Trots racing is a form of harness racing where the trotter (horse) moves its legs forward diagonally in pars (right front/left hind followed by left front/right hind).
For harness racing, the trotting gait is extended to maximum length and the horses head is also extended to drive the horse forward. Rather than be named a race, some competitions refer to them as a “leg” with some series including up to and over 9 legs. Each horse competes in the amount of legs listed for that series and receives points based on their placing. For example, in the Barastoc Trotters Grand Circuit Series, the first place getter will receive 5 points, the second will receive 2 points and third will receive 1 point. On completion of all the legs, each horse’s points will be totalled and the trotter with the most points in total will be named the winner.
When racing, there is a lot of strategy used to ensure the driver does not get stuck behind another sulky (two-wheeled carts pulled by the horses). It is very important to not get stuck between two horses when you are unable to move forward. Attaining the lead position can be quite difficult and there are several methods in getting to this position. The driver can either direct the horse to the front on the outside of the track, which makes it difficult to keep up with the leading horses. Otherwise the driver can follow directly behind the leader until the three-quarter mile mark where the horse will then be steered to either behind a horse which is expected to tire or by moving up an open rail. Towards the end of the race, it is often difficult to tell who is in the lead and the final results often need to be examined on paper to determine the winner.
In a single career, drivers are capable of winning thousands of races. The top driver listed in 2006 was Herve Filion who had a won a total of 15,135 races. However, trotting also votes on the best driver by how much money they have earned in their career. With $231.8 million dollars in earnings, John Campbell is the top ranked driver.