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| Joe Tomson (Photo by Ed Keys/USTA) |
Later this fall the Monticello Goshen Chapter of the U.S. Harness
Writers Association will honor Thomson. He will be the recipient of the
Lifetime Achievement Award and the presentation will be made when the
chapter holds its 54th Annual Awards Banquet at The Fountains
on Sands Road in Middletown, NY on November 18.
Joe and wife JoAnn founded Winbak Farm in 1991. They had
purchased Winfield Farm, where the great Thoroughbred Northern Dancer was
foaled. Not being able to use the name Winfield the Thomson’s shortened it to
Win and used the initials of their children Bradley, Ashley and Kimberly to
form the name Winbak.
Winbak Farm is the Standardbred breeding industry's largest
single family owned and operated breeding farm. Winbak specializes in standing,
breeding, raising and selling some of the best Standardbred horses in the
industry. Winbak Farm is located on 2,000 acres of lush farmland in Maryland
horse country near Chesapeake City not far from Philadelphia and Baltimore.
In the last ten years, Winbak bred, raised and sold three
Horse of the Year champions: No Pan Intended, Rainbow Blue and Muscle Hill.
Winbak is also the breeder for Hambletonian winners Vivid Photo and Muscle
Hill. This past year, Winbak bred the 3-year-old Pacing Colt of the Year Roll
With Joe. Since 1998 Winbak has bred
winners of over $150-million.
A graduate of Transylvania
University in Lexington, Ky. Thomson earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business
Administration and Economics. Upon graduation in 1966, he served as
a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Today he is
currently a trustee of his alma mater.
Thomson was recently elected
president of the Standardbred Breeders Association of Pennsylvania and is
an honoree of the Little Brown Jug Hall of Fame. He is also a
trustee and director of the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Goshen,
N.Y., and a director of the Hambletonian Society. He is also one of
four owners of The Red Mile in Lexington, Ky. In addition to his holdings in
harness racing, he is president of Pacer Financial Inc., a financial
planning company.
With his outstanding credentials and his dedication to the harness
racing industry , there is little doubt that the Harness Racing Hall of Fame
will come calling in the very near future.
