From the U.S. Harness
Writers Association
HARRISBURG PA – The United
States Harness Writers Association (USHWA), the leading organization of harness
racing’s chroniclers, held its annual meetings at the Rosen Shingle Creek
Resort in Orlando FL for the second consecutive year this past Saturday and
Sunday. The writers’ meetings were held in conjunction with the group’s annual
Dan Patch Awards Banquet, which on Sunday evening celebrated the best of
brightest of the sport during the 2018 racing campaign (including an attending
“mystery guest” – more on him near the end).
Saturday’s meeting gathered
the organization’s board of directors, while Sunday’s session was an open
gathering for all of USHWA’s members.
The major by-law change
passed by the USHWA directors gave a fuller oversight authority to the group’s
Integrity Committee, who now is empowered to take action during all stages of
all of the awards processes, from the start of the nominations all the way
through and beyond the awarding of any honors.
As a result of discussion
during the meetings, two new USHWA Committees were formed. A proposal to
transfer final decisionmaking power on journalists to appear on the annual
Communicators Hall of Fame ballot, which would have shifted that authority from
the Directors to the Hall of Fame Screening Committee, was after a multifaceted
discussion tabled pending a report from the new committee to be established to
study the matter. Also to be the subject of investigation of a committee was
the possibility of producing “past performance line”-type information to aid
voters of the various Dan Patch Equine Awards at year’s end.
USHWA continued its recent
trend of financial responsibility and income production during 2018, showing a
profit for the second straight year. Prospects for 2019 also received an early
boost from the excellent sale of journal ads, sponsorships, and tickets
surrounding the weekend’s Dan Patch Awards Banquet.
As reported earlier, the
Directors voted Ken Weingartner, media relations manager for the U.S. Trotting
Association, and Phil Pikelny, former publicity director at the USTA and
several tracks and also co-author of the book Rambling Willie: The Horse
That God Loved, as ballot candidates for this summer’s election for the
status of being a member of the Communicators Hall of Fame.
The team of Officers in
charge of guiding the fortunes of USHWA was returned for another year: Shawn
Wiles, of Monticello Raceway, as President; Kim Rinker, of the Ohio Sire Stakes
and Ohio Standardbred Development Fund, as Vice-President; and freelance
communicators Barry Lefkowitz and Jerry Connors as, respectively, treasurer and
secretary. The fifth Officer, the multitasking Tim Bojarski, remains as Chair
of the Board, as that position is defined in the USHWA bylaws as the immediate
past president of the organization.
At the Dan Patch Awards
Banquet, USHWA’s Stan Bergstein-Proximity Award, the highest honor voted on
solely by the organization’s members and given for longtime distinguished
service to the sport, was bestowed on the top moneywinning Standardbred of all
time, the $7,635,588 earner Foiled Again. And the banquet crowd was roused to a
standing ovation when the 15-year-old Foiled Again, now in retirement, was
himself walked into the banquet hall , displaying the equanimity (or should
that be “equinimity”?) which had endeared him to so many harness fans on
both sides of the fence during his long and illustrious career.
McWicked, the leading
moneywinner of the 2018 season, took home both Harness Horse of the Year and Pacer
of the Year honors, while the three-year-old filly Atlanta, conqueror of “the
boys” in the prestigious Hambletonian Stake, won plaudits as Trotter of the
Year on the 2018 racing scene.
Also on hand to be honored
were Ted Gewertz, Joe Holloway, Jerry Silverman, and Linda Toscano upon their
election to the sport’s highest honor, the Hall of Fame, along with Mark Hall
and Dave Little, who were voted into the Communicators Hall of Fame. This group
will join with Hall of Fame electees Blair Burgess and Ted Wing to be formally
inducted on the seventh of July at the site of the sport’s Hall, Goshen NY.
