Hambletonian this week - any harness racing fans out there?

Used to really love harness racing in the 1980s, following it, going to the Big M and Yonkers, Stan Bergstein and Spencer Ross on Channel 9 on Sat nights were classic, they are both such fine commentators and a pleasure to listen to. The sport really was enjoyable, the Cane Pace, Meadowlands Pace, Yonkers Trot. Then kind of lost interest in it during college but went back to it last year for the first time in ages and re-found the love for the sport again. Big crowds still come out for the Hambo though the rest of the season isn't drawing nearly like it used to. It's a nice sport and a lot more entertaining to watch races and gamble then playing slots or blackjack at the casinos. Anybody else appreciate the sport of harness racing?

Here is a recent interview I did with the Hall of Fame driver Michel "Mike" Lachance, one of the greats of the sport and a Hall of Famer...

http://thebiofile.com/2011/08/biofile-with-mike-lachance/

 

I loved Harness racing in the 60s, 70s and 80s. I spent many evenings at Brandywine Raceway (RIP) outside Wilmington, DE. I also traveled around to see races like the Little Brown Jug in Wherever, Ohio and down to Lexington for the Big Red Mile and up to NYC to visit Yonkers and Roosevelt Raceway (also RIP). Affernoon racing at Freehold (NJ) always allowed for a "double -dip" racing event...

By the early 80s, trying to catch a price on a race with real open betting interests dwindled to about one race a night and I found other things to do with my spare time and my discretionary $$$.

The Hambo - - and a few other top-shelf races - - would be enough to get me out to the track these days but with nothing like the enthusiasm I had 30 - 40 years ago.

 

It's all about the staredown.

 

This is perfect.

 

Painfully hilarious. Well-played.

 

Nice.

And here's their entrance music:

 

Once again, SportsJournalists.com does not disappoint ...

 

Mr. Bio meets Mr. Ed.....

Ed was foolishly disrespectful to our cheery correspondent, who called upon his knuckles to lay the bio-smackdown.

 

: )

Jack E. Lee, Bullet Bob Meyer, Carmine Abbattielo, some great characters in this sport.

 

PC hit that fucking thing so far there should have been a flight attendant on it.

I can't wait for our man mrbio to tell us which of this year's Hambo contenders would have wiped the floor with Dan Patch or Niatross or Super Bowl or whomever and how the sport has passed all those old-time greats by.

Anyway, my brother has a part-time job with Standardbred Canada so I might get out to the trots at Woodbine or Mohawk once a year or so. Certainly a great way to spend a summer evening.

Problem with harness racing is if you have seen one race you have seen them all. Used to love to go to a lot of the smaller tracks outside the Toronto area (largely gone now) where the racing was so rigged it would make Vince McMahon blush. But as the old man, a degenerate gambler if I ever knew one, used to say, "Who cares if it's fixed, there has to be a winner!"

 

They've had harness racing for years at Mississippi's infamous Neshoba County Fair and you can even make bets up near the rail, but I know almost nothing about this sport's history.
I'll bet it in the sportsbooks at Vegas along with most anything else they are touting there.
Still, I know little about the staking and race schedules that make up the Hambletonian. It seems like a big deal to a lot of people, though, and I think being on-site would be enjoyable.

 

Post positions and racing "luck"/driver strategy applied within the flow of a race mean far too much, and not always in a good way. Outside of the major events (the Hambo, et al), it's difficult to take seriously, at this point in time. Yonkers, which used to be a thriving center, handles virtually nothing now, and is a going concern only because of the slots. And I remember when Roosevelt Raceway drew in the tens of thousands for big events . . . but was levelled, long ago. Freehold draws flies. The game's a dead man, walking.