How important is track distance in harness racing?

The traditional distance for a harness race is one mile – or 1609 metres – and in many countries, virtually all harness races are run over this trip.

Indeed, the standard measurement for a horse’s performance is the mile rate, which measures the horse’s time over that distance. Where a race is shorter or longer than a mile, the time is grossed up or down, based on the full race time, to give the mile rate.

In Australia harness races are regularly run over longer distances, often up to 2,650 metres.

With tracks typically measuring between 7000 and 1,000 metres in circumference, multiple laps of the course are completed during a race.

Australia’s major metropolitan harness racing tracks have a range of distances and profiles: