Bonnington: Lots to ponder as harness racing changes pace

American businessman and politician, Charles Erwin Wilson, expanding on a previous quote by Charles F Kettering, once opined that “the price of progress is trouble, and I must be making a lot of progress”.

Now Wilson’s business wasn’t harness racing - he specialised in motor cars - yet this, in itself, provides a segue of sorts.

Standardbreds, you see, have become much more like motor cars over the past two decades.

Once revered for their strength, stamina and durability, pacers – and particularly trotters – have undergone a rapid revolution in recent years.

These days, speed is sacrosanct, and this evolution provides both opportunities and dilemmas.

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