Harness Racing - USTA Racing (2024)

Tutorial

The U.S. Trotting Association online home for race entries and results, racing.ustrotting.com, offers many powerful features for both racing professionals and fans, and includes:

  • Organization of all entries and results into a list of "race cards"
  • A handy "Week at a Glance" navigator
  • The addition of morning line odds on betting race entries
  • Approximate post times added to race entries
  • The addition of pari-mutuel payoff prices to race charts
  • The addition of complete race conditions to entries and results, including secondary conditions
  • The name of the sires and dams are listed on entries and results for 2-year-olds
  • Multiple drivers are listed when named to drive a horse
  • Trainer names added to the entry and result search criteria
  • Both the name of the individual trainer and the stable name, if appropriate, are shown.
  • Head (betting) numbers are now shown on results charts
  • The actual "off time" is shown on results charts
  • Powerful advanced search parameters
  • Fewer clicks needed to get to entry and result information
  • Ability to check whether a horse has started in North America during the past 90 days

On racing.ustrotting.com, the portal toentries and results information is organized within a navigation box, labeled with "Week at a Glance", "Search", "Advanced Search", and "What's New" tabs along the top. The procedure for using each tab is as follows:

The "Week at a Glance" Tab

Click on the "Week at a Glance" tab, and you can then select either "Pari-Mutuel Tracks" or "Fair Tracks", and then select a date to see all the race programs, or "cards", associated with that date. You can go forward or backward on the calendar by clicking on "<" or ">" to find additional dates and links to data.

The calendar dates offering data are colored blue, and by clicking on a blue date you will go to a list of cards, sub-listed by track, showing the status of the available information: as entries, as results, as a program "in progress (results will be updated periodically during the race program)", or as having been cancelled.

Click on a track name from the list to get to either the entries or results, as appropriate (Note: Qualifying race cards will be denoted as "Qua"). Then, click on either an individual race or "View All" to see information from the entire card.

The "Search" Tab

From the racing.ustrotting.com home page, click on the "Search" tab. Simply select one of four searches: a racetrack name from either the "Pari-Mutuel Track" of "Fair Track" drop-down lists, or by entering names in "By Horse", or "By Driver or Trainer Name" text entry boxes, without punctuation, and then click on the appropriate "Go" link to see the results of your search.

Note: "Autocomplete" is available for searching. This saves you time because you won't have to type in the full search text; suggested spellings will be shown, and you can then select the one you want without having to continue typing.

Search by track:

Your search, if by track, will yield a list of cards for which data is available; click on one of those dates and then on either a link to the race you wish to see, or on "View All" to see all the data for that date.

Search by horse name:

If you search by horse name, and if that horse has raced in the past seven days or has been entered in the U.S., the chart(s) and entries will be displayed, with the lines pertaining to that horse highlighted in yellow. If a horse had raced8 to 90 days ago, only the latest U.S. or Canadian past performance line for that horse will be shown.

The information returned on the horse search screen includes the name of the track, race date, race number, status ("entries", "results", or "summary"), and post time.

Search by driver or trainer name:

If you search by driver or trainer name, and it's a common name, a list of all those who might be the proper driver is returned. From that list you select a name and the charts and entries will be displayed, with the lines pertaining to that driver or trainer highlighted in yellow.

The "Advanced Search" Tab

As you might guess from the name, "Advanced Search" gives you the power to sift through hundreds of races, and see only what you like -- such as 2-year-olds performers or claiming races -- and then sorted by date or track.

From the racing.ustrotting.com home page, click on the "Advanced Search" tab. To begin any advanced search you must first select an age, gait and sex, for your choice of 2-year-old trotters or pacers, 3-year-old trotters or pacers, older trotters or pacers, or select a search for horses entered for a claiming price. From there, there are two types of advanced searches:

Age, Sex and Gait Searches: If you've selected an age, sex and gait category youmust then:

  1. Select "Entries", "Results", or "Both;"
  2. Select a track name from the dropdown list ("All Tracks", "All Pari-Mutuel Tracks", and "All Fair Tracks" are options);
  3. Select whether you want the results of the search sorted by the name of the track or by date; then, if you like,
  4. Enter a minimum and maximum value for "Purse $" (do not enter commas or dollar signs); and
  5. Click on "Start Advanced Search."

The result will be a list of race cards on which horses meeting your search criteria are involved; click on a track name and it will take you to the data for that card, on which the horses meeting your criteria will be highlighted in yellow.

Advanced Search for Horses in to be Claimed: Selecting "Claiming" under "Type" permits you do winnow through the thousands of horses who are entered to be claimed on upcoming cards; you will have different options to complete before searching (and can only search entries and not results):

  1. Select a track from the dropdown list ("All Tracks", "All Pari-Mutuel Tracks", and "All Fair Tracks" are options);
  2. Elect to sort results by "Claiming $ (price)", "Age", "Sex", or "Gait;" and
  3. Enter, at your option, a claiming price range (do not enter commas or dollar signs).

