Harness racing in Australia Harness racing in Australia Harness racing, also colloquially known as trotting or the trots, is an important spectator sport in Australia, with large amounts of money wagered annually with bookmakers and the Totalisator Agency Board (TAB). In Australia there are 91 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. Harness racing in Australia is conducted with Standardbred horses racing around a track while pulling a driver in a two-wheeled cart called a "sulky", "gig" or "bike". Standardbred racehorses compete in two
Harness racing in Finland main events gathering tens of thousands of spectators in the country with a population of some 5 million. Harness racing in Finland developed from the practise of racing back home from church, and was a popular traditional recreational activity among farmers. The first organised race was held in Turku in 1817. In the 20th century, as mechanisation of agriculture in Finland reduced the need for farm horses, harness racing also started to decline. By the end of the 1950s, there were only half as many local races as had been held during the peak of harness racing's popularity in earlier