Mister Big hangs up his harness after Saturday night's American National at Balmoral Park (part of a strong race card). With his well deserved retirement, harness racing loses one of its most recognizable racing stars. Yes, there have been the Donato Hanovers, Somebeachsomewheres, Muscle Hills, and Deweycheatemnhowes which have grabbed the headlines, but they come and go. Mister Big and his fellow FFA'llers have been racing for several years yet no one outside of racing knows who these horses are.
Why is harness racing wasting its time on promoting three year olds? The real story is and needs to be our aged horses. The three year olds stars racing are a diversion in the grand scheme of things. Yes, they race for a lot of money but many of the three year old stars are here today and gone tomorrow. All year the vast majority of media promotion has been towards Muscle Hill, Well Said, and Explosive Matter. Well, the year is winding up and they have all headed or are heading to the breeding shed. So what happens next year? We start promoting the new crop of three year olds, horses that those outside of racing have no idea who they are. The general fan has no horse to identify with.
We need to stop promoting the sport as if everyone is a breeder or horse owner. Breeders and owners are already going to support racing. We need to write the stories and promote the sport to those outside of the industry. It is hard enough to get media attention for harness racing already, wouldn't it make sense to use the limited media space we get on horses people will see for several years instead of horses that disappear after one year?
In celebration of Mister Big's imminent departure, here is one of his most exciting victories.
In addition, here is another race back in a period when our FFA'llers were promoted heavily. Imagine if our aged pacers and trotters were promoted today like they were back then?
5 comments:
What is notable about the 1976 race is the sparing use of the whip by virtually all the drivers.
Sounds good to me. We are losing our young stars as soon as we get them. This is crazy what's going on. In the news today was Swan For All going to the breeding shed. Why? Nice horse but missed many of the big dances. Also announced was Art Official going to New Zealand after Saturday's race. This trend has to stop.
One different note, who was the driver on the second place horse in your classic video?
Why are all these horses going to the breeding shed? Because right now harness racing is more about breeding than racing.
As to who the driver was on Keystone Accent, I must confess I can't get a good enough view of the driver's silks to make an educated guess. If I had to guess who it was I would say Ted Wing; but there is a very good chance I am wrong.
It is Mark or Frank O'Mara.
Very good guess on Ted Wing as his colors and left hand whipping are similar of the O,Mara's.
Thanks Earl, my guess was Frank O'Mara but not sure. You could tell it was Frank and not Mark by the way they sat in the bike and their actions down the lane, not good.
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