by Bob Carson

Editor’s Note: The USTA website is pleased to present freelance writer Bob Carson and his popular “Outside the Box” features. This monthly series is a menu of outlandish proposals presented with a wink — but the purpose behind them is serious. The views contained in this column are that of the author alone, and do not necessarily represent the opinions or views of the United States Trotting Association.

Bob Carson

No doubt, the story that led to the dire straits of harness horse racing in Illinois has both villains and heroes. Who knows what went wrong or who is to blame? If you love our game, the thought of losing a hoof print in a major market is a kick in the gut. Nevertheless, the past is history and today is today.

What to do when it all goes bad? What to do when the flames of harness racing are about to flicker out? How do we keep the lights on? Curling up into a fetal ball is not a plan. We need to find some formulas that do not depend on others. This will not be easy; most things worthwhile are never easy.

I could write a book about what I do not know about harness racing and the chapter on Chicago racing would be especially uninformative. Except for the airport lounge at O’Hare International Airport, I have never set foot in the toddling town. In the decade since I have been paying attention, Chicago harness racing has been like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown, always on the cusp of resurrection. Lately, they appear to be on the eve of destruction.

Good people in struggling harness racing states, people who know what they are doing, have tried valiantly to keep their racing on track. For complex reasons, usually related to money, they have not gotten traction. Perhaps the answers for our struggling venues lie in going backward well over a century, when the sport of harness horse racing was more hobby than business.

My perspective is that of an owner. What I do know are the factors I look for that make it reasonable to scratch my harness itch. When purchasing my annual yearling Standardbred racehorse prospect, two questions dominate my thinking — what are my approximate costs, and what are my reasonable opportunities to race for stakes money in the state program? Dreams of wiggling and jiggling do not seriously factor into my decision, nor do Grand Circuit or overnight racing.

If Illinois could concoct a radical new form that meets my needs, I would buy an Illinois eligible yearling. This new path would be far, far different from the old path. Participants old and new would need to forget many of the aspects normally associated with the sport. Forget about overnight racing, forget about fevered casino dreams, forget about one style of racing, be that pacers or trotters. Forget about gambling and forget about the government racing to the rescue.

Forget about everything except a solid sires stake program that is financed by the participants, the state agricultural sector, breeding farms and, hold your breath, benevolent fellow harness racers. Consider this a very, very rough outline of what Illinois might offer customers like me who enjoy the challenge of buying young trotters to compete against likeminded people.

At Age Two
Four preliminary legs, each with a purse of $25,000
One final with a purse of $150,000
One consolation with a purse of $50,000
Four fairs (purses TBD and supplied by local venue)
(Nine potential race dates)

At Age 3
Seven preliminary legs with a purse of $25,000
One final with a purse of $150,000
One consolation with a purse of $50,000
Four fairs (purses TBD and supplied by local venue)
(12 potential race dates)

At Age 4
Seven preliminary legs with a purse of $25,000
One final with a purse of $150,000
One consolation with a purse of $50,000
Four fairs (purses TBD and supplied by local venue)
(12 potential race dates)

A few wrinkles — if any Illinois bred horses win purse money in another state, they forfeit Illinois eligibility. Each race will have a $500 starting fee. However, horses that finish out of the money will each receive a refund of $100.

Sitting in my seat, this program would be attractive. My costs would be slightly less but the big carrot would be supply and demand. My competition for the sires stake money would be greatly reduced in a private reorganization along these lines.

For example, for the first time, I currently own a New Jersey eligible yearling. To be honest, I took a flyer on a state I do not live in and know nothing about, in the hope that the gambling legislation would pass. Of course, it did not. Still, I am glad to have my New Jersey filly.

Although the stakes money is low in the Garden State and my racing opportunities are somewhat limited, my competition is softer. Instead of competing with hundreds of trotting fillies in a state like New York or Pennsylvania, my fellow New Jersey competitors and I could all meet in a large coffee shop. Playing in a small pool is fun. Our pond may be small, we may lose money, but we all feel like large fish.

Returning to the prototype of the proposed new plan for Illinois that would lure someone like me, we now come to the tricky part, how to pay the purses (because I will not race for trophies or blankets). A private, non-gambling effort to keep racing alive in Illinois will stand on the shoulders of the participants, the state agricultural section, and the breeding farms. Most likely an association of Illinois breeders would operate the program.

Staking would remain similar to what owners normally ante up. Operation expenses for the races would be covered by starting fees. At this point, additional funding would require creativity and cooperation. Some funding could come from the state agricultural section. It is possible that Illinois voters and legislators would be much more receptive to horse farming without the yoke of gambling. Voters look more favorably on farms and green spaces when they feel hard working farmers benefit instead of swindlers running around with satchels of money.

If the program in Illinois is still short of funding (and it probably will be), they could ask fortunate neighbors who have casino fueled programs to kick in a few hundred thousand for the good of the sport. This is the spot where those fortunate enough to have casinos will wail, shriek, moan and writhe on the floor. Here is where the wheels always fall off in our sport.

Yes, it is easy to spend other people’s money. But to states temporarily blessed with casino funding, can you find it in your heart and in your budget to keep a pilot light on in a struggling harness racing state? Will you take a little hit for the team, a team in a state that will not even be competing for your gambling dollars? Think of it like this, if you are doing okay in your business and your brother or sister in another state is almost homeless, tithing one afternoon of your paycheck could greatly help keep them on their feet.

We have to prove that it is possible to have a harness racing pulse without casino subsidies, perhaps even without pari-mutel wagering. This is not unheard of. Once upon a time, harness horse racing operated with participants, rich and poor, who banded together to do what they loved to do, race against each other. In fact, during the years without pari-mutuel wagering, harness racing was the most popular sport in the world.

Harness racing will never stride over all other sports again, but we should start trying to stand on our own feet. After all, a footprint, even a small, private footprint, is a sign of life.