Uncoupling Horses and Teaming

feeds@kickapps.com (Pacingguy) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:14:41 GMT

There is a big controversy down under regarding the alleged teaming of an uncoupled entry to cause Auckland Reactor to lose and help another stablemate attempt to win the race. The questions are:

With more racing jurisdictions uncoupling horses to increase betting interest (most of the time stake races; though it happens a lot in overnight races in California) are we running a risk of a similar situation occurring here in the States?
Do you think...

Cheers to...

feeds@kickapps.com (fletchowski) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:07:59 GMT

Horses like Shark Gesture and Dreamfair Eternal who go against current trends by racing like they used to---nearly 30 times in a year at the top levels of this sport. I was introduced into this sport at a time when it was considered a sign of weakness if a top level horse of 3 or older could not compete in at least 25 races per year...when heat racing proved both a horse and trainer...and quite possibly Goalie Jeff was one of the true iron horses of his generation. In one month he competed...

Racing Dates - Too Many?

feeds@kickapps.com (Pacingguy) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:41:23 GMT

The Ontario Racing Commission this year has a moratorium regarding cutting race dates for the 2010 season. They are now in the process of forming a group to come up with a strategy for allocating race dates in future years. They have made it clear that the status quo is unacceptable.

Here is a link where the ORC requests opinions of track operators, horsemen, and breeders.

Claim Game

feeds@kickapps.com (Lastontothelead) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:04:12 GMT

Fellow spherester David Seigel, President of Trackmaster, has a few questions about the nuances of the "claim game" he would like answered. When you think about it, the claiming races are some of the best races we have to offer from a competitive standpoint. I doesn't matter what class although I do prefer the higher classes for obvious reasons. I've heard and read that this is the best way to get into the business of owning a horse....

Retired Standardbred adoption

feeds@kickapps.com (LuvsAHandDrive) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:34:34 GMT

Couple questions. The reason for the questions, a guy who works on a lot of my jobs doing stucco is a horse owner, he rides them for pleasure. This guy is a real class act and in my opinion would give love, proper care, and a perfect home for a retired standardbred.

He is currently looking to add a couple horses to him farm.
-1st is it hard to convert them from the sulky to the saddle?
-2nd are they well mannered under saddle and willing to walk a a slow pace...

Finding a horse that is no longer racing.

feeds@kickapps.com (Victoria224) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:05:28 GMT

i have a horse i just got off my uncle, i would love to see if he has raced, i found his basic information. just not his race info. his names cheech (R78429)

Economics 101

feeds@kickapps.com (moreofless) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:24:39 GMT

Under another topic I posted about Santanna Blue Chip as an example of a horse that did not race after three. I did a little research and discovered his stud fee is $4,000 and served 140 mares. If you do the math, that is $560,000 without the risk and cost of racing. Would he have earned that much if he had raced this year? If you do the math for a horse with a higher stud fee, it becomes more difficult to imagine the horse earning more money by racing at four and beyond.

Getting...

Ask Frank! Win free stuff!

feeds@kickapps.com (ExEd) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:46:25 GMT

If you've got a question for top trainer Frank M. Antonacci Hoof Beats wants to hear from you! We are now accepting questions for our Star Spotlight feature on Frank which will appear in the January 2010 issue of the magazine. The deadline is Nov. 15 and you can submit your questions to spotlight@ustrotting.com.

Participants will also be eligible to win a free Hoof Beats T-shirt.

Good luck!

Automatic e-mail notification

feeds@kickapps.com (redbowtie) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:34:28 GMT

Does anyone know of a link that will automatically email you when a particular horse is entered in any given race? Pathway has "in to go" but its not automatic. I think they have them for thoroughbreds but I cant find one for standardbreds. Any help would be appreciated.

Joint Promotion

feeds@kickapps.com (Pacingguy) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:38:59 GMT

Horse racing in general missed a great opportunity to promote the industry over these past three weekends. Two weekends ago we had our Breeders Crown races; last week the quarter horses had their championship series; this week the runners have their Breeders Cup races. What if we had jointly promoted these events as part of "America's Championship Season"?

Yes, each breed needs to look out for themselves, but we are all part of the horse racing industry and face...

