by Frank Cotolo

Part 1 is here.

Part 2 is here.

Part 3 is here.

I was with a woman friend one night at a Los Alamitos harness program in the 1980s. We sat in lower clubhouse seats upside the finish line because I wanted to give her a succinct view during the final moments of every race; to expose all of her senses to each vivacious finish. We were positioned perfectly to clearly hear the pounding hooves and shouting drivers in action. She took in the atmosphere of live harness racing with enthusiasm; winning and losing a few bucks while having a great time through the first few races on the program.

Then a race went into the final turn with a few horses making aggressive moves heading into the stretch. The crowd became boisterous as three trotters challenged for the lead. Behind them two others were rough gaited and the horse driven by Gene Vallandingham began to gallop. Vallandingham put pressure on both lines to work the trotter back on-stride while the rest of the field left him behind and crossed the wire. Vallandingham’s horse struggled a few lengths behind the finishers before the trotter’s front legs gave in.

The sudden jolt sprung Vallandingham from his seat. The crowd gasped and held its breath as the horse dragged the sulky and regained its stance. But all eyes remained upon Vallandingham as he approached landing on the limestone. Before contact he positioned his arms for the impact and to allow his palms to hit the track first.

Then Vallandingham performed what is known by circus acrobats as an inadvertent somersault; a single move with “mistaken grace” that propelled him to springboard from a tumble into a stance. Then he raised both arms like a Broadway musical star as he stood perfectly balanced with an ear-to-ear smile as if he never lost control of the sudden flight.

In the grandstand there was an automatic response. My woman friend stood and applauded along with everyone as Vallandingham froze in triumph while his horse strolled away with the help of grooms. Though the mishap provoked an inquiry there was not one eye in the crowd watching the tote board. The applause continued.

Vallandingham’s entertaining dismount was the main attraction of that race. Fans saw horses breaking and galloping in other races but no one ever saw anything like Vallandingham’s use of mistaken grace.

There was a three-photo composite of a driver catapulting from a sulky during a racing accident in my Harness Horse Youth Foundation’s (HHYF) educational booklet Studying The Standardbred/The Basic Stuff. The chapter, “Monster horses,” impressed the understanding of the driver/horse relationship.

“Drivers’ strategies to position their horses and the drivers’ split-second decisions along the way create [races that have] many dimensions.” A reader learns the horse is a “total athlete… big, strong and durable and at the same time graceful,” when in league with its driver.

Then the booklet drops the issue of gaits. The chapter is titled “They don’t run” and simply explains the standardbreds’ trot and the pace, unique from all equine runners. This leads to some history involving Hambletonian — the founding sire of harness horses — and pacing bloodlines.

The booklet ends with the chapter titled “Now you know, so go” and the reader is asked to return to page one and read the booklet again. “Jot down some questions about things you might not understand or want to know more about. Imagine yourself as a horse’s driver or caretaker or trainer. Think about it all now that you know how cool it all is.”

The simple and honest approach to significant differences of racing in harness to galloping was never — before that booklet — presented with such views. The HHYF text was true to the sport’s dangers and revealed elements the sport tried to hide from prospective fans, that harness racing is restrained and managed within certain bounds. Like a merry-go-round.

Perhaps HHYF can receive fresh financial assistance for a new run of the booklet — analog and virtual — to launch a new campaign for younger generations. I am willing to volunteer my services updating the text of a new booklet. It is time for us veteran standardbred insiders to provide resources by supplying money and talent in an effort to destroy — down to the roots — the failed efforts to attract new fans by using the conservative images of harness racing’s configured and controlled movements. None of that has done anything but perpetuated the image of a sport for old men and laggard scenarios.

Learning smart pari-mutuel wagering practices to create new bettors could be inspired with the new educational material. HHYF can endorse wise and profitable gambling practices. Here I offer the service of my professional betting performances over decades. All pro harness journalists and broadcasters throughout North America should be ready and able to contribute.