Recently, the Lost Trotting Parks Heritage Center acquired the 1922 Christmas issue of The Trotter and Pacer & Book. This issue included racing results for 1922. At this point in history, the automobile was moving quickly to replace the horse and carriage as the major mode of transportation in the United States. In 1925 the automobile exceeded the number of horses used for transportation in the United States. However, the racing results from the 1922 Blue Book shows more than 40 Maine communities engaged with the sport of harness racing. The Standardbred was in the consciousness of Maine people. Communities with trotting parks were sponsoring races and the people attended these events still wanting to watch the fastest Standardbreds and their drivers demonstrate their skills and speeds on the tracks.
For harness racing and perhaps other equine sports to attract new people to the sport, both as participants and fans, industry leaders need to develop and implement those strategies directed at increasing consciousness of and engagement in equine events and the sport of harness racing. Check out the ten pages of race results of harness racing in the State of Maine in the year 1922.
