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 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.