Product Description
New England has played a prominent role in the history of harness racing in America. The greatest horses, owners, drivers and trainers competed here and the sport reached its height of popularity following the legalization of pari-mutuel wagering in the mid-1930's following 300 years of Puritanical resistance to gambling. Today harness racing is barely hanging on as a viable commercial entity. This book details the history of the sport, tracing its rise and near-final fall and the possible solution to saving it. ... Read more

Product Description
A first-of-its kind photographic journey through the history of harness racing, 100 Years in Harness showcases the beauty and historical significance of the sport from 1900 through 1999. The images were gleaned from the USTA archives, the most expansive collection of Standardbred photos in the world. The book is organized in chapters that represent the decades of the 20th century, and features photos of famous horses and people of the time periods, as well scenes and circumstances that show the place of harness racing in the evolving country.BOOKS PERSONALIZED AND SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A must-have harness fan book...
As a longtime harness racing fan I had high expectations for this book--and I was NOT disappointed.

The history draws you in and the photos keep the pages turning. I would recommend this book to anyone who has, or has ever had, an interest in harness racing--or who simply enjoys beautiful photography.

An unforgetable look at one of America's greatest pastimes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Classic
Ainsle gives you a plethora of harness racing data and information in this legendary publication. Although seemingly outdated, there is still plenty of valuable harness racing history here for newcomers and oltimers as well. I first read this book in the 70's and most of the harness drivers mentioned are no longer with us. But, the techniques remain relavent and helpful in plotting your bettingstrategy. The book remains a must read for all harness fans.

Most important book on Harness racing
Though this guide was released in the late 1970's, I consider this to be the most important book written on Harness Racing.The book is well written and interesting, it is not an angles on gambling on races type of book.Instead it is an honest straight forward approach to attending Harness Racing and understanding the sport, its history and creating speed ratings from the racing program.Even regular attendees of the races can learn from this book, and enjoy the read as well. ... Read more

Product Description
Make sure to check out Mr. Tuttle's blog site (www.tuttlerules.com), for winning picks and much more. Plus, it's a wonderful way to read some very lengthy excerpts of all seven of his horse handicapping books currently selling on Amazon.com.I'm publishing my findings; applied theories, and disciplined practices, for very selfish reasons. Go to www.thetuttleway.com to see more! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Dont even Consider Harness Racing Bets until you Read this Book!
This book truly does give you some very useful information about what you need to know in harness racing! It is very well written by the son of a former driver learn all the hidden secrets that most are clueless about now! Stay one step ahead of everyone else with these secret methods from someone who's whole life has been from the inside of the sport! I read his book cover to cover the night I got it! burned out my hightlighter with all the important items I discovered! I have it by me now as i am handicapping and im constanly going back for more useful information...his methods are proven sound and they work! Without this book you might as well be throwing darts at a board blindfolded to pick a winner! Read Harness the Winning and open your eyes to a whole new world of actually understanding and profiting from the world of Harness Racing! See you at the winners circle now!Harness The Winning: The Definitive Book On How To Make A Living Wagering On Nothing But Harness Racing (Volume 1) WEL

Poorly written and edited garbage
Anybody it seems can publish a book these days. This one is badly written and confused. The author does not support any of his assertions with statistical data and offer a series of banal tips, not a winning method.

No decent publisher would even consider printing this half-baked mess of a book, which does not even come remotely close to delivering the promise of the title. A waste of money. ... Read more

Product Description
An innovative analysis of more than 11,000 races at 14 tracks across the country tells readers when favorites are most vulnerable. Heller, who has been covering harness racing for over 22 years, also presents all the important elements of step-by-step handicapping and betting strategy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

So-so
Being a novice handicapping book buyer but an experienced handicapper, I purchased this book thinking that it might add a little something to my arsenal, however it fell waaaaay short of that.The layout of the book is weak in that it provides terrible images of the program pages and then refers to that program page 1-2 pages ahead which causes one to have to keep turning back-and-forth which, for my taste, interferes with continuity and, therefore, comprehension.

It, like almost any other book, did have SOME information that was useful, however, this book is not for the experienced (I should say GOOD) handicapper.It's more for the novice that needs to acquire some basic handicapping skills.

In my opinion, finding "vulnerable favorites" (as the book purports to teach you how to do) was more of the focus of this book instead of finding the best horse.Most favorites are vulnerable by virtue of the fact that MOST of them lose, depending on the track, upwards of 72%.

In short, if you're new to harness racing and need to know basic terminology, how to compute a horse's last half time, how to adjust for different track speed ratings and the like, this book may be a good STARTER book for you.If you're looking to improve on existing handicapping skills, you probably ought to look beyond this book.

More of the same. sigh.
Bill Heller, Harness Overlays: Beating the Favorite (Bonus Books, 1993)

I wanted to like this book. I really did. I own two other Heller books (Overlay, Overlay and Turf Overlays), and they're both at least worthwhile, if not the rock-solid sourcebooks one gets from Brohamer or Quirin. But back ten or so years ago, I read Tom Ainslie's book on harness racing. Ainslie is the undisputed king of Thoroughbred writers, the man who brought Thoroughbred handicapping into the modern age; he is the foundation sire of every handicapper since 1968, in one way or another, directly or indirectly. And, simply put, his harness book was crap. Why I expected Bill Heller to do any better, I'm not sure.

