THE sport is known as harness racing. Most industry insiders prefer the term harness racing. Trotting is a generic term and does not cover both gaits used.

The horses are actually closely related to thoroughbreds. In the same way that all the world’s thoroughbreds trace back to the Byerley, the Goldolphin and the Darley, all American derived Standardbreds trace back to two remarkable thoroughbreds. Messenger foaled in England and exported to the US in 1780 and his great-grandson Hambletonian 10 who was lightly-raced but soon showed a remarkable propensity for throwing foals that could ‘trot’. Two of the biggest stakes races in the US are The Messenger and The Hambletonian.