Harness: New Yorkers for Harness Racing launches website

(following is a release from New Yorkers for Harness Racing)

New Yorkers for Harness Racing, a harness racing education and advocacy organization, today announced the launch of its website: www.newyorkersforharnessracing.com. The site is a valuable resource for New Yorkers to learn about the extraordinary benefits that the harness racing community brings to New York State.

Harness Racing Drives Economic Benefits for New Yorkers

Harness racing is an economic engine that supports thousands of jobs and a statewide network of more than 100 breeding farms, training centers and boarding facilities, which are important contributors to our local communities, particularly in rural New York.^[1] The harness racing industry generates more than $400 million in economic benefits for New York State annually,^[2] bringing benefits to the communities where the state’s seven harness racing tracks are located (Batavia, Buffalo, Monticello, Saratoga, Tioga, Vernon and Yonkers), as well as the surrounding areas.

New York’s harness racing industry also drives benefits well beyond the track, as funds flow into local communities and benefit the agriculture, farm equipment, construction, animal health services and tourism industries. The businesses that support the racing industry, many of which are family-owned and run, help to keep farmlands in service, preserve open space and create a powerful sense of community in New York.

The renaissance of standardbred racing in New York also attracts racing enterprises to come to New York to race and for our annual yearling auctions, as well as to breed and train their standardbred horses at our robust community of farms and boarding and training facilities. These operations are foundational to the communities in which they reside and generate capital investments, local jobs and state and local taxes.

Health and Well-Being
New Yorkers for Harness Racing is dedicated to supporting standardbred horses’ health and well-being, before, during and after their racing careers. Each year hundreds of foals are nurtured at one of New York’s award-winning breeding farms, receiving extraordinary care from dedicated caretakers as they become weanlings and yearlings and ultimately racehorses.

In addition to the care that racing standardbreds receive, we proudly support programs and partnerships across the state that promote retraining opportunities for retired racehorses in areas such as equestrian events and equine therapy. These programs strengthen our community connections and expand our industry’s contributions to New York’s economy.

We are also committed to setting accountability standards and supporting aftercare programs that protect and nurture retired harness racing horses, such as the Support Our Standardbreds Program, which has helped rescue approximately 225 standardbreds from rescue agencies, and The Standardbred Transition Alliance, a program that accredits, inspects and awards grants to organizations that rehabilitate and re-home standardbreds.

To learn more about our organization, the harness racing community and the economic impact of the sport, please visit: www.newyorkersforharnessracing.com.

[1] Harness Horse Breeders of New York State. https://www.hhbnys.org/farms/