This horse was easily capable of going under 1:45 - he never ran hard and his top speed was absolutely insane and he had 2 serious injuries and operations on top of all that. Miki is probably greatest standardbred of all time.
I remember Sam from Raceway Park in Toledo Ohio and before that, I believe he called the fair races in Adrian Michigan just starting out as teenager. That was the lenawee co. Fair!
Sam Mckee is one of the few people you never met whom you actually miss. The sport is wasy worse without him. Pure passion and great race-calling. For whatever reason, for many years I didn't really know the difference between Ken Warkenten and Sam Mckee, and I was an avid harness racing fan and bettor, but Sam McKee is in a class of his own. Ken Warkenten stumbles all over himself today, but even in Ken's prime,, I now realize that Sam Mckee was the gold standard.
Jowi, I have the same opinion as well, I also used to go to the Pegasus many times, actually ran into Sam in passing a few times, I used to get Sam and Ken confused as well! But Sam really did give Harness Racing a certain credibility that was a God given gift to him. Didn't really know him but I feel like I did.
Absolutely Right On! I was there up in Pegasus, I went specifically to bet Somsam because I really liked what I saw at Brandywine, loved that he got the 10 post for the odds. Ed Gorman's call made that race even more exciting!! Those Were The Days 👍🙂😺
I'm from Philly and spent many a summer night at Brd 5/8....I've watched that reply many. times... when Sonsam made his move at the 3/4, he was blazing--- then Sholty brought him home! Very exciting last quarter!@@williamfluck148
What has changed in the last 50 years in harness racing? Obviously lighter more aerodynamic buggies. I say this because it was almost 50 years ago that Secretariat set records in all three of the Triple Crown races and thoroughbreds racing really hasn't changed but harness racing has and you see it in the speeds
Genetics. Look at any clips of Bret Hanover from the 60s, the breed has a longer stride, a little more extreme speed, and horses like Miki can carry that speed farther. Equipment. The modified sulky and synthetic harness are lighter and allow more freedom of motion. Racing style. Nowadays, it's bombs away; in Bret's day horses were rated more carefully for the first half. Also, Standardbreds aren't raced heats much anymore, so breeding emphasizes speed over stamina; hence, a longer stride, faster turnover and a "go for it" attitude.
The biggest thing is genetics, when I was a kid our first racehorse was an old breed and the good ones where few and far between, you use to see horses that could trot or pace, not many but they were out there. These days the breeding is an art, you don’t just breed to a sire close to home anymore, if you have a good mare you can simply transport semen and breed the mare. Harnesses when I was a kid where heavy leather, my first light largess was a Walsh plastic/nylon. Quick hitches where invented in Ridgetown Ontario by an old vet. Dr Gilbertson.(spelling may be off) He lived just down the road from us growing up. Race bikes have come a long way, I remember racing in Vernon and meeting this crazy old guy that was much to ahead of his time, he started the changes in bikes, he invented the single shaft bike, Horses would go like heck in it but they where not the safest. Then came the Bike, The Equalizer, The bike was a single point of contact with your feet straight up in front of you. The bikes now are a really good safe design that are light and track straight as can be. So the answer overall is many things have changed to make horses faster. Oh and the biggest thing that made things safer was removing the hub rails. That was the biggest thing to make things safer. Pilons bounce back, wooden posts and boards do not.
Money money money like everything else money the little guy who had a great hobby racing horses is no longer. Only the rich can afford to race now. I been trying for years to get back into racing. With most horses selling around 10,000 and up put the little guy out.
I wonder if wiggle it jiggle it would've been in this race if we would have seen a 1:45, Mickey clearly wasn't really pushed here, not to take anything away from Shambala, but Mickey still had more in my opinion
Time trial means no competition, no pulling to the outside, no type of obstructions. You can't compare the two. Stop being a democrat. This is not a participation trophy.
@@pablovelazquez5666 Pablo, I started with trotters in the late 60s, so I'm an old timer and a traditionalist. I always found time trials interesting and a good test of a horses ability under ideal circumstances. It's not a race, but the horse doesn't know that, and it's certainly not nothing.
@@comesahorseman your response tells me you never touch a horse. If you don't think a horse having to pull to the outside, having a horse cut him off, having to check up behind another sulky and almost hitting the driver's head with his nose, having dirt thrown in his face, effect the horse pacing, you are an idiot.
@@pablovelazquez5666 Some of your points are relevant, but on the flip side one key point is that getting a suck along in the slipstream of another horse during a race is a huge advantage verse a time trial where the horse needs to break the wind the entire way.
A horse called My Field Marshall paced a 1:46.9 in Australia yesterday in the biggest mile race in the southern hemisphere. That's the record in Australia and the 7th fastest time in history on the only mile track in Australia without the use of performance enhancing drugs. Given that the majority of money in Australia is in mile and a half cups racing its fair to say that there is nothing between the racing centres. Mind you ... every horse in the race was out if an American stallion... Bettors Delight, Art Major and Four Stars Shark among them.
@@karloomick karloo both never the same after that race, jilliby had a few barrier trials and a second and soho never the same, same with chicago bull, they said flipped in his stall, maybe on track after 18 months rest, who I felt better then the rest..Lazarus never fired (mile not his game) and tiger tara as well..
@@comesahorseman good question... the US sulkies are permitted in Aust... a few people used to use them but you very rarely see them now. If they were faster surely they'd be using them. The difference in the sulkies has nothing to do with speed... its safety related. It is thought that the length and angle of the shafts reduces the risk of catapulting in the driver in an accident. In Australia a raft of safety changes were made in the 90's... they got rid of running rails and introduced sprint lanes and other things seen on US tracks. There wasn't actually a lot of evidence that the US carts (I cant remember their names) were in fact any safer so were not adopted.
@@raygordonteacheschess5501 you could make a case that Lather Ups trip was superior because it was at night; track surfaces are usually a little slower at night.
@@comesahorseman true. Plus Meadowlands is a bit slower of a track, however Lather Up was clearly better than the field. He wasn't amongst horses that could keep up with him like Mickey was. But still very impressive win by Lather up
Modified sulky's made a mockery out of harness racing. I went to Liberty Bell Park where are all the greats drove back then Stanley Dancer, Herve Filion to name a few. Sometime in the late 70's they brought in the modified sulky. Liberty Bell was a 5/8 mile track. I had a friend who when he went use to record horses who broke the 2 minute mile. I understand horses go much faster at a mile track. I remember when Niatross time trialed at 149.5 but it has gotten ridiculous when a horse can go 1.46. There was a real charm when 2 minutes was considered a standard at 5/8 and everyone got excited when we saw 1.58 and 1.57.
Even more impressive when u consider he did this after suffering a second broken leg. In my opinion the Greatest harness horse of all time. There are valid arguments probably against that comment, but in my eyes he will always be the best
He should not have won horse of the year that year. Wiggle it could race anywhere on any size track. This was a set up for Miki because they knew it was perfect conditions for him. He needed certain tracks to win. His ankles were bothering him. He could not race another year. Not a superior horse.
WHAT? The horse broke his ankle and still came back to break the world record. Also was hung the whole race against Wiggle It Jiggle It in a 1:19 3/4 mile and beat Wiggle It Jiggle it. Sorry, but I completely disagree.