From
USHWA (U.S. Harness Writers Association)
HARRISBURG, PA---Positive
commentary and industrious promotion of harness racing are the best ways to
gain new owners, fans and gamblers as well as retain the ones already engaged
in order to keep this industry viable for the next generation. And there is no
one that does these things more effectively on a daily basis than T.J. Burkett
and Jason Settlemoir. As a result, they will each be presented an USHWA
President’s Award for their contributions to the sport at the 2018 Dan Patch
Awards Banquet that will be held at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando,
Florida on Sunday, February 25.
Burkett is the Executive
Editor of Hoof Beats Magazine and has spent more than a decade working on the
publication for the U.S. Trotting Association. After joining the USTA in 2007
as associate editor, he became the youngest-ever executive editor of Hoof Beats
in December of 2010.
Burkett has continued the
magazine's long tradition of providing harness racing fans with an insider’s
view of the sport through in-depth features and profiles. But he has also
directed the magazine’s focus to promoting the stars of racing, tackling the issues that
racing faces and shining a light on those who work hard at every level, but
haven't gotten the recognition they deserve.
During his tenure, Burkett
has implemented some significant improvements in the monthly publication. Among
the biggest was the transition of the annual Stan Bergstein experimental
ratings to a modern day formula, the significant growth of the Hoof Beats photo
contest and introducing the digital format “Hoof Beats Direct” in 2013, making
the magazine easily accessible through any handheld device.
Currently Burkett is
supervising a major redesign of Hoof Beats that is scheduled to be unveiled in March
of 2018. He is also leading the way on a project to digitize the entire
historical archive of the magazine with search term capability.
Settlemoir is the COO/GM of
New Meadowlands Racetrack and Winners OTW at Bayonne, N.J., and is vice
president of racing, simulcast and sponsorship for American Racing and
Entertainment (Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs).
He is also simulcast
director for the Little Brown Jug as well as their second announcer, a vice
president of Harness Tracks of America, past president and chairman of the U.S.
Harness Writers Association, a Grand Circuit and Little Brown Jug Society
Director, a member of the USHWA Hall of Fame Screening Committee, and a
director for the United States Trotting Association.
Settlemoir was awarded the
2006 U.S. Harness Writers Association's Lew Barasch Breakthrough Award for his
work in opening up Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs and was inducted into the
Upstate New York Chapter of USHWA's Hall of Fame in 2011.
Settlemoir has also always
been a big part of any community he has lived in and sat on the board of
directors for the Tioga County Chamber of Commerce, the Southern Tier Red Cross
and the Tioga County United Way, where he was chair for the annual campaign
drive, before making his move to The Meadowlands and New Jersey.
“T.J. and Jason were both
born and raised in this business and have made it their life’s work. Their
extensive first-hand experience gives them a unique understanding of harness
racing at every level,” said Tim Bojarski, President of USHWA. “They both come
to the office each day with a positive attitude towards the sport, its
participants and the viability of its future, and they work to try to infuse
that into every aspect of their individual responsibilities. As a result. I
believe harness racing as a whole is better for their efforts now and will
continue to improve in the future under their respective leadership
roles.”
“Although rivals at the
academic level (Burkett went to Michigan State and Settlemoir Ohio State), the
Big 10 produced a great team of harness racing proponents who both have made
significant contributions to date and will continue to do so for a long time,”
Bojarski concluded.
