United States Trotting Association Website (2024)

FAQs

What time does the US Trotting Association open? ›

Hours: weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST; after hours, please leave a message on the USTA voice mail. Click here for a departmental phone & e-mail directory.

TwinSpires offers harness racing (or standardbred racing to use the correct name) on over 35 harness tracks around the USA and Canada. With day and night racing every day of the week, you can bet online on harness racing on any of the tracks below.

Though the vast majority of races are one mile, races are contested on several different size tracks. The most common are 1/2 mile, 5/8 mile, and 1-mile tracks. Certain horses are better on the smaller tracks and others are better on the 1-mile tracks because there are fewer turns.

As early as 1554 the fastest of 3,000 horses at a horse fair in Valkenburg in Holland competed in trotting matches. The Golden Whip, Holland's most famous trotting event, was first run in 1777 at Soestdijk. About the same time Aleksey, Count Orlov, began to develop a powerful trotting strain at his stud farm in Russia.

Trotting betting markets are incredibly similar to that of Horse Racing, except in the format of harness races. bettors can place a bet on the winner of a race, whether a horse is going to finish in the top three of a race and head-to-head bets, where you can bet on whether one horse will beat another.

TwinSpires offers Thoroughbred, Harness and Quarter Horse racing live, free with registration.

Compensation: Drivers generally earn 5 percent of what the horse earns in purses. At some tracks, they also get a guaranteed minimum per drive, and many drivers get tips as well. Most drivers make $20,000 - $50,000 a year, but the very best drivers can earn over $500,000 annually.

Said one who seemed to know the statistics: “The world record for a mile by either a trotter or pacer is at a rate slightly less than 32 miles per hour.” “Yet,” he continued, “starting speed can be substantially faster for a very brief period perhaps closer to 34 miles per hour.”

Though there is no height limit for jockeys, they are usually fairly short due to the weight limits. Jockeys racing on the flat typically stand around 4 ft 10 in (147 cm) to 5 ft 7 in (170 cm). Jump jockeys are often taller, with multiple examples over 5 ft 10 in (178 cm).

The distance of a race is measured in furlongs. One furlong is 1/8 of a mile or 220 yards. Races under 1 mile, such as the common 6 furlongs (6F) distance, are called sprints, mid-distances are generally 8 to 9F, while 1 1/4 miles is deemed the “classic“ distance.

Are pacers faster than trotters? ›

Pacers are faster, accelerate quicker, and are less likely than trotters to break stride because most wear hobbles. The hobbles connect the front and rear legs on the same side of a horse to help balance and stabilize the horse on turns and maintain their gait.

The Standardbred name originated in 1879 by the National Association of Trotting Horse Breeders. For a horse to be considered part of the breed, specific “standards” had to be met. The horse had to be able to trot a mile in under 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

“The spate of crashes that disable and kill horses and drivers are plain evidence that a federally deregulated harness racing industry is unsafe at any speed.” Animal Wellness Action and its sister organization were key proponents of HISA and helped ensure its enactment in 2020.

Harness racing is a sport in which a specific breed of horse, the Standardbred, races around a track pulling a two-wheeled cart which is steered by a driver. The cart is called a racebike or a sulky.

What time is the Great Steamboat Race? Boarding for the Great Steamboat Race is between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. The departure is at 5:45 p.m. and the race starts at 6 p.m.

Some days racing starts at 12:00 p.m., while other days racing starts at 5:00 p.m. There's about 20 minutes between each race.

Gates Open: 12:00 p.m. First Live Race: 1:35 p.m. General Admission is just $10 and General Parking is FREE!