The harness racecourse at Redcliffe is a short local track, only 835 meters long. The straight is 170 meters making it one of the shorter tracks in Queensland. Redcliffe has an all weather surface of crushed dust, which allows races to go ahead no matter what the weather is doing outside. This means less cancelled or abandoned races.
Redcliffe Peninsula Harness Racing Club
The club that operated the track at Redcliffe is called the Redcliffe Peninsula Harness Racing Club. They have been in operation for over fifty years, promoting the sport of harness racing in Redcliffe. The motto of the track is The Best Bet, referring both to betting at the track and watching races at he track. The Redcliffe Peninsula Harness racing club promote the venue as a family outing, offering a number of amenities.
Amenities At Redcliffe
The track complex is run by the Redcliffe Peninsula Harness racing club and offers amenities for the whole family. Children are entertained on race days via activities such as jumping castles and face painting. There are a number of bars and a cafe restaurant called Pacers. The bars can only be accessed by people of legal drinking and gambling age due to the tote facilities that are offered inside them. The restaurant does not have any betting facilities but families are encouraged to bring their children to have a meal.
Tote facilities are provided at the track in a number of ways. On big race days, there are onsite bookies that unfortunately are not there on smaller days. They can be contacted by telephone in some cases however. Electronic tote machines are always on site, offering betting on local races as well as national ones. There are also televisions in the bars that show TAB races being held nationwide.
Harness Racing
Harness racing is an equestrian racing sport where the horses pull a small cart called a sulky. Unlike flat racing, harness horses are not thoroughbreds but are standardbreds instead. Standardbreds are bigger boned and less delicate than their equine cousins, lending themselves better to the harder tracks and rougher terrain of Harness racing and those seen on horse betting sites.
There are two main types of harness racing, trotting and pacing. Harness horses are not allowed to break into a gallop or a canter and have to maintain either of these two gaits depending on which type of race they are in. Trotting is a natural gait for a horse where they move alternative legs forward at the same time. Trotting horses are taught to enhance the gait, making their stride longer and faster without breaking into a canter. To do this many trainers use a piece of equipment called hopples, which be seen on the horses as they race.
Pacing is similar to trotting, but the horse moves both legs on one side at a time. This is a gait which has to be taught to the horses as it is not a natural one. Hopples are used for this as well, and can also be seen on the horses as they race.
Placing a bet on harness racing is a popular past time in Australia. Many people follow the races quite keenly and have favourite local and national horse betting sites to enjoy the sport quite often