page_title: Harness racing in Australia
section_title: Horses
hierarchical_section_title: Harness racing in Australia / History / Horses
caption_attribution_description: Springfield Globe by Globe Derby was foaled in Tasmania and later won the Inter Dominion. He was an outstanding sire that produced 229 winners.
context_page_description: Harness racing, also colloquially known as trotting or the trots, is a spectator sport in Australia, with significant amounts of money wagered annually with bookmakers and the Totalisator Agency Board. In Australia there are 90 harness racing tracks, which hold over 1,900 meetings annually. There are approximately 2,900 drivers and 4,000 trainers with about 5,000 Standardbred horses foaled and registered each year.
context_section_description: Harness racing became a popular sport as few people could afford the expense of a hack, let alone a Thoroughbred racehorse, whereas most families had a horse which could be driven as well as ridden. Initially trotting events were scheduled for Trotting under saddle and Hack trots. Various allowances were made for horses measuring under 15 hands 1 inch, too. In 1893 hopples were used for the first time in a race at a Kensington, New South Wales meeting on the imported gelding, Plain Bill. Early in the twentieth century races for trotters drawing light carts or high two-wheeled sulkies were introduced and later specially designed light, smaller wheeled gigs were used.
  Sir William Don an inbred Thoroughbred gelding bred by Mr. Mackenzie in 1856 near the Murrumbidgee River became the 13th fastest pacer in the harness racing world. He was by Mozart (GB) from a mare by te same Mozart. This gelding was able to maintain a good speed while racing free-legged, i.e. unhoppled, and was the best Australian bred harness horse up until the 1870s.
  Vancleve (USA) was imported to Australia in 1882 and held the Australian mile record for trotters. He later sired the immortal Fritz, an all time trotting champion. Fritz, was foaled in 1890 and broke the previous Australian Standardbred time record by more than 10 seconds for the mile. Vancleve's progeny won him leading sire titles in Australia and New Zealand, although he did not stand at stud in New Zealand.
  Andrew Town of Richmond, New South Wales imported the Kentucky bred, Childe Harold (by Harold) in 1882 for £3,935. Childe Harold had won in 1874 the International Trot at Liverpool, England. In 1879, he won an important race in France, and he was then taken on a tour of the Continent. In that year, he won races in Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany and also in Russia, where he won two big trotting events.  This stallion produced superior quality trotters and 45 of his sons became sires.  Childe Harold's name can still be found in some of today's Standardbred pedigrees. Harold Park was named in honour of Childe Harold.
  Globe Derby, foaled 1910 in Australia, was the champion pacer of his day and then went on to become a Leading Australian Sire for twelve successive seasons and still has present day descendants racing.
  In 1934 Springfield Globe by Globe Derby was foaled in Tasmania and later won the Inter Dominion. Springfield Globe was an outstanding sire that produced 229 winners. Dual gaited U Scott (USA) was exported to New Zealand in 1935 as a two year old where he became the outstanding sire of 410 winners of $2,315,503 and his name features prominently in the bloodlines of many of Australasia's greatest horses.
  The New South Wales bred, Lawn Derby, racing un-hoppled, was the first pacer to break the two-minute barrier in Australia or New Zealand when he recorded 1:59.4 at the Addington track in New Zealand in 1938.
  In 1952 at Harold Park Avian Derby became the first two-minute pacer in Australia. Ribands broke the two-minute mile in 1954 at Harold Park in a time trial of 1:58.7. He raced later in America where he took his total of wins to 41 and earnings to $82,385.
  In 1958 Edgar Tatlow imported Meadow Vance (USA) by Adios from Subway by Billy Direct, who sired 328 winners and was the first Australian sire to get 100 credits under 2:10. Meadow Vance was also an outstanding broodmare sire.
  Thor Hanover (foaled 1959, USA) by Adios was imported to Australia where he became one of the countries most important sires, having over 400 winners to his credit, including Gammalite and Rip Van Winkle.
  On 13 February 1960 at Harold Park Caduceus from New Zealand defeated Australia's Apmat by half a length in the final of the Inter Dominion before a world record crowd of 50,346. In America, Apmat defeated their best performer, Bye Bye Byrd (the first harness horse to win more than $500,000) by a head in 3:07 for the mile and a half.
  In 1963 Cardigan Bay from New Zealand, one of the truly great Standardbred racehorses, won the Inter Dominion Pacing Championship final in Adelaide before going to Am
caption: Springfield Globe
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