aged — and doesn’t anybody want to know who is really next?

There are three horses at 1:46.1 — all aged — with the incredible Cambest achieving his mark 33 years ago, and Best Chip just joined that list this past week.

And one of those 1:46.1 performers is the 3-year-old Confederate in 2024.

There are also four in 1:46.2, including the 3-year-old Legendary Hanover.

McWicked and Rockyroad Hanover completing the top 10 — actually top 11.

There are five more at 1:46.3 and at least a dozen more at 1:46.4.

The top speed list consists of all pacers, of course — but, surely, they will change.

There’s a logjam at 1:46.4 with over a dozen hardly remembered these days and they could all have their own glorified list if the latest technology was used splitting horses, gelding, fillies, and mares and times in one one-thousandths-of-a-second.

Racing programs should show final times in the thousandths-of-a-second, as well.

These days, there are races that are decided by as little as one one-thousandths-of-a-second and bettors deserve every edge in their attempt to put their $2, or $20, on a winner.

If a horse is within a half-length of the winner, their race time is shown as the same as the winner: example 2:00 for the winner and 2:00 for the second-place horse one-half length away.

The winner’s time shown as 2:00.00 could put the next horse’s time at 2:00.499.

Our sport is determined, in many instances, by a nose.

We must give the bettor as much information as we can to keep him or her in the game.

Just look at the records in every other major sport: baseball, football, basketball, ice hockey, and soccer.

There are, literally, thousands upon thousands of records that teams disseminate to keep their fans hypnotized to their game.

We must use the technology in our grasp to rebuild confidence in the integrity of our great sport as the current technology is moving at a clip far, far ahead of Bulldog’s 1:45.4 mile.

May The Horse Be With You!