Australian Trotting

Since the first official and recorded trotting event in Australia held at Parramatta on April 30th 1810, the harness race has taken the country by storm. From the very first winning trotter 'Miss Kitty' to the legends following in her blazing wake, Australian trotting has been hobby, life and fascination to countless individuals around the country.

Of course there were complications during the rise of Australian trotting, starting with the elitism among breeders who did not take kindly to the idea of a 'colonial sire', refusing to use perfectly good trotting horses to breed with their British imports, leading - sadly - to the extinction of a breed known as the 'Waler' which supposedly suited the harness race fantastically.

The first official trotting club in Australia was the New South Wales Trotting Club, established in 1902; this first of a still growing number of clubs and tracks is still active today. In 1929 the course was renamed Harold Park, in honour of 'Childe Harold' the Australian version of North America's Hambletonian 10. There are currently 91 tracks in Australia, holding over 1,900 meetings per year amongst them. Other famous Australian harness racing tracks include Albion Park in Queensland, Gloucester Park in Perth, Moonee Valley in Melbourne and Globe Derby Park in Adelaide.

While there are weekly trotting events at each individual race course, the grand spectacle and greatest thrills are reserved for the annual races. The marquee event of Australasian racing for example is the much anticipated Inter Dominion Series, which features both trotting and pacing events. The Interdominion features eight qualifying heats and a grand prize of one million dollars in the final race, making it the highest priced race of the season. The venue for this event is rotated yearly and once every four years the Series is held at a New Zealand track. Since 1914 Australian trotting aficionados meet for the annual Victoria Derby, the country's oldest classic harness race. And naturally, Sydney's Harold Park - the icon among race tracks - hosts the New South Wales Derby for three-year-old trotters.

All of these races can be bet on online by signing up with an online bookmaker; see our Australian Betting Guide for more information and reviews of the top online bookmakers for Trotting.

Australian trotting races are divided into two major categories: Metropolitan races and Country races. Events in both divisions are split in races of Group One, Two or Three (Group One being the national trotting elite), which then in turn are separated into events for horses of different ages. Colt races feature male horses under five years of age; once a horse reaches this crucial age it is no longer referred to as a colt but becomes known as an actual horse. For female horses the races are divided into events for fillies under five and adult mares.

The most successful Australian-trained standardbred horses include Cane Smoke (120 wins), Paleface Adios (108 wins), Gammalite (94 wins), Village Kid (93 wins) and Shipps Fire (79 wins). In 2006/2007 it was particularly the Queensland horses which dominated the scene, among them Be Good Johnny who took the win in the Miracle Mile; and Blacks a Fake who won the Victoria Cup, the Inter Dominion and the M H Treuer Memorial.

For more Australian Trotting information, we recommend you visit this Australian Trots website.

If you love betting on trotting we suggest you visit Races.com.au for Horse Racing coverage of this year's Melbourne Cup and find the best Melbourne Cup odds on this year's Melbourne Cup field.