The 2021 Horse of the Year will be announced Sunday night, Feb. 20, at the annual U.S. Harness Writers Association’s (USHWA) Dan Patch Awards dinner, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment, at Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Fla. But even if you aren’t among the attendees you will be able to watch the announcement live via USHWA’s Facebook page.
The banquet will be held in the
Gatlin D ballroom, and after a one-hour cocktail party, the awards ceremony
will get underway at 6:30 p.m. (EST) and will be available via the USHWA
Facebook page. At approximately 9:30 p.m., emcees Roger Huston, Jason
Settlemoir and Dave Little will announce the winner of the E. Roland Harriman
Horse of the Year trophy, which follows the revealing of the names of the Pacer
of the Year and Trotter of the Year.
To access USHWA’s Facebook
page, please click
here. The entire video will also be available on the U.S. Trotting
Association’s website the following day, Monday, Feb. 21, by clicking here.
Post time for the
evening is 5:30 p.m., with a one-hour cocktail reception sponsored by Lindy
Farms, Preferred Equine and David McDuffee. Also starring on the Diamond Creek
Red Carpet will be Heather Vitale and Heather Wilder, with the two Heathers
broadcasting live on their individual Facebook pages. It’s your opportunity to
see who’s wearing what and what the attendees have to say about the
festivities.
Heather Vitale’s Facebook page
can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/PacinHeather. Heather Wilder’s
Facebook page can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/heather.k.wilder
Also, this year’s Dan Patch
Awards evening will be capped off by a special afterparty next door to the
ballroom. The two-hour, open bar afterparty, sponsored by Nancy Takter, Black
Horse Racing, David Miller, Nifty Norman Stable, Heritage Hill Farm and
Kentuckiana Farms, will be highlighted by local deejay Sarah Masters spinning
tunes for dancing.
