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PAGE 4, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2thi, 1973, WHITBY FREE PRESS Winter Harness Racing by Marion Morrison You don't have to ski or skate to enjoy ai Canadian winter. Not ail sports enthusiasts, after ail, appreciate the brisk weather that goes witlî a snlowy wondcrland. For m'any of them, there's hiarness racing. Froni the heated comfort of a gl'assed-in grandstand, they can watch their favorite sport; a warnîing drink in hand and, perhaps, a hearty meal before thern. Outside, drivers snugly bundled in snowr-nobile suits put the horses through their paces. What more pleasant a way could there bc to spend a chilly winter's afternoon? "Tume was, up to the mid-1950's, whcn theonly harness racing conducted anywhere on the North Amn- erican continent in the winter months, was at Dufferin Park in the heart of Toronto," according to Gordon Pepper of the Canadian Trotting Association. American and Canadian stables used to racç on the old haif-muler- now-turned-shopping plaza. It lielped pay the winter bills, besides providfing empioyment for a few peopie. Times have changed, and now a number of race- ways, especîally in Ontario, but also in Quebec and the Maritimes, run winter programns. What's more the crowds, generally, are even bigger than in the summer. Now there's talk of setting up a winter scheduie in such centres as Winnipeg and Edmonton. Sackville Downs, just outside of Halifax, conducts two or three progranîs weekly ail winter long. New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island also sec consider- able wintcr action. Quelcec City lias Satu îday andI Su iday' racing niosi ol* the wipîter, as docs Conîîaîîttgh t Park, in Lucernie, across the O t tawa Rive r from O t tawa. Biue Boninets ini Mon treal , otie olf Canada's ni,-,jor raceways hiolds thrcc p)rogranîs a week f ronm, the f irst of tlhc ycar to the end ot Jaîîuary . A l*otrili prognain is addcd as the weathîcr warnis anîd hy about t mid-Marcli it's up to six-a-wcek. Onîtario secs nmore wintcr lharîess racing thati any of' the other provinces. Toronto's Grccnwood lias some- thing like five progranîs a week froin January to Mardli. After that it's six. Orangeville, a small town about 40 miles outside of Toronto, has onîe prograni a week throughout the winter, and Barrie Raceway lias slotted in a Wednesday-Friday-Saturday schedule for the.winter months. Kingston's Frontenac Downs, Peterborough's Kawartha Downs and London's Western Fair Raceway also have winter programs. Windsor is the cenître with the nîost action. Included is a series of major racing classics which annually attract top trotters and pacers frorn ail over North America. Windsor's Provincial Cup, in late March has, for the last few years, offered a purse of $50,000. This raceway operates only from early November through to mid- Marchi. The major Detroit arca raceways across the .Detroit River then take over for the sumrnier months. Racing fans will be relieved to know that ail winter harness tracks in- Canada have iîeated glass-enclosed grandstands and most have restaurants and nobody need fear being thirsty. Tracks are frozen but kept clear of snow. It takes a realiy paralyzing storm to cancel a race, the kind that mleans People can'5t get out of' their OWfi drivcways. Most drive rs, ini the wintc r, wcar snowmiobile suits and, (.n thc coldesi days, skiers' face mgs Cold fingcrs arc somectinics a problern. For the sake of good con trot of' the liorses, drivers cati wear only Iigh t gloves. Accord- ing to veterinarians, thc horses suffer flot at ail froîn the wcathcr. Most owners and trainers work a platoon systern with their liorses. Some race in the winter and rest in the sumrmer. Ail hiorses have to be rested for some period of each year. For mnany ycars now, total betting on harness racing in Canada has outstripped the thoroughbred total. Few other cou ntries in the world can make that statement. Standardbred horses, used for harness racing, have been recognized as a separate breed since 1879. They were developed atong the Atlantic seaboard ,of North America in the first half of the l9th century, out of a mixed anccstry of road horse and thoroughbred. Stand- ardbreds have a natural tendency to trot or pace, although mnost can be trained to one gait or the other. Trotters race only against trotters, and pacers only against pacers. Horses are raced in hàrness from a moving start (they begin behind a moving barrier), over a track of haif a mile in length. They are guided by drivers seated in light two-wheeled sulkies. For further information about harness racing in Canada Write the Canadian Governmnent Travel Bureau, 150 Kent Street, Ottawa KIA 0H6. Good tidings to you, friends and neigh- bors. Thanks for your patronage. PERFECTION BAKERY 1i6 BROCK se WHITBY 668-3106 pý4aaJea*1 Corne ail ye faithful. During this Holy Season, let's loin in a proyer for world- wide peace and brotherhoori. BUTT RADIO & APPLIANCE 118 BROCK S, 668-101 f f * f P W t . vdlp d4