Harness racing may never have its own Saratoga, but with a real Grand Circuit in Mohawk, it could have something.
by Dean Towers
Like many racing fans and bettors, I watched and bet on the annual Saratoga summer meet.
It really is a meeting that has it all. Top trainers, riders and horses descend on upstate New York in July and put on quite a show through early September. Even with a meet, some calls have been watered down – they increased the number of race days years ago – it still stands, with stakes running almost every day, and big bettors salivating.
The New York Racing Association does it right too, with races shown on Fox Sports and a plethora of great news and promotions through their various social media feeds. You can’t meet a bettor or racing fan who hasn’t listened to a podcast, read a training report or a travel note; one who isn’t ready for the early and late Pick 5s every day.
When we move on to harness racing, there has never been a similar event for any period of time. You could say that the Red Mile Fall Meet is the closest comparison we have to the Spa, and that’s probably accurate. It is a wonderful meeting that we all appreciate. But the signal doesn’t have the same gravity with bettors, and the size of the pool isn’t on par with the biggest in the sport.
I always thought there was an obvious choice for the bigger harness racing scene, like Saratoga for runners, and that’s Woodbine Mohawk Park.
As we all know, once the Meadowlands is over, stake races return to various venues, but Mohawk is the most awesome month of August (and early September), with races such as the Metro, the Canadian Pacing Derby and the Canadian Trotting Classic. But, in all honesty, does it feel special to you? does it have gravity?
Despite those great racing series, I don’t think that was ever the case.
Much of the stakes racing is spread out, and a Thursday card in August looks like a Thursday card in April. The best pilots and trainers go to the places of the big events, yes, but they go in and out like Leonardo DiCaprio in Cannes.
I wonder if it’s possible – and people like John Campbell, who’s been dealing with this for years, would certainly have a lot more insight than me – to turn this into a real Grand Circuit encounter.
This would create a meeting where the best coaches and drivers compete in a stakes race almost every night; one where, from Thursday to Sunday, the best horses, drivers and trainers compete on the same site with all eyes riveted on it. A meeting where people bet in $150,000 Pick 5 pools, mandatory payout super high fives, watching on TVG, all with the backing of Woodbine’s powerful promotional and global betting signaling machine.
Such a meeting would require some planning (and reshuffling of schedules), but Woodbine has been more than a game of trying new ones.
things, witnessing how they turned a great gem like the Queen’s Plate into a huge hit over
to 20 years ago. Participants will surely appreciate,
because running for big bucks pays the bills, and doing it at a world-class venue like Mohawk doesn’t hurt. Likewise, the wonderful Grand Circuit is what harness racing is all about, and has been for almost a century, and anything that can give it a boost is good for the game.
Huge pools to bet on, big horses and top riders and trainers to watch for three or four straight weeks, all in a beautiful harness racing setting outside of one of the biggest cities in the world. world ?
No, it’s not Saratoga and never will be, but for us harness fans, it could be pretty darn close.