One of the best shows in harness racing (as if there are many to choose from), PA Harnessweek, returns for another season today. The show hosted by Heather Vitale and Steve Ross once again can be seen locally on Saturday mornings at 10:30 on Comcast Sportsnet. For most of us, the show will be available at www.harnessweek.com Make sure you check it out. While the show focuses on Pennsylvania racing, it does cover races of national importance.
While not available on the Internet (select episodes show up later), don't forget Heather Vitale's Post Time which features racing on the Delmarva circuit. Post Time is highly rated in its time slot. I would love to see this show be syndicated with local races shown but make no mistake, Heather's infectious love for the sport comes out and wins the audience over.
By now, you have read about the Standardbred Alliance in Ontario which is a partnership of eight racetracks. This alliance will ensure a consistent purse level and a specified number of days of racing for Signature, Premier, and Grassroots level racing and brings stability to the standardbred industry in the province.
Make no mistake, the Standardbred Alliance is a good move for the industry. However, one has to wonder where racing would be if such an alliance was formed before SARP was cancelled. I dare suspect racing in the province would be in a better position. However, it is what it is and the alliance provides for more racing days than the standardbred industry had last year.
One thing the alliance provides for is consolidation of services. While the province already had one ADW system run by WEG, the teletheatres will also be re-branded and centralized as well. Purchasing will be centralized to get the best pricing available. This could be a model which makes sense in the States though it would require compacts between the states; guaranteed racing opportunities; stabilized purses; joint promotion; the opportunity to brand harness racing. Demand for such an alliance in the states would need to come from the horsemen instead of from the government. Of course, it would require horsemen to look past their state borders for the betterment of the sport.
Shooting Themselves in the Foot Award: For today, that award goes to Keenland Racetrack which has announced they are going to go back to a dirt track instead of synthetic. Really? With all the focus on horse breakdowns and the like you decide to announce the track is going back to a surface which is less safe than the current surface. It is almost as if they are sticking their finger in the face of those who are concerned with horse welfare. More likely is that finger is going to get pushed back into their own eye. If nothing else, the timing of the announcement was incredibly stupid.
