Harness Racing: Training

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Crosshill Pacers

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Hi,

I don't often frequent C&T as I'm primarily a pleasure rider (not a competitive bone in my body) but having bought a racehorse in training last October I am about to embark on my very first training project.

A little about me - I fell into harness racing nearly seven years ago when offered a part time job working as a groom on a racing yard. I've had Standardbreds since I was 13 (for riding) and my family has subsequently bred a number of pacers, one of which was broken and trained by my boss, raced for three seasons and retired to a life of hacking and hunting with me.

A little about my horse - Merrington Missile is a 5yo gelding by the imported American stallion Pierce Seelster (http://youtu.be/ryBvA1G-w0A) and out of a very good British racemare, Merrington Heights. He was bred, broken and trained by the champion trainer/driver combo Alexis and William 'Rocker' Laidler, who reached their goal of 100 winners last season (first trainer to do so). He raced for two seasons with them, at 3 and 4, and picked up 8 wins in that time. Due to winning penalty-free races and handicap lifts, he is only a Grade 1 (handicap system is Maiden, Novice, Grade 1-12). He was sold at public auction as the Laidlers have 40+ horses to train this season including their own youngsters.

I marked him in my catalogue prior to the sale as I felt for the right money he could be 'chancy'. Having never trained a racehorse myself before I wanted something that would know its job and Missile is broken both as ride and drive. Furthermore, his owners had let their 16yo son race him during the summer, which confirmed to me that he was a sensible sort. I'm not the most confident in the cart following an accident with my own mare a couple of years ago, so the fact he is broken to ride gave me another option to train him. His owner told me that she felt he would thrive in a one-on-one environment and a smaller yard, which is something I knew I could offer him. I had set a limit of £800 (a fair reflection of the current market) and when the hammer fell at £700 Missile was mine.

He has spent his winter in Scotland with my OH, as I will be moving up in May. Having raced last summer from the first weekend in May up to the day before the sale in late October, he was on the lean side when I bought him. He's wintered out in a herd of broodmares and geldings and has regained condition. He was clipped on Friday and shod on Saturday, and yesterday he began his first day in the cart. My OH has kindly offered to jog him until I move up, as he is at the yard daily to jog his own horse.

I'm hoping to write a weekly report, unless people think that's a terrible idea (I know harness racing isn't for everyone, but sometimes it's not what people think it is). Thoughts and feedback would be welcome.

Before I sign off, this is Missile yesterday before going out for his two laps of walking and three laps of jogging with my OH:

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Thank you for reading,

Sarah
 
He looks a lovely friendly type. I'd be very interested in following your progress as I know nothing about the sport of harness racing bar where I grew up they used to sometimes exercise them on the beach and a lovely man gave me a lift back to the lorry on one when my toad of a pony bucked me off and scarpered the mile up the beach back to the lorry!!
 
Nothing helpful, but I look forwards to hearing more! :) I don't know much about harness racing but do find it interesting - we have relatives in Aus that own some harness racers & we got to go to the races with them once when we were on holiday, but that's about it! He looks very sweet & chilled! :)
 
Well I shall try my best to open up the world of harness racing :)

Missile is referred to as my 'grumpy pony'. He's very territorial when he's eating so he gets left to it, firstly because I'd rather he be as chilled out as possible and secondly because it's safer for everyone involved if we stay away from him (he will come at you with teeth and then rear end). However, when there's no food in his stable or he's tied in the crossties he's rather affectionate. Having come from a huge yard I think he may crave the sort of fuss and attention that I have given the horses I work with (my boss has never trained more than 8 at any given time in a season). OH and him have bonded brilliantly and I think the slower pace of life in Scotland is doing him the world of good.

He's currently on day three of his new regime - he gets walked in the cart for two laps of the track to teach him that it's not all guns blazing and he has to go at whatever speed he's asked, followed by (currently) three laps of jogging. It amounts to fifteen minutes on the track in all. OH has also been working on his halt, as he likes to jump off the cart before coming off the track back onto the yard and then essentially long rein back to the crossties. On day one Missile didn't really understand the concept of stopping and waiting for OH to 'dismount' but by the second day he stopped and waited patiently before walking on. The same with his walking on the track; it was a relatively new concept to him on Monday but by yesterday he had no problem with it all. He appears to be a quick learner. To keep him from becoming bored with his training routine I will be adding in ridden work once I move up and he'll be able to go out hacking around the village which will hopefully keep his mind fresh.

I've not been able to spend any real time with him since buying him so I must admit I am REALLY excited about getting stuck in to training him!
 
I look forward to hearing more - I am a driver, and a friend of mine comes from a trotter training family, so it would be interesting to learn a bit more about it. Do you drive on the roads at all or just on the track?
 
Thank you both, I'll try to make it as informative and interesting as possible!

Dollyanna - we solely race on the track under rules (British Harness Racing Club as opposed to some of the smaller racing organisations around the UK and Ireland). My OH has a training track located next to his stables so 99% of their work is done on the track, both at home and at their local hard track for workouts. He has in the past jogged horses on the road when his track has been too wet, however a couple of weeks ago some friends of ours were jogging on the road and were hit by a vehicle (it resulted unfortunately in one of the horses being put down and the one guy being airlifted to hospital). Since then I've been reluctant for him to be on the road however despite all the rain we've had their track has drained well and with a little bit of give in the surface it meant the horses didn't need to be shod straight away (they have been since).

Alongside Missile, my OH is training a 4yo gelding called Stevie, and his father is training a 3yo gelding called Cassius and his half-sister Eternal who's 6. We're all training from the same yard however each horse has been staggered from the start in terms of their training as they are each being targeted for different races to start off their season. Missile will hopefully hit the track in mid-June, after 13 weeks of training. Naturally, things may work out differently but that's the loose schedule we're working to!
 
Hi Sarah
Best of luck for the season, we've "officially" retired from harness racing now so will have to get my fix vicariously through your reports so will look forward to seeing them :)
 
Hi Loll,

Sorry to hear you're 'out of the game', that's a real shame :( but I shall try my best to keep you in the loop! I'll be racing predominantly in Scotland (Corbiewood and Haugh Field) and York, but we have some trips down to Wales planned for both Missile and Stevie. And of course, we'll be bookying all over the country too!
 
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