Speed, speed, speed. In many ways, that is what horse racing has become about. In harness racing, the sub-1:50 mile has become the rule, not the exception. In thoroughbred racing, it's not final times that enamor prospective owners, rather precocity. They want horses that are very fast, very early, so they can race, retire and breed. In thoroughbred racing, champion horses (not fillies or mares) rarely run beyond their 3-year-old season. An example of that is Wesley Ward's Golden Pal, last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner. He made his 2021 winning debut on July 15 at Saratoga and the ownership group has said he will have three or four starts before being retired to stud. Harness racing hasn't gotten to this point yet, but there are certainly some trends in regards to the need for speed. It is fascinating when you compare the two breeds, Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds. As a group, Thoroughbreds really are not any faster than they were 20, 30 or 40 years ago. Speed figures have declined and they aren't consistently lowering track and stakes records. In harness racing, the races are simply faster now than ever before. On Saturday, July 10, an $18,000 condition pace for horses who have won two, but not more than four races lifetime, was timed in 1:47 4/5. That's incredible! In 2002, on Meadowlands Pace Elimination night, there were two sub-1:50 miles. Mcardle won a Pace Elimination in 1:49 3/5 (Mach Three won his elimination in 1:50) and Four Starzzz Shark won the William Haughton Memorial in 1:49 3/5 as well. The average win time of the other 11 races was 1:51 3/5 and the average time for the entire card was 1:51 1/5. All of them were pacing events, all for male horses. Fast forward to 2021, the average winning time on The Meadowlands Pace Elimination program was 1:50 1/5 and the program included five trotting events, including two for 3-year-old fillies and a 2-year old-filly pace. If you remove the trotting events and compare the winning times for the pacing events on the two Pace Elimination nights, 2021 sports an average winning time of 1:49 versus the previously mentioned 1:51 1/5 from 2002. Admittedly, I am far from an expert when it comes to the biology of equine athletes. I would be fascinated for someone with more understanding of the science to explain some of the changes in the Standardbred over the years. Why is the average race in harness racing six or seven seconds faster than it was 30 years ago? Are the animals faster? Perhaps. Are the drivers in better physical condition? Are they better athletes? I think that's probably true. Has technology helped? Are the race bikes sleeker, lighter and more aero-dynamic? I think a consensus would come to agreement that is likely true. Are racing surfaces overall faster? Have advancements helped track superintendents speed up the surfaces over time? That could be true as well. There could also be more reasons that are beyond the scope of my knowledge. It really is fascinating though that one breed's races have gotten so much faster over the last 20 or 30 years while the other breed has not. The world record for a mile dirt race in thoroughbred racing is 1:32 1/5. That mark was set 54 years ago by Dr Fager. In harness racing, there have been 57 races that have been faster than Jenna's Beach Boy's mark of 1:47 3/5, which came just 25 years ago. The fastest five furlong thoroughbred dirt race was in 1982, seven furlong marks from 1980 and 1982 still stand today. Races at 1 1/16 miles and 1 1/8 miles on dirt from 1983 and 1988 are still faster than any other race ever run at the distance. In harness racing, we see world records set every year. It is fascinating that Thoroughbreds are breeding for speed and precocity and not getting any faster. They have 2-year-old in training sales to see how fast a horse can sprint a furlong before bidding, while Standardbreds are getting faster without breeders changing their approach. So where does harness racing go from here? Does the pursuit of speed continue? Is there a quest for a 1:45 mile? Like the 100 meter dash, is the goal to keep lowering the mark? If the answer is yes, what does that mean for the breed? Will the Standardbred be as durable 10 or 20 years from now if we repeatedly ask these horses to race in record time week-in and week-out? Or, does it lead to a decline in how often the Standardbred can race and ultimately set harness racing on a similar path to thoroughbred racing? For a long time, one of the bragging rights for harness racing has been the durability of the Standardbred. While Thoroughbreds were racing once a month, Standardbreds could race twice or even three times in one day. Even as heat racing is phased out of the sport, Standardbreds still race 35, 40, 45 times per year. But as the quest for records continues and as it becomes more and more likely that to win condition races at major racetracks, trainers will need a sub-1:50 pacer, can those horses who are not champions perform at that level while racing as much as they have in years past? Can a champion pacer race 18 times if all of those races have to be in 1:47 or better? If the answer to those questions is no, then we will see a decline in the number of races that Standardbreds compete in, and while perhaps never to the extreme of a Wesley Ward thoroughbred, the best of harness racing may be seen less and less on the racetrack. Fittingly, I suppose time will tell.