Wot? No trotting fans on 'ere?

krizon

krizon

At the Start
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May 2, 2003
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Or, more correctly, pacing fans? Terrific afternoon's entertainment yesterday from Musselbugs, which staged an all-pacing card. Fascinating stuff - I now know that when the horses line up behind the start car, it's called 'scoring up' (I thought that only happened on 'The Wire'?), that horses drawn 1-6 line up behind the numbers on the fold-back wings of the car, and those from 7 up line up behind them. Also noticed that many of the horses wore only one blinker (to the right, in this case), and that if they break pace at the start (i.e. start to canter off), it's called a false start and they have to re-group.

Nobody Ben Hur'd anyone's sulky, so there were no overturns (not on view, anyway), but the sheer speed of the pacing was fantastic to watch, and it was genuinely thrilling to see some drivers working their way past the wheels of other sulkies to come through in fast finishes. At full tilt, the strange side-to-side, rock and rolling action of the horses disappears and they absolutely float over the ground - action is a really good extension of the leg from a fully-extended shoulder, not high knee or rounded, or very low daisy-cutting.

The feature race of the day was the Musselburgh Pace, founded in 1893, over 1m 3f and worth £15,000. LANESIDE LEXUS, sporting one of the right-side blinkers, won in a thrilling burst by about 6l.

Wolverhampton has staged an all-pacing championship and Kempton Park has also staged sulky races - I've asked the Clerk at Lingfield if we could do them, but so far no luck. Crowds of 5-6000 fans are not unusual, particularly on the Midlands and Northern circuits, so it's pretty well supported and it's definitely something I know I'd enjoy 'in the flesh' if I get the chance.

For details, see http://www.bhrc.org.uk
 
Went to a meeting at Hereford last Summer which I believe was the inaugural harness meeting on a British racecourse, there was quite a crowd, but there again it is popular in Wales.

2008_0712HarnessRacing0035.jpg
 
Thanks for that super pic, DG. It's got to be a huge amount of fun to drive in the races, although you've got to have chameleon-like eyes so as not to link wheels and tip over, I guess. I hope we'll get to see a lot more of it - the horses are cracking, they all look like TBs of a certain stamp, although I haven't checked up to see if there are any crossbreeds or other breeds permitted. Grand fun for families to own such a set-up and run their own horse, too.

There was an encounter between some of the horses arriving at the start of one of the races, and an errant dog - it looked like a very fit white Staffy - bouncing down the track after them. He rushed around between the sulkies but didn't actually look like attacking any of the horses. A few moments of frenzied attempts to catch him, including a spectacular flying tackle, eventually secured him, while his owner came down the course, looking furious. I think his expression might've changed when one of the harness racing fraternity, after wagging a finger at him and presumably having a good old shouting match, then decked him in one! Later scenes showed PCs taking statements. I like that - no messing around - you and your blasted dog - sod off!
 
:lol: Very good! Now you mention it... that would sort out the right pace for the race, wouldn't it?! "And the Yaris, setting off in front, is making the pace for the O'Brien horse, while the VW Golf, slightly wide on the bend there, is marking time for the Oxx entry... "
 
Yes - seen that on the Woodbine trotting races on ATR at night - bit bouncy on the turf, and I can see why some tracks would be highly unsuitable for the sulkies - imagine hurtling round Tattenham Corner, downhill at Cheltnum, or trying to scoot round Chester! But Musselburgh looked relatively flat for their needs. I see they'd pulled out the rails one side of the track, too, presumably to make room for any errant driving!
 
Years ago there used to be a pacing programme on S4C, ''the Welsh channel 4'', I think it was called 'Rasus' (literally races in English). I'm not sure if they still show it as I haven't lived in Wales for a few years now but used to be quite entertaining. If anyone travels down from North West Wales heading towards Chester/Liverpool etc there's a noticable training track on the left hand (coastal) side I forget exactly where abouts but you quite often see them practising.
 
The race they held at Kempton last year was like watching paint dry! No-one overtook anyone else so they pretty much ended up in the same order they started! Nary a penny was traded on the event on course either, despite press reports to the contrary.
 
Yep, I live (to put it as nice as possible) in an area with lots of trotting people. My folks have a training track out the back of their house and 4 baby foals this year. Looking on the site I can never tell which are their horses as trainer is never mentioned, will have to ask Angela.

There was real entertainment at one of the Appleby meetings this year, not on the track however. A guy was set upon by 8 blokes in the betting ring, they happened to be carrying axes and machetes and chased this bloke round the ring, into the beer tent, he tried to jump onto the track but by that time he had a 8inch machete wound in him. Even with him down on the floor they were still attacking him only disappeared when the police turned up, although they did try to block the ambulance taking him to hospital and finish him off!! That is the fraternity for you!! You wonder why I don't go more often :lol:
 
I think you can come out and say 'gypsy' and even 'pikey', girls. I'm not interested in their ethnic background, any more than I am in whether half the South American jockeys in the USA are secret conduits to the Colombian coke cartels. (Well, actually, that might be a tad more interesting, now I think of it.) I just think the sport presents a fun image and that we ought to be able to embrace its spectacle, just as we enjoy seeing rustics running their nags under NH rules in the winter.

Jeez - if anyone ever deluded themselves into thinking the class system in the UK was dead, they only have to read a few racing forums, don't they?
 
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