Harness: News and Notes from the Dan Patch Awards

Another spectacular Dan Patch weekend is in the books. It was especially rewarding for me having received a Hervey Award for writing excellence and USHWA’s Member of the Year award.

This was my first time on the Dan Patch stage in front of the spotlight and I never realized how blinding it can be. The only person in the crowd of 350 that I could clearly make out was Anders Strom, and he was no more than 15 feet away. Ultimately, I made it through two speeches without being booed off the stage. I’ll call that a success.

There were no real surprises as Trotter of the Year went to Greenshoe and Horse of the Year to pacer Shartin. I pitched an idea to hold close divisional races over until the night of the awards rather than announce them in late December/early January (like Atlanta vs. Manchego, which was decided by a few votes), but it received only lukewarm support. Many in the room felt the owners and connections didn’t like the travel and expense of coming to a banquet where they could ultimately lose. I’d certainly be curious if owners and horsemen felt this way.

A big shout out goes to the members of USHWA who behind the scenes put on the Dan Patch awards every year. I’m not sure those outside the organization realize how much work goes into making sure the awards go off smoothly and that the organization can continue to put on the show year after year.

Another highlight of the weekend personally was fellow DRF writer Jay Bergman making it on the ballot for the Communicator’s Hall of Fame. Jay’s been with DRF since 2012 and we also worked together for eight years at Sports Eye. He served as a leading voice in the sport for much of the 1980s and 1990s and to this day is still writing at the top of his game. Here’s hoping we are inducting him at Goshen come July 2021.

Leaving names out of it, two different people involved with award winners told me in conversation at the after-party about how decades ago they had no money and were going nowhere in the sport. Now they are both literally on the top of the harness world. The road to success isn’t always easy or quick. It is great to see people fight through tough times to make it to the Promised Land.

It is always great to see people who weren’t getting awards in the crowd. Yannick Gingras and Andrew McCarthy drove Saturday night at The Meadowlands and flew down to Florida Sunday to stand alongside the owners and trainers of horses they drove. They could’ve stayed in New Jersey but clearly realize the value of networking and relationships.

Last year didn’t quite go the way Brian Brown was hoping, but he was in attendance. The always affable trainer told me he had more setbacks with North America Cup and Meadowlands Pace third-place finisher Workin Ona Mystery but felt the now 4-year-old was finally on the right track. He also said that Proof, the Breeders Crown runner-up as a 2-year-old in 2018, was doing well on the comeback trail after missing a bunch of time last year.

Hall of Fame driver Brian Sears mentioned that he’d be returning north in early April and would be back in the bike by the middle of the month. The driver of Trotter of the Year Greenshoe is just $2 million in earnings shy of becoming the fifth driver in history to reach $200 million.