George, sorry for late reply, been offline for a bit. I'm 'supposed' to be doing some next week. Re inventory: I have a farrier supply literally 2 minutes away now... after having to order everything in, it is awesome to be able to restock on an ad hock basis. Re swages: I haven't even seen a swage since being in NZ. Trainers seem to buy the shoes themselves and get the farrier to attach to their specs from what I've seen so far. Buuuut seen very little so far... and as mentioned, I know nothing about harness racing shoeing. So far from what I've seen here, as a starting point, they are using queens plates (as in t'bred racing) on the fronts with lateral trailer trotting shoes (kegs) on hinds. ??? Keen to do more as can only add to my knowledge... but i doubt they are doing things the same as over there.
Smitty, what kind of tracks they race on over there? Clay or Stone Dust? George George dont know for sure but stone dust sounds right the alis were oak bond
WOW!!!! 1:46.4???? I get goose bumps just watching a race. I really need a fix, LOL. Way back when, I do remember 1:55 or so being remarkable. What's happened since then for the speed? Breeding and genetics? (or better shoes ) George, do you follow harness racing?
I typed a reply out before... must've forgot to press send. George, I've done a fair few now, mostly pacers... a couple of trotters, but these just coming in from the paddock. Trainer is happy enough to tell me what he wants and leave me to it, so managing not to cripple anything I guess... had a couple of winners even. Anything doing speed is still EC Queens plates in front and various configurations behind. It's nice following decent farriers though. The T'bred stables I've gotten myself into in this new area are truly depressing; having to correct just diabolical crap shoeing... toes run forward, collapsed heels and cracks freakin' galore I'm enjoying the higher standard of awareness in the harness stables. What has got me excited is that I've managed to talk a trainer into letting me into the sulky for a blat. Looking forward to that.
In what way? The nearest track is about 4 hours away. But worth the trip and staying at a camp ground. Maybe my Dad would go too.
There is just so much more to harness racing and Standardbreds. It's a beautiful thing to watch. Makes flat racing kinda boring.
This is Virginiagravedigger. Said to be a Standardbred. He's doing a speed rack/single foot, and at times will break to a pace. But is doing a 4 beat gait. He goes in keg shoes or barefoot. In this video, I especially like what he does starting at the 3 minute mark. View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DytqyLjJd0A
The last race I went to over here not so long ago was on grass and here's a couple of photos I took on the day: There's a variety of track surfaces though: http://www.bhrc.org.uk/gallery.php The British harness racing record for 1 mile is 53.7 seconds.
Karen In my ill spent youth, me and my drongo mates would go to Gloucester Park in Perth Western Australia on Friday nights, as a couple in our group were drivers. Primarily it was for cheap grog and a more lively atmosphere that the pub... and there was this girl...., but you couldn't help but get hooked into the racing. The best thing was that the field was always close enough to see what is going on, as opposed to the T'bred racetracks in Oz that are generally big enough to be unable to see the field till they rounded the home turn... I can't quite figure out why I never went back after a point in time. There was a horse called Pure Steel at the time. He was always at unbackable odds, but boy was it amazing to watch. The driver could put him in all sorts of bother and to see the horse race his way out of it and win anyway is something I'll never forget.
we tend to race on turf much more than over there. likewise our classic flat races: the derby, st ledger, royal ascot..... all of them ..... are all on grass
