Harness racing Harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, occupied by a driver, although in Europe, jockeys riding directly on saddled trotters ("trot monté" in French) is also conducted. In North America, harness races are restricted to Standardbred horses, although European racehorses may also be French Trotters or Russian Trotters, or have mixed ancestry with lineages from multiple breeds. Orlov Trotters race separately in Russia. The light cold-blooded Coldblood trotters and Finnhorses race separately in Finland,
Harness racing in Finland 1987, the popularity of harness racing turned Finnhorse birthrates around from the historical low of the 1970s. Harness racing continues to be a popular spectator sport, with the Kuninkuusravit competition having attracted more than 50,000 spectators in the beginning of the 2000s. 8000 horses are raced annually, and races are held on all days except for Christmas. The sport is the second most watched in Finland after ice hockey, with more than 800 000 spectators annually. Light trotter breeds were first allowed to be raced in Finland in 1960. The first prevalent light breed used was the Russian Orlov Trotter.