harness has seen continued equipment improvements--mostly with the sulky--over the past 40 years, and that has contributed greatly to the faster times. the new equipment has made speed more of a factor, and breeding has pointed more and more in that direction as a result. it's generally accepted that the standardbred horse of today is a significantly faster animal than that of thirty years ago, and there are few multiple heat endurance races these days. i've always figured that since the standardbred was traditionally bred as much for endurance and reliability as speed, there 's a lot more room for improvement in breeding on the speed side than with the thoroughbreds, who have been bred in that direction for God knows how long.

Big Ant, certainly more races are raced on big tracks these days but faster and faster times have become the norm over the years over all track sizes.