Horse Tales
Harness Racing Enjoys Popularity in State of Michigan
by Candice C. Dunnigan

This past week, I was off to the Jackson Harness Racetrack, to take part in "Wacky Wednesdays," all part of the Michigan Harness Racetracks promotions. The Michigan Harness Horsemen's Association promises "all the action you could ask for," and they're right. It's a lot of fun. Michigan has seven legitimate and stateregulated horse racing tracks, and harness racing is our state's biggest equine draw.

These tracks include Hazel Park, Northville Downs, Saginaw Harness, Sports Creek, Great Lakes Downs (Thoroughbred racing), and Mount Pleasant Meadows (mixed racing, Arabians, and Quarter horses). A new Thoroughbred track is being constructed in southeast Michigan, in Wayne County. Our fellow Grass Lake residents, the Allen family, are the major force behind it, and they're quite committed to the sport and their own race horses. Horse racing in Michigan is still a big business, and in these tough times, the tracks can offer a family outing costing very little; hot dogs, for instance, still only cost $1.

Even if a person doesn't bet, and you like horses, a trip to the track can be worthwhile. Racing is an American tradition. Did you know that the horse Paul Revere rode into history while carrying his lantern was a Narragansett Pacer? This was a breed said to have originated in Rhode Island. They were small, sturdy, fasttrotting horses, similar in many ways to a Tennessee Walker. They were racing in the colonies years before the Revolution.

Horse racing in the States began early in the 1800s. Our American Standardbred is the breed used in American Harness Racing. These horses were infused from the breeding of Thoroughbreds (most importantly, a sire called Messenger) as well as Morgans and Narragansett Pacers.

A pacer, in racing terms, is a horse that races at a controlled two-beat lateral gait. The horse's both left legs, front and back, move together, then the legs of the horse's right side move in unison.

A racing trotter is a horse that races at a controlled twobeat horizontal gait. This would be where the left front and right rear legs move forward. The next pair would be the simultaneous movement of the right front and the left rear.

In harness racing, some horses run with hobbles (worn by pacers) to help them stay on stride at high speed in the turns. Horses that race without hobbles are said to be running free-legged.

In the 1890s a small horse farm outside of Kalamazoo bred a very famous harness horse named "Peter the Great." He was a grandson of the famed Hambeltonian (by Messenger). Peter the Great was known across the United States for his winning pace-setting records.

In those days, harness race carts were lightweight wooden affairs with high wooden wheels. They were called sulkies. A new racing buggy, or contraption, as it was called, appeared that year at the races in Detroit. At that Michigan State Fair, a driver named "Pop Geer" agreed to race in a sulky with a smaller bicycle tire on it. His improved performance was so great that every highwheeled race cart was retired from service within a few months. Harness racing as we know it today was born, and it began here in Michigan. All harness races continue to be at least a half mile, upwards to a mile, run on the track.

Today more than two million people in our state attend the races. The season is a long one. Most tracks open in April, and continue through August. Hazel Park, Muskegon, and Jackson run until October. Sports Creek, in Swartz Creek, is the only winter track. It races from January until April. More than 80% of the money wagered on the tracks goes back to the fans. The state government takes some of the money wagered for highway and agricultural premiums.

The win, place, show type of betting is called pari-mutual wagering. The winnings come not from the track, but the money wagered by all of the bettors. The more people bet on one horse (the favorite) and he wins, then the less he will pay out. Place money is if a horse finishes first or second, while "show" means he was first, second, or third in the race. More complicated and fun bets can be daily doubles (picking the winners of the first and second races), perfectas, trifectas, and superfectas.

So, how did I do at the races? Good enough that I'm game to go back. I also saw a lot of really great horses. My family and friends reminded me, though, that even the ones that lost might be a little too fast for the Island.

Candice Dunnigan is an active member of the American Equestrian Association, the Waterloo Hunt, and the Mackinac Horsemen's Association. Seasonally she resides at Easterly Cottage.