by Dean A. Hoffman

by Dean Hoffman

I’ve seen many international harness racing publications over the years and I always enjoy them.

Admittedly, I couldn’t read Finnish if my life depended on it, but I still like browsing through the Finnish publication. Ditto for Italy. I do slightly better on publications from Sweden, Norway, France, and Germany, but I really only pick up a small percentage of the content.

The publications from Australia and New Zealand are a snap, of course, and recently I was delighted to find a copy of the Harness Racing Calendar come across my desk. It’s the official publication of the British Harness Racing Club.

I had the good fortune to see harness racing in York, England in 2004 while on vacation with my family. It was there I met Gordon Garnett, a surveyor by profession and a horse owner by avocation.

In fact, Gordon sought me out in York and asked, “Do you know John Eades?”

I told him that John was my roomie when I was a freshman in college. John has trained for Hall of Famer John Patterson, Sr. and for Jim Gluhm and Sunbird Stable. It seems that Gordon and John had met in Paris a few years back when they were spectators at the Prix d’Amerique.

Gordon recently reminded me that he was a “commentator” (announcer) at harness races.

“In June, 1978 at the Kendal track, I called five races,” Garnett says, “then got down from the commentary box, jumped on the sulky and brought a horse that I owned and trained home a winner at 10-1 odds. Then I returned to the commentary box and concluded the day’s races.”

Now Gordon serves as chairman of the British Harness Racing Club and it seems anyone in that position should be issued a helmet and bulletproof vest.

Writing in the publication, Gordon tells British Harness Racing Club members: “Some of you know me, some of you don’t. Some of you like me, some of you don’t. I’m not here to be a ‘Popularity Jack’ but to do a job—basically for you.”

It’s lonely at the top. Someone is always taking shots at the top guy. That goes with the territory. I suspect Gordon doesn’t lose any sleep over it at night.

Harness racing in the United Kingdom isn’t on the same level as in France or in the Scandinavian countries, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some die-hard devotees. It’s distinctly subordinate to Thoroughbred racing in the UK and the purses are modest.

Gordon writes about the problems with classification (or handicapping, as he calls it) of horses to make for competitive racing. He also writes about the British Harness Racing Club’s “love-hate” relationship with STAGBI (Standardbred and Trotting Horse Association of Great Britain & Ireland).

I don’t fully understand the issues in that dispute, so I glanced over that to look instead at the advertising, which I found fascinating. Many familiar names popped up on the pages of this thick publication.

Gothic Dream, a Jate Lobell pacer that earned $1.5 million in North America in 1996-97, now stands in Great Britain and is touted as “surely the best stallion ever to stand on British soil.”

In North America, Gothic Dream sired Groovie Day p,4,1:49s ($338,141) and J M Terror p,5,1:50.2s ($343,842).

His stud fee, however, doesn’t match the 750 pounds charged for a foal by Village Connection (Cam Fella), a winner of more than $1.6 million on the track here.

Certainly one of the most popular stallions in Britain is Coalford Laag p,3,1:52.3s (Laag-Clairichatross-Niatross). Some of his foals have come across the Atlantic to race, including Meadowbranch Giglo, a winner in 1:53.2f at Kawartha Downs. She is trained by Doug Brown, who also raced her sire when he raced in North America.

Coalford Laag stands for a stud fee of 500 pound sterling or about US$960.

The young stallion Bear Dance p,1:52.1s ($498,802) also commands a 500-pound stud fee, too. He’s a son of Presidential Ball from the top mare Town Sweetheart, who is also the dam of Northern Luck.

Hasty Hall, a son of Jenna’s Beach Boy, is the sire of the brilliant British pacer Rhyd’s Hallstar, a star last year as a 3-year-old and perhaps a future superstar. Hasty Hall stands for 450 pounds sterling.

I also saw ads for Daylon Alert (Camluck), House Of Cards (Dragon’s Lair), Backnthesaddleapan (Western Hanover), Nito (Laag), Hogan’s Heroes (Big Towner), and others.

I was surprised to see that Dream Work (Artsplace-In Your Dreams-Big Towner) was standing in Great Britain. He was a graduate of the Bob McIntosh stable. I recall seeing him come from way back to snare second behind stablemate Richess Hanover in the ’99 Wilson and then I saw him take his 1:50.2 mark at the Big M the next year.

Dream Work stood for six seasons in Indiana before traveling across the Atlantic.

There were even several ads for “coloured” horses, which we would call paint or pinto horses. One of them was sired by Today’s Man (Abercrombie-Silk Stockings).

While racing in the UK is predominantly pacing, I did see ads for Guvo De Bloomerd, a Dutch-bred son of Lola’s Express (Lindy’s Pride). There was also a striking photo of the stallion Heavens Son, a grey German-bred. He stands for 250 pounds sterling or just less than US$500.

If you’re ever traveling in Great Britain on business or pleasure, you might want to take in a day or night at the races. You can get more information from the British Harness Racing Club by accessing its web site at www.bhrc.org.uk.