The result will be a list of horses meeting your search criteria; click on a horse name and it will take you to the entries for the race in which that horse is entered (or races, if entered in more than one), and the data for that horse will be highlighted in yellow.

The "What's New" tab

From the racing.ustrotting.com home page, clicking on the "What's New" tab outlines the new features available on the entries and results Web page, and provides information on how to take advantage of them.

Let us know what you think

Send any questions or feedback to racing@ustrotting.com.

Harness Racing - USTA Racing (2024)

FAQs

How often does the favourite win in harness racing? ›

races are well worth following. While favourites may win only 30 out of every 100 races, they do run in the first three placegetters many more times. Recent figures show them figuring in the first three placings about in 60 out of 100 races.

What is the best position in harness racing? ›

Horses leading or close to the lead, are generally better off than their rivals, with backmarkers often facing a tough task of trying to win the race. Trying to map the leader is a great starting point because they win around 40-45% of all harness races.

What is the top speed of a harness race? ›

Most harness races in America are at a distance of one mile and speeds during a race can be up to 40 miles per hour. The fastest Standardbred in the world is Bulldog Hanover who paced a mile in 1:45.4 (that's one minute, forty five and 4/5 of a second!).

Who is the winningest driver in harness racing? ›

By Career - Drivers by Wins
Driver NameYears ActiveWins
Palone, David M "Dave"1981 -20871
Morgan, Anthony N1974* -17660
Merriman, Aaron E1997 -15713
Filion, Herve1960* - 201315183
21 more rows

What is the most prestigious harness racing? ›

The Prix d'Amérique is considered to be the number-one trotting race in the world.

What is the best breed for harness racing? ›

The Standardbred is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing where they compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the Standardbred is recognized worldwide, and the breed can trace its bloodlines to 18th-century England.

Where is harness racing most popular? ›

Racing takes place at numerous tracks and fairs across North America, although harness racing is most popular in the Midwest and the East.

Why do jockeys lean back in harness racing? ›

Leaning straight back in the bike basically gives the lead horse an advantage because he's pushing the rest of the horses behind him further back than he should be.

Who is the greatest harness horse ever? ›

An estimated 40,000 people watched Dan Patch, the world's most famous harness horse, set an Illinois State Fair pacing record on Oct. 2, 1906.

How much do harness racing drivers make? ›

Compensation: Drivers generally earn 5 percent of what the horse earns in purses. At some tracks, they also get a guaranteed minimum per drive, and many drivers get tips as well. Most drivers make $20,000 - $50,000 a year, but the very best drivers can earn over $500,000 annually.

What is the oldest harness racing track in the United States? ›

The Historic Track (officially Goshen Historic Track) is a half-mile (900 m) harness racing track in Goshen, New York. It was opened in 1838 and has been in operation ever since, the oldest continuously operated horse racing track in North America.

What are the two types of harness racing? ›

Harness racing horses are of two kinds, differentiated by gait: the pacing horse, or pacer, moves both legs on one side of its body at the same time; the trotting horse, or trotter, strides with its left front and right rear leg moving forward simultaneously, then right front and left rear together.

Are trotters or pacers faster? ›

Pacers are faster, accelerate quicker, and are less likely than trotters to break stride because most wear hobbles. The hobbles connect the front and rear legs on the same side of a horse to help balance and stabilize the horse on turns and maintain their gait.

What is a pacer in harness racing? ›

A Pacer Moves with a two-beat lateral gait; pacers' forelegs move in unison with the hind legs on the same side. So nearside foreleg and nearside hindleg move together, as do offside foreleg and offside hindleg. Above is a picture of a horse PACING in a race.

How often does the Favourite win the race? ›

Favorites win about 35% of the time. They are second or third another 30% of the time. The other 30–35% are outright losses. Even when you win you can't stay on top of the losses.

How often do the odds on favourite win? ›

A favourite usually win around 30-35% of the time and the second favourites usually win around 18-21% of the time. The further down the market, you go the less likely the horses are to win hence the lower percentage of higher-odds winners over time.

How often do Favourites win in dog racing? ›

The percentage of favourites winning greyhound races is approximately 35%. This statistic varies across different tracks, racing classes, and other factors. In this article, we will delve into the factors that affect the success rate of favourites, as well as the payout implications for bettors.

How often does the favorite win in maiden races? ›

Consider that the public favorite, on average, wins around 33% of all races. Then consider that the public favorite wins about 37% of all maiden races. The reality of maiden races is that they are easier to predict than the races in general.

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