Today, many of the news headlines surrounding harness racing revolve around slot machines and VLTs. Can the sport survive without them? Will the parameters of current deals change? And will the sport be self-sufficient when the dust settles?
I recently spent some time scanning through the archives of some of North America’s top newspapers and found a similar debate taking place in the 1950s and 60s. Then, of course, it wasn’t slots or simulcasting that was the great saviour for harness racing – it was night racing.
Across North America, the lights went on and tracks saw attendance and wagering figures go through the roof. Not surprisingly, harness racing’s ability to generate an after-work and evening crowd allowed the sport the ability to flourish and grow.
A New York Times article on October 25, 1953 called harness racing “the fastest growing sport in the United States.” It stated that New York track crowds were up 34 times over 1940 and mutual betting was up 132-fold.
For decades the nights belonged to us – trotters and pacers, racebikes and drivers.
Many of us wondered where thoroughbred bettors got their bankrolls when half their workday was occupied betting the ponies. But that was their worry, not ours. When six o’clock rolled around, the runners were tucked away for the night and it was harness racing’s time to shine.
When simulcasting came to the track, the evenings once again were monopolized by standardbreds. Virtually no major thoroughbred racing meets took place after dark – in fact, many tracks either never bothered to install lighting systems or had a longstanding legislative hurdle standing in the way of ever trying a night card.
But as fewer and fewer people recall the heated debates over night racing that took place 50 years ago, the harness racing industry seems unphased by the clear and present danger before us today.
On June 19, for the first time in their 135-year history, Churchill Downs experimented with night racing. The Friday night trial drew more than 28,000 people and was such a huge success that the track was caught completely off-guard, totally unprepared for the crowd.
Over the following two weeks, Churchill repeated the experiment twice, in total drawing more than 80,000 people for relatively average cards of racing. The final date, a Thursday night, set the track’s all-time attendance record for a non Kentucky Derby or Oaks racecard.
Suffice to say, Churchill is now looking at replacing the temporary lights with permanent ones.
In Florida, the experiment also drew attention as the government recently tabled a bill that would, for the first time, allow thoroughbred tracks Calder and Gulfstream the ability to race at night. In New York, officials are also paying attention, with comments about the potential of night racing making its way to the state’s tracks.
So what does it mean?
To put it bluntly, harness racing has a tough time competing with thoroughbred product for betting dollars. Even relatively poor quality racing products like Mountaineer Racetrack often turn over more in one $5,000 claiming race than many of our tracks do over an entire card.
Even the Little Brown Jug and Hambletonian, both held in the afternoon, struggle for airtime on horse racing channels over non-descript thoroughbred races. Where betting dollars matter, harness racing often takes a back seat.
Like common pool wagering before it, thoroughbred night racing is on its way and may lead to fewer eyeballs watching and betting on the standardbred product.
Is harness racing ready for another external challenge? I have my doubts.