Much of the problem with Harness Overlays lies in its vagueness. There are long stretches of information that are interesting (in at least one chapter, "interesting" is kind of a stretch), but their usefulness at the time of publication, much less eleven years later, is questionable at best. This is okay, relatively, when you've got a six-hundred-page tome and you want to throw in some interesting, not really all that relevant but it'll give the reader a break material. When your book is a quarter that length, you're going to end up with a reader who feels cheated. (By the way, the six hundred page tome I was thinking of when I wrote that is Olmsted's Compleat Handicapper. $65 when I bought it eight years ago, paid for itself on my first bet using one of its principles, and has been worth many times that much over the years. A must-have for any handicapper.)

What the vagueness masks is... very little, really. I take copious notes on handicapping books, usually so I can translate them into code for quick system testing. A slim book with much common-knowledge information or an older book that's had much repetition since and thus has become common knowledge, like Ainslie's Complete Guide to Thoroughbred Racing, will give me about four pages of notes; a book with some math in it and a few ideas I haven't seen before, e.g. Carroll's Handicapping Speed, will give me six or seven; a book heavy in advanced math concepts will give me twenty to thirty (e.g. Brohamer's Modern Pace Handicapping, still the best handicapping book I've ever read). How many pages did I get out of Harness Overlays? Less than one. As a handicapping manual, I can't recommend it in the least.

Where I can give it decent marks is in that vagueness I mentioned above. Two chapters are jockeys' responses to questionnaires about their driving strategies, and the right respondents (four from New York, four from Chicago) are all award-winning drivers. It's great to get into the minds of the best guys out on the track, and those two chapters alone are worth the price of admission. If you're looking for good, solid handicapping material on the trotters and pacers, stick to a guy who specializes in them (Jerry Connors, who wrote the Handicapping Beyond the Basics books, is probably your best bet; there's a dearth of good harness handicapping info out there). **

This book will help you make money...
I bought this book at Borders and it is an excellent book that will help you make money at the track.I thought I knew alot about harness racing but this book takes you to the next level.If your going to gamble make money when your doing it.I am so on fire since I started using this book that it is scary, I can't beleive how good I've gotten.Check this out friends.

The Harness Tips
This book helps you win big at the harrness tracks.It will help you learn how to beat the favorite. If you want to win buy this book ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Timeless Classic
Containing many quotes from famous gamblers of yesteryear and a points rating system that will put you onto the legitimate contenders, this is a must read for all harness handicapping fans. The most valuable aspect of this work is the elimination rules which allow the bettor to get rid of the non-contenders, right off the bat. Some of these eliminations are overlooked by the betting public, which will give you overlay opportunites.
The angles Professor Igor mentions are still valid today. For those track addicts that spend much time at the track, his description of the "head turned horse" is a great one to look for in the cheap claimers where a horse's form varies from week to week and horses racing "gimpy" aren't uncommon.
Although points rating systems for handicapping S-breds should be taken with a grain of salt due to the difficulty in quantifying inter-related and overlapping winning factors numerically, even the seasoned veteran player should be able to profit from this one.

harness racing gold
A book printed in the late 70's still usefull today.Angles are still effective in todays market,also contains a simple point system,that is still highly effective today

For beginner/intermediate player, insightfull yet outdated.
Shows reader how to disect the elements of harness racing and sets up a plausible system, while being light and humorous reading. The system offered is simple and fast, but I haven't been able to show a profit with it.The system may now be outdated or localized to his home track.But whatever the case, the aspiring player needs only to be able to combine these elements in the right way for their track to win. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Only for the complete novice
This is not a book which contains a handicapping system.What you get are excerpts from previous books by the authors, which have been cobbled together. It's my estimation that the authors weren't really out to improve anyone's handicapping abilities with this book but rather, out to make a little money off of previous successes.
Don't waste your time or money with this book.

Gambling times guide to harness racing
A terrible and very disappointing book,not even sutible for a beginner. What is is are some very basic parts of 2 other books Harness racing gold by Igor Kusyshyn And from Stanleys Law by Al Stanley(and it certainly isnt the best of)Each of the 2 books ive mentioned,although almost a quarter of a century old are still usefull in todays market,as are any of Al Stanleys other writings.You are far better off getting a hold of those other books and just pretend this book was never written ... Read more

Product Description
Discusses the buying, breeding, and training of horses for harness racing, describes the event and its rules, and introduces several famous champions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Another simple points system for handicapping harness races.
Ron is a fellow Western New Yorker who believes in establishing some order to the handicapping process by using a points system. This is good for the beginning to intermediate handicapper but I have learned that professional handicapping relies on other factors which can't be quantified as easily as this author would have you believe they can.
This book has sound basic principles and the example races are based on the WNY racing scene. Just to see the names of the horses and drivers from our area reprinted here brought back fond memories of the old days I spent hanging around Bflo. raceway and Batavia Downs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

my first look at horse ownership
when i first bought a harness horse this was the book that a friend told me i had to read. this is one of the most entertaining books i have ever read. it means more to a person who has raced horses as an owner than someone who has never been involved but anyone would enjoy it. it is the story of don eveans and how he became a horse racing nut,an owner, and a hall of fame harness writer.it is full of hilarious stories of the joys and heartbreaks of the sport that i also grew to love as an owner. ... Read more

Product Description
Introduces careers associated with harness racing including groom, trainer, driver, and owner. ... Read more