Harness: The COVID-19 impact on racing, Merriman & Horse of the Year

As we put the wraps on 2020, it has certainly been a year like no other for our sport. From the tragedy of the Fusco family, to the months-long shutdown of racing, to Aaron Merriman not winning 1,000 races, to the surprising fact that wagering is up this year, COVID-19 has certainly made its mark. In fact, the pandemic has directly affected the Horse of the Year contest. More about that later.

We were still trying to figure out exactly what this coronavirus thing was in mid-March, with some states shutting down and others ignoring the potential problem. For those of us in the sport, any argument that this pandemic was a hoax went right out the window with the word that four members of the Fusco family died of the disease in a one-week period. We lost other stalwarts of our industry as time went by, and soon our sport was totally shut down.

After two-plus months, Ohio slowly ventured back into racing, first with Scioto Downs and then Northfield Park returning to action under strict protocols. Other tracks returned and despite missing anywhere from one-quarter to one-third of the season, total United States harness racing handle is up 5.6%, with per race handle up almost 23% according to United States Trotting Association figures. All this despite a reduction from 2214 race days to 1734 race days, a reduction of 21.7%. And strict limits on the number of people permitted at the venues. Obviously, some of those $1,200 stimulus checks headed to the racetrack, or more likely to online wagering platforms.

Meanwhile, Aaron Merriman, who has basically won 1,000 races each of the last three years (okay, 999 last year), sits at 692 wins (as of 12/13). That total is still nearly 200 wins more than any other driver, and in addition to the shutdown, he has been hurt recently by a nighttime curfew in Ohio, costing him several drives a day, but he will again easily win the national driving title in a year that must be marked with an asterisk due to the pandemic.

But COVID-19 may end up making its biggest mark on the Horse of the Year vote. The final poll of the year had Tall Dark Stranger with 25 first place votes, while Party Girl Hill was second with just 8 votes. The overall points were closer, 334-301. Granted the voters in the poll are not exactly the same as the voters for Horse of the Year. Several commentators in this publication and others will make their arguments one way or the other in the coming weeks. However, it would be hard to deny Party Girl Hill the title IF she had won the Little Brown Jug.

Owner Tom Hill wanted to go in the Jug and her connections considered it, even informally asking if she could be entered in both the Jug and the Jugette and then scratch out of one (the answer is no under both Stake and Ohio rules). Party Girl Hill was dominant in the Jugette and I was fortunate to be one of a couple-hundred people to see her in person from the WDLR Radio booth, where I was doing on-air commentary. British owner Tom Hill is not one to shy from the spotlight, so I asked him a simple question last week:

"I know you considered racing her against the boys in the Little Brown Jug before ultimately deciding to go in the Jugette. Did the lack of spectators/fans impact that decision at all? In other words, might you have made a different decision if 40,000 people were there to see her race?"

Hill responded almost immediately via e-mail, "Hi Keith. Yes, if the fans would have been there then I would have raced against the boys. I do think she would have beaten them."

Now, we will never know for sure if she would have won the Jug, but Party Girl Hill's Jugette performance was the single most impressive performance of the season for me. There is no doubt in my mind that a Jug win would have clinched Horse of the Year honors for her with the way the rest of the year played out, and I am convinced that pending the draw and racing luck, she would have beat this year’s group of colts, especially with Tall Dark Stranger staying away from the smaller track. If COVID-19 had not kept fans away from Delaware, we would have seen a filly attempt something not accomplished since Fan Hanover did it in 1981.

Hill had more to say about his filly: "What I find interesting is she is a world-record holder, raced on every size track, only beaten once, in the Breeders Crown final. Tall Dark Stranger did not race on a half-mile, was beaten twice and did not break any world records. We went straight to the Matron and won very comfortably. If you are a true champion, you do not dodge any races."

He makes a good point.

It has been a crazy year. As vaccines are introduced, hopefully things return to normal by mid-year 2021, but until then, maybe place a longshot bet on Party Girl Hill as Horse of the Year. Best wishes for a happy holiday season and a healthy and prosperous 2021. I'll be back in late January. Until then, go cash.