COLD

[London]

When is it to cold to race.....to me 5F is cold..yet flamboro racing

[Bogeyman]

I am not a horseman, although I did ride a pony once as a kid - so please be kind when answering my question.
Thoroughbreds never seem to race when temperatures drop down into the twenties, how is it not a problem for standardbreds? Are harness horses more adaptable to winter weather or is it the difference between flat racing and harness racing - or something else?  REMEMBER BE NICE ......I repeat - I am NOT a horseman, I am a HORSE PLAYER (one of the few left, I might add!)
 

[MIKE CAMPBELL]

I am not a horseman, although I did ride a pony once as a kid - so please be kind when answering my question.
Thoroughbreds never seem to race when temperatures drop down into the twenties, how is it not a problem for standardbreds? Are harness horses more adaptable to winter weather or is it the difference between flat racing and harness racing - or something else?  REMEMBER BE NICE ......I repeat - I am NOT a horseman, I am a HORSE PLAYER (one of the few left, I might add!)

Harness horsemen are too broke and desperate to miss a week or two of racing because of weather and because of this, horses are forced to race in extreme weather conditions. I promise you, you are not doing your horse any favors when racing in temperatures below 10F. Injury because of track condition is a possibility but even more of a risk is damage done to horse's lungs.

[Bogeyman]

Thank you Mike for your answer.  Back in the 1970's I worked at Suffolk Downs sweeping up dead tickets in the grandstand.  I do remember the track crew driving around at night to try and prevent the main dirt track from freezing up or accumulating snow on stormy nights. Back then Suffolk ran the flats from around Labor Day until Memorial Day. I remember a lot of cancellations during the winter months due to cold weather or track conditions. At the same time, Rockingham Park ran harness races all winter with few cancellations. Never could understand why the harness races never hardly cancelled. Then again - I always thought the single shaft sulky was a great idea!!!

[MIKE CAMPBELL]

Thank you Mike for your answer.  Back in the 1970's I worked at Suffolk Downs sweeping up dead tickets in the grandstand.  I do remember the track crew driving around at night to try and prevent the main dirt track from freezing up or accumulating snow on stormy nights. Back then Suffolk ran the flats from around Labor Day until Memorial Day. I remember a lot of cancellations during the winter months due to cold weather or track conditions. At the same time, Rockingham Park ran harness races all winter with few cancellations. Never could understand why the harness races never hardly cancelled. Then again - I always thought the single shaft sulky was a great idea!!!

The single shaft was a great idea but it needed modifications, mainly a way to prevent a horse from being able to spin around and face the driver. Supposedly, there is a company that is engineering a single wheel sulky with the wheel under the driver's seat. It will enable horses to be close to other horses like the T-Breds