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Harness Racing has been a part of my life for over seven years and counting. Nothing compared to how long it's been around and how many people have been involved in some shape or form to make racing a sport of modern day.

Harness racing was first introduced in Canada over 200 years ago. In its early days, it was a race across ice using cutters pulled by unusually gaited-thoroughbreds, now called standardbreds, as the trot and pace gait are known as the "standard" gaits. A thoroughbred called Messenger, was the first sire to throw horses that trotted at high speeds. Then one of Messenger's sons sired a horse that showed a new gait, called the pace, which looks like a "uniformed" gallop. But it was only in the 1940s that pacers became popular. Now pacers are the leading gait in harness racing, as they are the fastest of the standardbred breed.

The past couple of years have been troublesome for horsemen across Ontario, suffering from entry shortages, racetracks have started cutting race dates for the following year. This is quite unfortunate because it is difficult enough already to have your own horse race more than twice a month. I hope that the slots don't take over the racing, but unfortunately that is the what the bigger part of the population enjoy. Help keep Harness Racing alive.