If you have walked into a barn in your life there is a good chance you've seen the board. It is basically an account of the activity for the barn -- which horses are training, jogging, getting vet work, etc. While I don't have a stable of horses to account for on a daily basis, sitting about a foot to my left each day is a white board. It has a list of potential names for upcoming On The Backstretch interviews, an overview of what is going in the newsletter that week, and a number of ideas or topics that I want to touch on in the coming weeks or months. Some topics require a column of their own, but once or twice a year they are better presented as a flurry of thoughts. This is one of those times. CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE Harness Racing takes plenty of heat for not making changes or innovating. Perhaps we can give the sport some love for a number of advances over the last year and use that as proof that some in the industry are taking things seriously. Takeout Reduction: Sure takeout is not where some bettors want it to be or where most bettors need it to be, but a number of tracks have recognized the problem and taken steps to correct it. Just in the last few months . . . * Yonkers Raceway lowered its takeout on the Pick 4/5/6 to 20 percent. * Harrah's Philadelphia completely revamped its menu with a 15 percent Pick 4, an 18 percent Pick 5, multiple 15 percent Super Hi-5's, and a significant reduction on trifecta and superfecta wagering to 26 percent. * Pocono Downs followed suit with its fellow Pennsylvania track on April 1, lowering Win-Place-Show wagers two percent to 17, trifecta and superfecta from 30 to 26 percent, and Pick 3/4 wagers got a 5 percent reduction to 20. * Dover Downs reduced its Pick 5 takeout from 25 percent to 15 percent in January. Twitter user @cangamble posted a complete list of harness takeout rates on April 12 that can be viewed here. If you feel takeout is important (and it is), the best advice is to support those tracks which offer low rates. HD Video: Whether or not the pandemic played a role is unknown, but a number of harness tracks finally joined the 21st century by not only adding HD video to its lineup but also sending that signal out to the simulcast world. Monticello Raceway, Cal Expo, The Meadows and Pocono all began streaming in HD over the last year and rumor has it that Scioto Downs and Harrah's Philadelphia could join the club in the near future. They join The Meadowlands, Woodbine Mohawk Park, Yonkers and Harrah's Hoosier on the spectrum of clear and visible feeds that already utilize the technology. Some people may argue that HD video falls under tracks simply doing "what they should be doing" and perhaps that is a fair argument. The fact is that going back just one year most tracks weren't offering it, so to more than double the numbers in a year shows positive intention on behalf of a number of tracks. Alternating dates: Right at the top of my wish list for harness racing is cooperation between tracks. Creating scenarios where there is less direct competition is vital for the sport's survival and future success. When tracks find windows where they only have to race at the same time as two or three other entities, handle spikes and that is good for everyone involved in the sport. One of the best displays of cooperation comes from Pennsylvania tracks Philadelphia and Pocono. Both part of the PHHA (Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen's Association) circuit, the tracks race alternating dates during the week with the exception of Sunday, and even then, one races at 12:40 p.m. and the other at 5 p.m., so the conflict is minimal. MGM properties Yonkers Raceway and Northfield Park have worked together in an attempt to avoid conflicts. Despite racing four to five nights each, Yonkers currently has Monday, Thursday and Friday to itself while Northfield gets Saturday and Sunday. Maine may not be the top simulcasting signal in the world, but tracks in the Pine Tree State have made an effort to avoid each other. Bangor Raceway is racing Sunday and Wednesday while the new First Tracks Cumberland will be racing Tuesday and Saturday during the spring. THE BIG THREE Unless you follow Cal Expo, you've probably never heard of them, but few horses have put on a better show this year than Mandeville, Pridecrest and Silverhill Volo. The three Open trotters have faced off seven times in 2021 with the scorecard reading Mandeville 3, Silverhill Volo 2 and Pridecrest 2. In every match-up except one they all finished in the top three. With California isolated from the rest of the Standardbred world in terms of location, the same horses tend to compete against each other with regularity. The "big three" only get to race every other week since they dominate the rest of the upper-level open trotters at Cal Expo, but when they head to the track, it is always a good show. I'm looking forward to seeing them back in California when racing resumes in November. SMARTEST PERSON IN THE ROOM In reality there is no room since they compete in the open air on the track, but I often think of the headlined term when watching some drivers compete. Specifically this is about noticing a situation and taking advantage of it, whether it a track bias due to weather or lack of early speed in a race, some drivers seem to be better than others at making a quick adjustment. One of the reasons for Dexter Dunn's success has been his ability to make aggressive moves when the moment calls for it. Yannick Gingras is also another driver who can read a track bias with the best of them and drive accordingly. That's not to say others don't catch on but these are two men who are willing to "go for it" more quickly than others when they see a potential advantage. HARNESS RACING FAN ZONE Remember years ago when there were arguments in the industry about spending money to fund the Harness Racing Fan Zone and other digital marketing experiments? Some seven years later I would argue that the Fan Zone, at least on social media, provides an important outlet to a wider audience that no other Standardbred entity is accessing. The Facebook page for HRFZ is followed by 65,491 people, triple that of the United States Trotting Association, 20,000 more than The Meadowlands and 30,000 more than Woodbine Mohawk Park. Access to so many people provides an opportunity to reach those outside of the sport or more casual fans, which is vital to survival. BORGATA FINAL If every race at Yonkers Raceway, or any track for that matter, had six horses gunning for the early lead like the $514,000 Borgata final on Monday (4/19), harness racing in general would be a more fun to watch sport. Granted the race became anticlimactic as Yannick Gingras gunned to the front with This Is The Plan and never looked back, it was still nice eye candy with so much early action. BEST TIME OF THE YEAR Stakes season officially starts Saturday in my mind as 3-year-olds will take to the track at The Meadows for the first leg of Pennsylvania Sire Stakes. This is the most exciting time of the year as we don't yet know who the stars will be and any horse from the undefeated Perfect Sting to some yet to be raced 3-year-old could step up. One of the horses I'm intrigued by is American Courage and he qualified very nicely on Wednesday morning at The Downs at Pocono for trainer Travis Alexander and driver Matt Kakaley. Despite finishing second (timed in 1:52 2/5) it was truly a perfect effort. He was kept under a hold in third, passed the gapping pocket-sitter on the final turn and settled down nicely to chase the leader home while looking like he could've won if that was the goal. "It was perfect. We didn't want to go more than that. It was a good way to come back," said Alexander. His first start could be at Yonkers Raceway in the Reynolds series on Friday, May 7. And now my white board is mostly clean. Feels good!