by John Pawlak, marketing director, USTA

Columbus, OH — A harness racing first was recorded this past Saturday afternoon at the Rochester, N.H. Fair, when three trotters finished on equal terms in race number six.

Triple dead heats have been recorded in the past — 22 have been noted in North America since 1953 — but none have involved trotters, nor had one been recorded at a fair.

Kenneth Bauer’s Bumble B’s Rock (John Nason), Robert Larkin’s T J Taurus (Greg Bowden), and Lisa Watson’s Tropical Kidd K (Wallace Watson) could not be separated by the photo finish in a 2:04.3 mile for non-winners of two races.

Bumble B’s Rock grabbed the lead after the quarter pole was passed, T J Taurus raced in the two hole after having yielded the lead he had held at the quarter pole, and Tropical Kidd K, who raced first-over through the final half-mile, closed quickest of all.

Prior to this past Saturday’s triple dead heat, the most recent such finish came on October 14, 2001, when Eanr Ckelly, Holy Cow Scooter, and Village Crier turned the triple trick at Windsor Raceway.