Harness Racing Terminology

Inside the jargon

At Temora Trotting Club we love Harness Racing. As with any sport there are a lot of terminologies used during training and race meetings. To give you a better understanding of different harness racing terminologies, we’ve put this list together with photos and explanations.

Standardbred

The Standardbred is widely known as a placid and willing horse as well as being very athletic – similar to the Thoroughbred but generally with stronger, shorter legs, a longer body and more sloped shoulder.

The average height of a Standardbred is 15.1hh and can be almost any colour, although bay, brown and black are predominant. It weighs between 800 and 1000 pounds.

There is little variation between trotters and pacers, with both having durable hooves, a slightly arched, muscular neck and medium-long barrel.

While not permitted in racing, the Standardbred will canter and gallop as any other breed, though many will free-leg pace (lateral gait, without hopples) in addition to the usual four gaits.

Rotter/Squaregaiter

The natural gait of the Standardbred. A trotter is a horse which moves its left front and right rear legs forward almost simultaneously, then follows suit with the right front and left rear leg in a diagonal motion.

Driver

The person steering the horse in harness racing is called a driver, not a jockey. There are no weight or gender restrictions in harness racing. The minimum age at which drivers are licensed is 16, whilst there is no maximum age limit.

The Persuader

The whip that drivers are permitted to carry in races is often referred to as the persuader, as that is its intended use.

SULKY/CART/BIKE

The correct term for the ‘cart’ carrying the driver. It is not a reference to the emotional state of a beaten trainer/driver! The average weight of a sulky is 30 kgs and many feature high-tech carbon fibre wheels.

RUNNING LINE

Horses racing two wide are deemed to be in the “running line”. It is a favour-able position because the driver can decide when to make his move, unlike the horses that are trapped on the pegs

PULL THE PLUGS/DEAFENERS

Earplugs or deafeners are used to block out sounds from a horse. When the driver "pulls the plugs", more often than not in the concluding stages of a race, the horse can instantly hear noises and will often finish strongly.

BROKE/GALLOPED

When a horse ‘breaks stride’, it stops pacing or trotting and starts galloping. This is forbidden in a race and drivers must ease their horse back into a pace or trot before continuing to race.

THE DEATH SEAT/DEATH CHAIR

The position outside the leader, so named because it often brings the undoing of the horse’s chances. You have to be tough and an above-average performer to win from ‘the death’. Some good drivers actually prefer this position as they are able to dictate the speed of the race from here.

HOPPLESS

Leather straps connecting front and rear legs on the same side of the horse to help it ‘pace’ correctly. The size of the hopples is dictated by the length of a horse’s stride. The average length is around 57-58”. Hopples are only worn by pacers, although some trotters wear half hopples on their front legs only.

THE PEGS

Rubber marker pegs are used on the inside of the track replacing what used to be a running rail. A horse racing on the inside is never 'on the fence’, it is 'on the pegs’.

THREE WIDE

Refers to horses three off the pegs. Horses travelling three-wide are forced to cover extra ground than those closer to the pegs, so drivers back in the field wait until the last 1000m before making their runs “three-wide” to get into the contest.

SECTIONAL TIMES - MILE RATE

The measuring stick of a horse’s ability. It is the time the winner of the race would have covered one mile (1609m) is based on the total time it took them to complete the distance of a race. A good mile rate is considered to be anything better than 2 minutes. The world race record is 1min 47.6sec! On average pacers post a mile rate 3-4 seconds faster than trotters for a race of the same distance.

SECTIONAL TIMES - LAST HALF AND LAST QUARTER

The final 800m and 400m respectively of the race. Used by punters to assess a horse’s performance. On average a horse will run its last half in 58-59 seconds and it’s last quarter in 28-29 seconds. Elite horses can cover their last half mile in 55 seconds and their last quarter in 27 seconds.

These sectional times can be seen displayed on the semaphore board, along with the lead time, the overall race time and the mile rate.

MOBILE START

A race where horses score up behind a vehicle with two protruding arms. The mobile is travelling at approximately 45kmh upon release.

SECTIONAL TIMES - LEAD TIME

The time it takes the leader to reach a point one mile from the finish. A quick lead time will often aid horses at the rear of the field, whilst a slow lead time assists the front-runners.

STEWARD

There are rules in harness racing that drivers in races must adhere to. These rules are enforced by stewards who are employed by HRNSW.

At Temora Trotting Club we usually have two stewards working at our races. One of them is watching the race from the judges box and the other from the tower in the back straight. This is one of them, Mr Phil Frost, making some notes after checking on the place getters following the running of a race.