Your weekend moderator

feeds@kickapps.com (AwesomeAutumn) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:51:21 GMT

Hey spheresters! I'm your moderator this weekend.

Armbro Animate retired

feeds@kickapps.com (thefastest1) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:54:58 GMT

Armbro Animate, a nine yearold veteran pacer has been retired from racing. With well over 200 lifetime starts and over one million dollars earned he can can be truly considered a warrior in the sport of harness racing. Recently claimed by VIP Internet Stable for 50k Armbro made a break pushing off the gate in only his second start for the new owners. Shortly following that break a bone chip was discovered in his sesamoid bone that was determined to be inoperable by two separate surgeons due...

Walter Case Jr Probation

feeds@kickapps.com (cruisers00) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:57:25 GMT

Is anyone knows when Walter's probation ends?

Justin Hall Update

feeds@kickapps.com (Lastontothelead) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:02:31 GMT

Great news coming out of Columbus. Justin Hall is making stead progress from the terrible accident that happened over two months ago. Details are coming out about a benefit raffle, keep getting better Justin, our thoughts are with you:

"Big Dee's Harness is in the midst of conducting a benefit raffle for Hall at the Standardbred Horse Sale in Harrisburg, Pa., through Nov. 7, and will do the same at the...

Google ads on Harnessphere

feeds@kickapps.com (USTrotting) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:24:24 GMT

Hello,
As some of you may notice, most of Harnessphere's ads are Google ads. The Google ads are put in place by KickApps, the company who created and currently runs the software platform that Harnessphere and other social media websites are built with, which means we can't control what Google ads appear. Any Google ads that appear on Harnessphere are not placed, controlled, or endorsed by the United States Trotting Association. Any and all revenue made from the Google ads...

Hopfully no Excuses

feeds@kickapps.com (thejtr128) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:48:19 GMT

I know most posters here ( and about 5 dominate the board) excuse the tracks, management, drives, trainers, owners and vets for almost anything (and when you love something - that is a natural reaction), but I have a very simple question. When a race has an inquiry, way do have to wait like a non-participant while the judges watch film over and over again. THERE IS NO COST (the big excuse for everything), to showing all of the judges video feed (live, over and over) to me as they watch it ?...

Kendal's Quest - Spartan Chariot

feeds@kickapps.com (Crystal) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:12:00 GMT

Just another example of how versatile the Standardbred horse is! I had the pleasure of attending and walking in MSU homecoming parade with my former professor Brian Nielsen and Kendal's Quest. What great PR for the breed! Look for more updates and we are hoping the chariot takes on a greater role at MSU. It was great for people to come up and pet Kendal (known on campus as Sparticus) and then tell them how he is a former racehorse that made $446,000 on the track. They are so amazed at...

amazing mile

feeds@kickapps.com (bigdog63) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:45:52 GMT

Did anyone else see the 13th race from Indiana downs Friday night?
nw2/8 claimer.
The 8 horse Hawks Cooperstone broke out of the gate. but caught the end of the field before the turn.
Pulled from last but got horriblr cover. Was still last by 11 1/2 at the half. Andy Shetler pulled 3 wide going into the turn. Circled the field on the turn. Was 4 wide taking the lead coming out of turn and won by an easy length.
Last half was covered in 58.1 He paced it in 56 flat 3-4 wide...

Edits and etiquette on the sphere...

feeds@kickapps.com (USTrotting) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:09:07 GMT

Greetings Spheresters!

This is Jason your moderator for this weekend. I had to make a few edits on some posts yesterday and so I just wanted to take this opportunity to remind you that although we, as a community, value your participation and thoughts, please refrain from name calling and perpetuating disparaging rumors.

We want this to be a place where everyone feels comfortable, safe and can talk openly and freely about harness racing. For more on this please check out...

Do We Need A "Super" Track?

feeds@kickapps.com (Lastontothelead) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:43:40 GMT

Thanks to a regular poster here in the Sphere, he planted the seed for this thread. This is a serious "what if" question, does our sport need a "super track" to survive? Of course I am thinking if the current "super" track, the Meadowlands, goes belly up, how will that effect us as a sport? What track is in a position to take the lead and be the track that everyone will flock to if the above situation does happen? Yonkers,...

General Discussion