Post by trackrat on Jan 4, 2012 17:06:14 GMT -5
Pandy Interviews Curt Watson-Creator Of The UFO Sulky
By Bob Pandolfo
The most popular sulky the past several years has been the "Harmer" bike, which is sold by trainer Tom Harmer. The Harmer was the first offset bike, meaning that the sulky is actually offset to the left by six inches. From a purely mathematical standpoint, a horse should pace or trot faster in an offset bike. The horse is actually racing a shorter mile because it's closer to the pylons.
Now there's a new sulky making the rounds, the UFO. This bike is offset by 10 inches, four more than the popular Harmer bike. This means that the horse is actually racing 10 inches closer to the rail than the older bikes that are not offset. It's hard to believe that you could do that without the sulky hitting the horse, or the horse being hard to steer.
But sulky designer Curt Watson has never found a problem he couldn't tackle. Watson, a former trainer and driver, is the mastermind behind the UFO Sulky. As a driver and trainer, his biggest win came at the Meadowlands when he won a division of the Four Leaf Clover series with Shock Treatment in 1985.
Watson got into the business as a teenager when he bought his first horse for $300. His interest in sulky design started shortly thereafter.
"I used Joe King's single-shaft sulky on my horse one night and it really moved him up big time," Watson told me. "That's what got me interested in designing sulkies."
Watson explained that Joe King got the idea for the original single shaft from his days in the army.
"Joe told me that the Jeeps were getting stuck in the mud but they had horses hitched to single-shaft wagons and they got right through."
King, who designed the first steel bike called the Modified Sulky, was an engineer. Watson does it with trial and error and good instincts; he does not have an engineering background.
Watson has designed some well known bikes, such as the "single hitch" sulky, and the Cheetah bike, which may have been the fastest of all. He sold about a thousand Cheetahs but the USTA eventually ruled that the Cheetah did not meet certain requirements and it was banished.
Over the years, Watson has created other pieces of equipment besides sulkies. He designed the black overcheck that was used on Artsplace and other horses to keep a horse's head in a good position. He sold the lighter carbon fibre sulky wheels.
"I like to tinker with equipment to see if I can get a horse to go faster," he said. "The Cheetah was a terrific bike. I did well betting horses that had the Cheetah bike when it came out; it really helped horses go faster."
The UFO is easy to spot. It's black and the shafts appear to be straight, not bent out like the Harmer. The wheels also have curved spokes. A few horses have set track records at Yonkers using the bike, although the records don't figure to last long. Gallant Yankee won the open in 1:59.1 for a mile and a sixteenth with the UFO bike. Jason Bartlett, George Brennan and Cat Manzi, are a few of the drivers that have been testing the new sulky at Yonkers. Ron Pierce won five out of nine races (plus four seconds) with it at Dover Downs.
Watson estimates that the bike can improve a horse by as much as four lengths, especially over a half or five-eighths track.
To overcome the 10 inch offset, Watson designed several changes to accommodate the horse and driver. He made the wheel hub two and five-eighths inches shorter, which means that there are two inches of additional room inside the wheels. This avoids problems with horses hitting their legs, something that is fairly common with other bikes. He also cambered the frame for more aerodynamics.
One of the most important ingredients is the steel.
"I use the finest aircraft material steel. It's lighter and more expensive than the steel made in China," he said. "To make sure we don't have problems with breaking, I put tubes inside the arch that runs under the seat. They've used this for years in race cars. It helps the strength and the bike also tracks better."
Watson explained that the driver also sits higher in the UFO and has better visibility.
Another important upgrade is the ease of adjustments. The wheels can be moved forward to adjust the lift and the UFO also has adjustable stirrups and seats. "The drivers can adjust it easily and quickly just by pulling out a pin," he said. This is sure to be a popular feature.
The new bike only weighs 40 pounds (60 with wheels), which Watson said is about 30 pounds lighter than most of the other bikes being used.
When you look at the bike on the track, it appears to be narrower than the Harmer bike, which Watson said is not an optical illusion. The bike is only 56 inches wide and has smaller wheels, so there's room inside for the horse. Watson said that the bike tracks better on the turns and is more of an advantage on the smaller tracks, but it will show up at the Meadowlands soon.
Usually, whenever a new and improved sulky comes out it helps horses go wire-to-wire. I mentioned that to Watson and he admitted that he does expect it to help horses on the lead. But, he said that when Ron Pierce won five races at Dover with it, he didn't go wire-to-wire in any of them.
The UFO sells for $7,000. Unlike years ago, when the trainers bought the bikes, now the drivers pony up the money. Watson told me he is very busy filling orders for catch-drivers, so it appears that the UFO is here to stay.
What do I think of it? Well, from a handicapping perspective, I do believe that the UFO is moving horses up at Yonkers. I haven't had enough time to evaluate it and make an educated guess about how much it can mean in terms of time. But I would certainly suggest that you watch for it and adjust your handicapping accordingly. The bike is smaller than the other bikes and Watson admitted that some horses, perhaps as many as 10 percent, will need a larger bike than the UFO.
My hope is that the bike doesn't just improve horses on the front end. It would be great if horses could close better as well. But, from a handicapping perspective, right now I'm going to be more interested in betting a horse with the UFO if I feel that the horse is in a position where it can get to the lead. I'll also watch for horses using it for the first time, especially if there are only one or two other UFO bikes in the race.
Most of you know that I'm not a fan of these steel sulkies. Faster final times usually help front runners and make for a poor outside flow, which in my opinion is ultimately bad for the sport. But I don't blame the drivers for buying the bikes, or a creative entrepreneur like Curt Watson for designing and selling these faster sulkies.
