by Ellen Harvey, Harness Racing Communications

Freehold, NJ — In a little over two weeks since the debut of the USTA’s online entry system, which allows trainers to enter a horse 24 hours a day from a smart phone or computer, there are 200 trainers regularly using the free option.

“Over 3,000 horses have been entered online since the system became operational earlier this month,” said TC Lane, USTA director of registry and member services. “There are 15 tracks using the system and more are coming on every day, including county fairs.

“This is a free service for our members and tracks. It allows for checking condition sheets and eligibility, assigning or changing a driver — everything you could only do in the past by calling the race office. This is an option that will save trainers and race offices an enormous amount of time and provides a great deal of convenience as well.”

The system is easy to use and requires no special computer skills. For more information and a demonstration of how the system works, click here.