1. Trotting – that’s those black and white ponies I see flying about.

While there are plenty of people who enjoy and promote the breeding and rearing of hairy-legged cobs, and plenty of beautiful cobs to be seen yoked to a sulky, these are a far cry from a pure Standardbred or Trotteur Français.

It is true that many ‘vanner’ types go back to a track horse in their pedigrees, the fact is that the average horse, for example, at Portmarnock will be finer and faster than the heavy-boned cob with his flat knee, ‘feather’ and glorious mane.

There are some pure-bred piebald and skewbald standardbreds, mainly pacers which stem from one or two bloodlines. The most famous line is that of the stallion Snowtime who raced in the US, Britain and Australia in the 1960s. Snowtime descended from a piebald showing pony.

The quality of coloured standardbreds continues to improve with the Irish-owned and bred White Flame holding the world coloured record for one mile on a 880 yard track. The piebald and skewbald followers have a dedicated day each year with the Painted Mile being their feature race.

Realistically, over the season as a whole 98% or more of the racing population are solid bays, browns and chesnuts, with truly black horses being quite rare.

2. It’s cruel that the horses aren’t allowed to gallop.

For one thing, the horses are perfectly capable of cantering and galloping. Let any trotter or pacer loose in a nice meadow and he will kick up his heels and bolt like the rest of them. However, the horses have an in-bred tendency to trot (like an extended trot in a riding horse) or pace (the lateral movement, the same as a camel) which was the favoured gait for ladies horses in the Middle Ages, such horses being known as ‘amblers’.

Some South American breeds and, of course, the Icelandic pony can also pace. Since the beginning of the sport in the 19th century hobbles have been used, lightweight straps which help keep a pacer on stride.

Initially derided by purists, hobbles eventually caught on. Over the years the world record and national records for the mile have tended to show that pound-for-pound, the pacer is two or three seconds faster over a mile than the trotter.

On the continent trotting has dominated and only in the US, UK and Australia has the pacer been more popular. Although both pacers and trotters can and will gallop they sometimes look ‘all at sea’ when galloping and seem to make better progress when they ‘stay down’ i.e. keep pacing/trotting.

3. If your horse gallops you lose your money.

One of the hardest aspects for the newcomer to grasp, yet easy enough to follow in the trained eye. Basically, for many years the rule was ‘the breaking horse shall not gain ground by the break’. In other words the galloping horse had to be restrained. All the top drivers can sense when a horse is about to gallop and can sometimes take a hold or ease off the gas.

In France, where the rules in all walks of life are stricter, trotting is no different. Under Le Trot rules a gallop of more than 15 strides, or three repeated breaks in the same race will warrant disqualification. As if that wasn’t strict enough any gallop, however brief, in the last 150 metres of a race will see the offending horse scrubbed out.

The most high profile victim of the strict Le Trot rules last season was the perennial champion John Richardson whose massive filly Elsa De Rocha was deemed to have got ‘rough gaited’ in the shadow of the winning post and was disqualified. It was a costly hop, the silver division of the three-year-old series. “That’s why they call it trotting,” said the relieved bookies on the day.

As the breed improves there are fewer and fewer instances of horses galloping. It is quite common in pacing races for not one horse to gallop and also in the higher class trotting races. Track commentator Mick Dempsey believes there is no finer sight than a field of ‘square’ trotters all hitting their rhythm at the same time.

4. The big stables win all the races.

Speaking of ‘JR’ brings up the subject of his domination of Irish harness racing since he first jumped up behind Mister Brown in 1982. With a few rude interruptions by the like of Billy Roche and Alan Wallace senior, Richardson who was reared at the track has been the man.

Johnny Dunne from Kill, whose father Christy won a title or two, has yet to be the champion. Although the Porterstown power house have tended to be selective in the way their entries are placed, there have been signs through the winter that 2018 could be “The Leaning Demon”s year. If the Dunnes put their shoulder to the wheel it could make for some great race reports in The Irish Field.

John Mooney of Clane kindly made available some statistics from the 2016 season. There were 177 races at Portmarnock that year which were won by 40 different drivers. Four drivers won more than 13 races in the year of his study with the like of Ned Stafford, Seamus Corey, Jack Killeen, JJ Mc Leod and Mick Goggin all wining one or two races.

A bit like the thoroughbred industry, the odds favour the big yards but the one- and two-horse bands can still land the odd touch.

5. The back marker has no chance.

Hurricane once trailed 170 yards, Billy Adios used to come off 70 yards, RB Greystar gave fields of trotters 100 yards and still beat them. The handicapping system is that 10 yards is reckoned to be around 0.6 of a second or three lengths. Therefore if Lazy Lil wins this week, she will either move up a grade or if in with the same company give them 10 yards of a start.

Nowadays the handicapping is done on a ‘money won’ system, which has muddied the waters a bit. The monies won system has its fair share of critics, including this observer. The sport has struggled to find a ‘one size fits all’ solution to handicapping.

In fairness, as the racing population has expanded the IHRA race ‘framers’ (not what it sounds) have endeavoured to run contests where the horses are of a similar grade, therefore doing away with the need for massive trails.

With a typical field on a well-filled card of eight runners, the most common configuration is two lines of four so the second line horses are behind the car with their noses resting quite literally on the backs of the front line drivers. Which horse eventually wins out of that formation is where the skill of the driver comes in.

COME RACING

The season runs most Sundays from April to October at Portmarnock Raceway usually 3pm start. The track can be accessed from Balgriffin Cemetery or Kinsealy Chapel. Facilities include a licensed bar, fast food and a children’s play area. Further details at www.irishharnessracing.com