By Bob Pandolfo
The most popular sulky the past several years has been the "Harmer" bike, which is sold by trainer Tom Harmer. The Harmer was the first offset bike, meaning that the sulky is actually offset to the left by six inches. From a purely mathematical standpoint, a horse should pace or trot faster in an offset bike. The horse is actually racing a shorter mile because it's closer to the pylons.
Now there's a new sulky making the rounds, the UFO. This bike is offset by 10 inches, four more than the popular Harmer bike. This means that the horse is actually racing 10 inches closer to the rail than the older bikes that are not offset. It's hard to believe that you could do that without the sulky hitting the horse, or the horse being hard to steer.
But sulky designer Curt Watson has never found a problem he couldn't tackle. Watson, a former trainer and driver, is the mastermind behind the UFO Sulky. As a driver and trainer, his biggest win came at the Meadowlands when he won a division of the Four Leaf Clover series with Shock Treatment in 1985.
Watson got into the business as a teenager when he bought his first horse for $300. His interest in sulky design started shortly thereafter.
"I used Joe King's single-shaft sulky on my horse one night and it really moved him up big time," Watson told me. "That's what got me interested in designing sulkies."
Watson explained that Joe King got the idea for the original single shaft from his days in the army.
"Joe told me that the Jeeps were getting stuck in the mud but they had horses hitched to single-shaft wagons and they got right through."
King, who designed the first steel bike called the Modified Sulky, was an engineer. Watson does it with trial and error and good instincts; he does not have an engineering background.
Watson has designed some well known bikes, such as the "single hitch" sulky, and the Cheetah bike, which may have been the fastest of all. He sold about a thousand Cheetahs but the USTA eventually ruled that the Cheetah did not meet certain requirements and it was banished.
Over the years, Watson has created other pieces of equipment besides sulkies. He designed the black overcheck that was used on Artsplace and other horses to keep a horse's head in a good position. He sold the lighter carbon fibre sulky wheels.
"I like to tinker with equipment to see if I can get a horse to go faster," he said. "The Cheetah was a terrific bike. I did well betting horses that had the Cheetah bike when it came out; it really helped horses go faster."
The UFO is easy to spot. It's black and the shafts appear to be straight, not bent out like the Harmer. The wheels also have curved spokes. A few horses have set track records at Yonkers using the bike, although the records don't figure to last long. Gallant Yankee won the open in 1:59.1 for a mile and a sixteenth with the UFO bike. Jason Bartlett, George Brennan and Cat Manzi, are a few of the drivers that have been testing the new sulky at Yonkers. Ron Pierce won five out of nine races (plus four seconds) with it at Dover Downs.
Watson estimates that the bike can improve a horse by as much as four lengths, especially over a half or five-eighths track.
To overcome the 10 inch offset, Watson designed several changes to accommodate the horse and driver. He made the wheel hub two and five-eighths inches shorter, which means that there are two inches of additional room inside the wheels. This avoids problems with horses hitting their legs, something that is fairly common with other bikes. He also cambered the frame for more aerodynamics.
One of the most important ingredients is the steel.
"I use the finest aircraft material steel. It's lighter and more expensive than the steel made in China," he said. "To make sure we don't have problems with breaking, I put tubes inside the arch that runs under the seat. They've used this for years in race cars. It helps the strength and the bike also tracks better."
Watson explained that the driver also sits higher in the UFO and has better visibility.
Another important upgrade is the ease of adjustments. The wheels can be moved forward to adjust the lift and the UFO also has adjustable stirrups and seats. "The drivers can adjust it easily and quickly just by pulling out a pin," he said. This is sure to be a popular feature.
The new bike only weighs 40 pounds (60 with wheels), which Watson said is about 30 pounds lighter than most of the other bikes being used.
When you look at the bike on the track, it appears to be narrower than the Harmer bike, which Watson said is not an optical illusion. The bike is only 56 inches wide and has smaller wheels, so there's room inside for the horse. Watson said that the bike tracks better on the turns and is more of an advantage on the smaller tracks, but it will show up at the Meadowlands soon.
Usually, whenever a new and improved sulky comes out it helps horses go wire-to-wire. I mentioned that to Watson and he admitted that he does expect it to help horses on the lead. But, he said that when Ron Pierce won five races at Dover with it, he didn't go wire-to-wire in any of them.
The UFO sells for $7,000. Unlike years ago, when the trainers bought the bikes, now the drivers pony up the money. Watson told me he is very busy filling orders for catch-drivers, so it appears that the UFO is here to stay.
What do I think of it? Well, from a handicapping perspective, I do believe that the UFO is moving horses up at Yonkers. I haven't had enough time to evaluate it and make an educated guess about how much it can mean in terms of time. But I would certainly suggest that you watch for it and adjust your handicapping accordingly. The bike is smaller than the other bikes and Watson admitted that some horses, perhaps as many as 10 percent, will need a larger bike than the UFO.
My hope is that the bike doesn't just improve horses on the front end. It would be great if horses could close better as well. But, from a handicapping perspective, right now I'm going to be more interested in betting a horse with the UFO if I feel that the horse is in a position where it can get to the lead. I'll also watch for horses using it for the first time, especially if there are only one or two other UFO bikes in the race.
Most of you know that I'm not a fan of these steel sulkies. Faster final times usually help front runners and make for a poor outside flow, which in my opinion is ultimately bad for the sport. But I don't blame the drivers for buying the bikes, or a creative entrepreneur like Curt Watson for designing and selling these faster sulkies.
