An article in Thursday's edition of The Herald-Record recaps Monticello Raceway's Battle of the Rising Stars. Instead of looking solely at the well-run event, the piece also shined the light on one of the most glaring problems modern-day standardbred racing is facing.
Drivers Jason Bartlett and Jordan Stratton slugged it out in the 'Battle,' with the former defeating the latter 106 to 85 in an event quarterbacked by John Manzi -- well-known Monticello PR man -- and the raceway.
In industry terms, the event was a success, drawing attention and interest. Although, The Herald-Record piece states just that: it was an industry success.
"You either are a serious harness-racing fan or you pay it no mind," an excerpt of The Herald-Record article states.
Another excerpt from the piece appears below.
"Television shapes interests by bombarding us with major sporting events. There is so much to watch, so much to do and so little time, leaving '60s giants such as harness racing and boxing in the deep background.
"Harness racing suffers from the lack of a rooting interest. Horses grab our attention one moment and disappear the next, retired early to make connections rich through stud fees. Hambletonian winner Deweycheatumnhowe, a 3-year-old cultivated right in our backyard, will race for the final time later this month.
"So it seems to me that the face of harness racing needs to be human. Through no fault of Bartlett and Stratton, Monticello's battle of the rising stars could have gone by a different name:
"Battle of the anonymous stars."
To read The Herald-Record article in its entirety, click here.
(With files from The Herald-Record)
Some very strong points were
Some very strong points were made in the article , that being said for some year's now Truro Raceway has held the Young Guns event and I belive the very first Pari Mutual event in Canada with age restrictions on drivers to ever be held. That being said we have our on rising star's in Atlantic Canada with Greg Bailey, Marc Campbell and Ryan Campbell and many more those are just some of the past drivers that have participated in the event. In Truro the event is well supported in local media and from fellow horseman.
That all being said Standardbred Canada will post an article that covers a event in the US , and in the article it cover's media exposure , but when the event is held in Truro I have emailed pictures the winner and even biographys on the drivers and have never seen it on this webpage or even for that matter have my emails even been answered which I must ask why this event was covered when Standardbred Canada is part of the problem by not covering Canadian future stars driving events. With all due respect their is people out their trying to keep this great sport going but it is hard when our very own Standardbred Canada does not deem anything at smaller tracks important.