Harness: Rinker, Lefkowitz make ballot for Communicators Hall of Fame

Kim Rinker and the late Barry Lefkowitz were selected as the two candidates advancing to this summer's balloting for the Communicators Hall Of Fame, as determined during the Saturday directors meeting of the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA).

Kim Rinker has served in a number of editorial and writing positions in her harness racing career, and along the way has won three John Hervey Awards for outstanding journalism; she has also worked in publicity for several organizations. Rinker rose through the ranks of USHWA's officials ladder after serving as a chapter director. And Kim is the longtime compiler-editor-designer of USHWA's annual Dan Patch Awards Banquet souvenir Journal, consistently giving advertisers what they request in ads while also producing a factual and wonderful-looking book.

It is USHWA tradition for the outgoing President to be elevated to Chair of the Board after their term at the top. It was ironic that Rinker will now be stepping away from a second "term" as Chair, succeeding Lefkowitz, who had that position before passing away from cancer not long after the 2025 meetings.

When harness racing was his primary career, Lefkowitz was the publicist at Roosevelt Raceway, with many International Trot duties among varied items in his portfolio there, and he also worked at Batavia Downs as general manager, and in publicity and simulcast roles at Jackson Raceway, Scioto Downs, and Windsor Raceway. Barry's business was primarily in the insurance field in later years, though he remained a contributor to several statistical reports and other racing coverage. Lefkowitz's lasting legacy for USHWA will be his dynamic contribution to the revamping of the organization's financial and business situations, bringing his knowledge and applying it with vigor and a never-give-up attitude.

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Kim Rinker and Barry Lefkowitz will go before the USHWA voters during the mid-summer balloting for Communicators Hall Of Fame election, as will those nominees for the sport's Hall Of Fame during a July meeting of USHWA's Screening Committee, to be held in Goshen, New York. A nominee must get three-quarters of the yes-no votes in order to receive the grand honor. Announcements are usually made in the latter part of summer.

A summary release of the Directors and Membership meetings of USHWA will be sent out this mid-week, after the stars of the past season honored at the Dan Patch Awards Banquet, presented by Caesars Entertainment, get their Monday day in the media sun following the Sunday night banquet.

The United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) is the leading group of communicators about the Standardbred horse. USHWA conducts the official annual balloting for the sport's most prestigious honors: induction to the Hall of Fame and Communicators Hall of Fame, along with the selection of the Horse of the Year, Trotter and Pacer of the Year, and the leading divisional horses of each season. Each year USHWA hosts the Dan Patch Awards Banquet, honoring the best and brightest performers in North American harness racing. This banquet is the Association's principal source of funding, and with generous financial support from the harness racing and breeding industry, USHWA is able to host the banquet at a world-class facility in a world-class manner.

--press release (USHWA)--