August 4th marks one of the biggest days in Standardbred Harness Racing: The Hambletonian Stakes! At the Hambletonian (aka the Hambo), horses race in one-mile heats with the purse being one million dollars! That would be a life time of strawberry frosted donuts if I had that kind of money! Harness racing involves only Standardbred horses that compete with a specific gait: either a trot or pace. This is unlike Thoroughbred racing which requires horses to gallop around the track. Harness racing also requires drivers who sit in a small two wheeled cart called a sulky, as opposed to having a jockey on their back like in Thoroughbred races. The Hambletonian Stakes is known as the Standardbred equivalent of the Kentucky Derby!