From the U.S. Harness
Writers Association
Five-year-old stallion Always B Miki on Monday was named
harness racing’s Pacer of the Year and Horse of the Year by the U.S. Harness
Writers Association while 3-year-old colt Marion Marauder was named Trotter of
the Year in the closest vote in the 46-year history of the award.
Always B Miki, who on Friday
was named the Dan Patch Award winner for best older male pacer, defeated
4-year-old gelding Wiggle It Jiggleit in the voting for Pacer of the Year,
109-37, and for Horse of the Year, 102-32. Wiggle It Jiggleit was the 2015
Horse of the Year.
Marion Marauder, who this year
became the ninth horse in history to win the Trotting Triple Crown, edged
4-year-old mare Hannelore Hanover in the voting for Trotter of the Year, 73-72.
The previous closest finish for Trotter of the Year was in 1971 when Speedy
Crown defeated Fresh Yankee, 71-68.
Hannelore Hanover finished
third in Horse of the Year balloting, with 10 votes, while Marion Marauder was
tied with 3-year-old male pacer Betting Line with four votes apiece.
Always B Miki was trained by
Jimmy Takter, who joins Stanley Dancer as the only trainers to condition at
least three different Horse of the Year winners. Takter’s previous Horse of the
Year champions were trotters Moni Maker, who captured the award in 1998 and
1999, and Malabar Man in 1997.
In addition, Takter is the
fifth trainer to have both a pacer and trotter receive Horse of the Year
honors. He joins Dancer, Blair Burgess, Billy Haughton, and Clint Hodgins in
that group.
Always B Miki, who was twice
sidelined by injuries that forced him to miss the end of his 3-year-old season
and the majority of his 4-year-old campaign, paced the fastest mile in harness
racing history on Oct. 9 at Lexington’s Red Mile when he won the Allerage Open
Pace in 1:46.
His time eclipsed Cambest’s
1:46.1 mark, which was established in a time trial and stood as the record for
23 years, and lowered the race record, shared by multiple horses, by
four-fifths of a second.
In addition to becoming the
fastest horse in history, Always B Miki shares the world record of
1:47 for the fastest mile by a horse on a five-eighths-mile track. Always
B Miki paced 1:47 on a five-eighths oval on three occasions, an unprecedented
feat. He also holds the record of 1:47.1 for the fastest mile ever paced in
Canada.
Always B Miki, driven by David
Miller, won 12 of 18 races this year and finished worse than second only once.
His victories included the Breeders Crown, Ben Franklin, William Haughton
Memorial, and TVG Series championship for male pacers.
“I think he’s the
greatest pacer to ever walk on this earth,” Takter said earlier this year. “I
really do. If everything would have been his way, could you imagine how much
even better he could have been? He’s a great, great horse.”
A son of Always A Virgin out of
the mare Artstopper, Always B Miki was bred by Joe Hurley’s Roll The Dice
Stable, which owns the stallion with Bluewood Stable and Christina Takter.
“If someone said I could win
Powerball for some ridiculous amount of money or have Miki, it wouldn’t even be
a question. It would be Miki,” Hurley said earlier this year. “This is like
Powerball on steroids.”
Marion Marauder, who was named
the sport’s best 3-year-old male trotter last Thursday, was the first Trotting
Triple Crown winner since 2006, sweeping the Hambletonian, Yonkers Trot, and
Kentucky Futurity. In addition, he won the Goodtimes Stakes and a division of
the Stanley Dancer Memorial on his way to $1.48 million in purses. His earnings
led all trotters in North America.
Marion Marauder won 10 of 15
starts and finished second three times this season for the wife-and-husband
training team of Paula Wellwood and Mike Keeling. Marion Marauder is owned by
the couple’s son, Devin Keeling, and Wellwood’s mother, Marion Jean Wellwood.
Scott Zeron was the colt’s regular driver.
A son of stallion Muscle Hill
out of the mare Spellbound Hanover, Marion Marauder was bred by William
Mulligan.
Hannelore Hanover, who was
named the sport’s best older female trotter, won 17 of 20 races and earned
$1.11 million in purses, leading all female trotters in earnings.
The remaining divisional
champion trotters were Walner (2-year-old male), Ariana G (2-year-old female),
Broadway Donna (3-year-old female), and Obrigado (older male). Other divisional
champion pacers were Huntsville (2-year-old male), Idyllic Beach (2-year-old
female), Betting Line (3-year-old male), Pure Country (3-year-old female), and
Lady Shadow (older female).
All winners will be honored at
the Dan Patch Awards banquet presented by Hoosier Park on Sunday (Feb. 26) at
the Planet Hollywood casino in Las Vegas. Information about the Dan Patch
Awards banquet presented by Hoosier Park is available at www.ushwa.org.
