Why competing overseas offers much more than just a seat in a sulky
May 21, 2008
By Kimberly Rinker
With the current World Cup of Amateur Driving currently taking place in both Chicago and New York, I thought it would be good time to note that organized, international competition does much to foster good will among harness racing advocates.
International competition among horse people offers entrants a glimpse of how folks in foreign lands ply their trade. While their trade is your trade—the differences in the horses, the racing rules, the venues, and the people themselves—all add up to an exhilarating opportunity to broaden one’s mind as well as travel miles.
First, it’s important to note that harness racing is conducted on nearly every continent, from North and South America and Europe, to Africa, Asia, and the Down Under nations. Unlike here in the United States, nearly all countries in Europe—except for Great Britain—race strictly trotters, as is the norm in Russia and Macau. Both New Zealand and Australia feature both gaits, as does South Africa.
Having been stung by the wanderlust bug at a very early age, I never hesitate to travel overseas. My first experience abroad was in 1983, when I worked on a farm in Switzerland. Since then, I’ve traveled abroad frequently—always visiting the local racetracks or training facilities.
Thanks to the good graces of Stan Bergstein, I procured VIP treatment at Sydney’s Harold Park paceway in Australia in 1992, where I met local drivers and trainers. They invited me to observe their training methods, and I spent a day at an ocean-side facility, where we jogged horses on footing similar to our thoroughbred surfaces, after which we swam the horses in the ocean.
In Australia, it’s normal for one person to jog four horses at once. The trainer drives the lead horse, with one horse each tied on either side of the jog cart, and one tied to the back. The horses either trot or gallop alongside the lead horse. The horses seemed to just love the water, and after a 40 minute swim, were allowed to roll on the sandy beach.
In 1995, I represented the USA in the International Drivers Championship in Moscow, Russia. As the only female, I was pitted against 15 male rivals from all over Europe and New Zealand. Canadian Daniel Dube—now a regular at The Meadowlands–was there to defend his title, having won the previous year.
The Moscow Hippodrome—located 15 minutes from the Kremlin and Red Square–is a beautiful facility built 175 years ago. It features four separate tracks, all situated within one another, with the largest being just under 1 and ½ miles in circumference. The racing surface was comprised of a heavy, black soil that was quite deep. The horses really had to dig through it. The starting car was a small mini-van with collapsing wings, and we were told not to get too close to it, as it sometimes “stalls out!”
There were no warm-ups or scoring down in Moscow. You took your horse to the backside, lined up and headed for the gate. Most of the races started cleanly, but few horses were on the gate together. The race times varied from 2:08 to 2:13, for one mile.
While our equipment and horses were not the best, our Russian hosts certainly were. The Russian horsemen make great use of their equipment and horses, and work tirelessly to improve their breeding lines.
Robert Cameron—the New Zealand representative in Russia—and his wife Sandra, invited me to visit their Down Under farm. In January 1996, I flew to Christchurch, where I spent a month at their “Twinkle Lodge,” named for Twinkle Hanover, a pacer Robert campaigned in America in the 1960s.
Twinkle Lodge is a sprawling facility that includes an immaculate 1 and ½ mile training track. Daily, ten horses at a time are exercised behind a large jogging apparatus, then bathed, and turned out in the middle of the racetrack or in one of the many paddocks.
New Zealand’s south island is a harness lover’s dream. Robert allowed me to train a pacer over his track and I watched him teach young trotters how to move quickly forward from a standing start. New Zealand races are contested with a standing start or a mobile gate, over either grass or dirt courses.
That same year I visited Germany’s Gelsenkirchen and Dinslagen raceways, where races are conducted both clockwise and counter clockwise. Gelsenkirchen features tree-lined jogging paths for their trotters, and offers Equisizors, now popular in North America. These are covered, enclosed hot walking machines, which allow horses—ten to 15 at a time–to move freely at regulated speeds and directions in a contained area.
In 2001 I visited “Institut Equestre National Avenches,” in the western region of Switzerland, where I met Fredy Moder, secretary of the F.E.G.E.T., who arranged for me to jog a horse there. This state-of-the-art equestrian facility features hurdle, flat and trotting racing, and offers three main racetracks and four training surfaces.
Harness races were first held in Switzerland in the resort town of St. Moritz in 1906. Today, hordes of up to 30,000 of the rich and famous gather each February to experience St Moritz’s “White Turf.”
With the Alps surrounding them, trotters from throughout Europe compete over the frozen St.Moritzersee. Sleigh runners are substituted for sulky wheels, allowing trotters and their snowsuit clad drivers to glide over the frozen, snow-covered surface.
There are 11 Swiss racetracks, with two—Basel and Avenches—offering all-weather surfaces, while St. Moritz and Arosa are snow tracks, and the remaining are grass. The bigger courses at Avenches, Basel and St. Mortiz have a professional feel to them, while the smaller tracks are akin to American county fairs.
The rules of racing, however, are decidedly different. Horses can only wear one head pole, and Murphy blinds, tongue-ties and line burrs are not allowed. Many horses raced unchecked, and drivers wear colors according to their status (apprentice or experienced).
Most races are conducted without a starting gate, and starts are similar to those in France. Horses walk and circle to a particular point, and when a bell is sounded, they make a quick turn and come together for the start. There is no medication allowed, even Bute or lasix, and the horses tend to be more rugged and heavy in stature, such as those found in Finland or Denmark.
While it’s obvious there are many differences when competing in foreign harness racing venues, overall, all of we crazy people involved in harness racing have much more in common with our overseas horsemen than not. Competing abroad affords one the opportunity to form enduring friendships—and this is indeed the best part of international contests.
