Is harness racing with horses fixed?

Question

Ok I have TVG and i watch normal horse racing alot,, but ALOT of people told me that Harness racing is one of the most fixed games ever... Is this true? Sometimes to my eyes when i watch it I see alot of fishy stuff going on... Let me know... Thank you.....

Answer 1

I have my own suspicions but no proof, as I see the same people winning a lot and then the same supposedly highly-talented people all lay down and surprise-surprise! three longshots get in the trifecta. I think IF there is rigging a lot of it has to do with the low purses. A guy I know whose mom was in that industry about 20 years ago (and has nothing to do with it now) says they used to use hand signals and things like holding the whip in the wrong hand to let their friends in the stands know that the fix was in. I seriously doubt, though, that it is rigged at the larger places such as Dover and Cal Expo, and also from seeing the very thin betting pools in most of the lowest-tier tracks that it must only be involving the trifecta and not the W/P/S pools as I have seen days for a lot of such tracks when the highest win pool for a favorite in several races was less than $3-400 - so it's kind of like the public has no clue but a few well-connected know a lot and jump in and make $1,000 or so once a day on the trifecta (IMO). BTW the most fishy thing I ever saw in a harness race was a guy using the whip AND the brakes at the same time! It was so obvious even Ray Charles could have seen it!

But there's a silver lining in this - just wait for a day when no longshots have won for about 8 races (as you probably know the cards usually have at least 12) and then bet ALL the longshots in each race to win and stop either if you hit one or lose a certain amount. (My standard IF I were to ever bet in harness races, which I don't, would probably be about four races on four horses each - and then I'd be tempted to go the minimum $2 as I am a tightwad when I'm taking just blind chances rather than handicapping or using any one of the systems I have develped over the years).

I will say that having just finished studying the results in all kinds of horse racing for the past two years that harness race results seem to be way more inconsistent, in that, for example, when you look at Thorobred races, you could expect that the Maiden and NW2 types would provide more longshot wins than stakes, whereas the same cannot be said about harness, and I have seen days at certain tracks when the majority of the lower $ purses were won by favorites and the stakes were won by longshots, only to be followed by days at those same tracks when only longshots won or when only favorites did; or with days when the winner's odds jumped around wildly from one race to the next and then days when it was a smooth transition just like a car changing gears. Perhaps if you think about it some of the "alleged" rigging could be the handicapper deliberately setting the odds wrong in the first place?

Answer 2

I wish it was.. The fact of the manner is that the majority of horsemen are broke… Only the top % makes any real money. I’ve owned harness horses all my life. At one point I had a stable of 20 and now I have one.

I can assure you that harness racing isn’t fixed. If it was I wouldn’t be working 16 hours a day away from the track…. LOL I would be betting at the track and making my living….

Often you will see drivers of harness horses pull back on the lines a little. This isn’t holding the horse back, rather it’s trying to put the horse on the bit.

Try this experiment. Get someone to hold there hand up….. push their hand with your hand.. You will find in most cases the person’s hand that gets pushed will push back…. By pulling back on the lines you are trying to get the horse to pull forward……

Answer 3

Cal Expo Harness Racing

Answer 4

I work at Lebanon raceway which is harness racing, and i think it is just because at Lebanon they have a leading trainer and leading driver (who has won the most and made the most money for the year) and last week the leading driver and trainer had a horse win and his odds was 45-1 (I don't know if you understand what that means or not but it means the horse does not have a good chance of winning) and the horse won ok what I don't understand is how the best driver and trainer had a horse go off with odds so high. every body says it depends on who bets on him and that is true but every time this trainer has a horse in he is the favorite so you tell me how that can happen so for that one reason I think they are fixed. so I help this answers your question.

Answer 5

A lot of horse racing is fixed, even real horse racing. I've never really heard stories that make me believe it is, but it seems so easy to fix a race. I know regular horse racing is fixed, I dont really want to believe it but I saw it with my own eyes and my family tells me stories of when they would go back to the stables with their friends that were trainers. So, yes, I think that it has to be. Its a very competitive sport.

Answer 6

My friend worked as a groom at a harness track and some races are fixed.

Answer 7

After talking to people who have been in the racing industry for years, yes... Often harness races are fixed by the drivers before the races. They determine who will win that race, by how much, etc. I know it's like that alot at the smaller tracks, not sure about the larger tracks. I also know that it generally only applies to strict drivers, not driver/owners. Not sure if that helps... :)

Answer 8

no not all harness racing horses are fixed it all depends on the owner if he/she wants the horse to get fixed

Answer 9

if there is large human involvement then there is a large possibility that race outcomes can be altered...if it looks fishy, and smells fishy...