With a third 1:46 mile now taking its place in harness racing history, the question posed to the pacing powerhouses is 'how low can you go?'
In the most current SC poll question, we ask what the world record will be for a Standardbred over one mile at the end of 2022. Both Dexter Dunn and Todd McCarthy — the drivers that engineered this past weekend's 1:46 and 1:46.2 miles from Bulldog Hanover and Rockyroad Hanover, respectively — feel as though there will be a mile paced faster in the not-too distant future.
“We’re sort of getting into that [1]:47 territory so regularly now; we’re seeing those kinds of miles quite a bit at different places,” McCarthy told the USTA. “When the conditions are right and the horses are there, it’s easy to go fast. If we get the right conditions and the right horses and get down to the half a little bit quicker, it’s very likely there could be a [1]:45 mile at some stage this year.”
Since the start of 2020, there have been 14 miles of 1:47.1 or faster. Bulldog Hanover is responsible for two of them.
“It seems to be looking that way, but I’m sure it’s looked that way before and it hasn’t happened," said Dunn, Bulldog Hanover's stateside driver. "A lot of great horses have raced before and not been able to do it. We’ll wait and see. Hopefully a horse does it. It’s good for the game. Records are made to be broken, it’s always said.”
Have your say in the SC web poll at the following link: Based on Bulldog Hanover's 1:46 mile on July 2 at The Meadowlands, what will harness racing's world record for one mile be at the end of 2022?