The Minnesota Harness Racing annual meeting and awards banquet were held on Saturday (Feb. 23) at Vanelli's by the Lake in Forest Lake, Minn. Among the top honourees in the awards portion of the evening were Burning Blaze and Goody Two Socks.

Trainers Nick Roland and Justin Anfinson each had three divisional champions, while breeders Cheryl and Al Sandbulte and Glen Sauder each had two divisional champions to their credit in 2018.

Burning Blaze dominated the two-year-old colt pacing division with seven wins and two seconds from nine starts, $53,250 in purse earnings and a track record 1:54.1 mark taken on the Sept. 15 Night of Champions program. Burning Blaze, who was bred by owners Alan and Cheryl Sandbulte of Iowa and is also owned by Edward Gutin and trained by Justin Anfinson, received the Two-Year-Old Pacing Colt of the Year award and was also voted - by a wide margin - as the overall Minnesota Horse of the Year by the banquet attendees.

Also nominated for Horse of The Year honours were Bringoverthemoney, Firedrake, Windmeupnwatchmego, Place At The Beach, Pridecrest, Dream Chasin and Here Comes Teddy.

Goody Two Socks was inducted into The Minnesota Harness Racing Hall of Fame on Saturday, honoured for his accomplishments both on and off the racetrack. Goody Two Socks was a gelded pacer by Relentless Yankee out of the Magical Mike mare Ms Jordi. He won 24 of 111 career races with 20 seconds and 11 thirds and $98,959 in purses. Goody Two Socks was bred by Beth Dale in Minnesota and owned by Seppo Hakaama of Michigan. Developed by both Greg Budach and Gene Miller, he was then trained throughout most of his racing career by Alexia Kehl. Goody Two Socks was a fan favourite at Running Aces who always tried his heart out on the racetrack, and he hit the board in half of his career races. Goody also had an amazing power of connection with people, a trait that will live on as part of his legacy in Minnesota. Goody Two Socks passed away early this year, but now lives on in the hearts and minds of everyone he touched, and lives on in the annals of Minnesota harness racing forever.

During the meeting portion of the evening, voting was conducted to fill three MHRI board member seats that were up for election. Rick Magee was elected to the board by a wide margin of the votes along with Scott Bannitt, and President Mark Corless was also re-elected to another term on the board.

Three special milestone awards were presented for accomplishments during the 2018 season. Nick Roland was recognized for his 1,500-win milestone on July 8 at Running Aces steering Sing N Sandi to her maiden victory, while Rick Magee was honoured for his 1,000th career win on July 15 at Aces driving Bringoverthemoney to victory. Dean Magee was also honoured with a milestone award for his Running Aces track record of seven wins on one program on July 31.

The divisional horse of year honours for the Running Aces meet were as follows:

Two-Year-Old Filly Trot: Twilight Tinker
Owner: Cathy Dessert
Trainer: Nick Roland
Breeder: Glen Sauder

Two-Year-Old Colt Trot: MD Magic
Owner: Set The Pace Racing LLC
Trainer: Nick Roland
Breeder: Glen Sauder

Two-Year-Old Filly Pace: Windmeupnwatchmego
Owner-Breeder: Richard Davelaar
Trainer: Gordon Graham

Two-Year-Old Colt Pace: Burning Blaze
Owners: Cheryl Sandbulte, Alan Sandbulte and Edward Gutin
Trainer: Justin Anfinson
Breeders: Cheryl and Alan Sandbulte

Three-Year-Old Filly Trot: Dekker
Owners: Benjamin, Eric and Jesse DeLong
Trainer: Justin Anfinson
Breeder: Al Mar Farms

Three-Year-Old Colt Trot: Bringoverthemoney
Owner: Jasmine Horvat
Trainer: Brian Detgen
Breeder: Katrina Horvat

Three-Year-Old Filly Pace: Peekaboo Tattoo
Owner: Fabiola Quevedo
Trainer: Edwin Quevedo
Breeders: Cheryl and Alan Sandbulte

Three-Year-Old Colt Pace: Here Comes Teddy
Owner: Aimes Racing
Trainer: Justin Anfinson
Breeder: Paul Zimmerman

Older Mare Trot: Whatevershesgot
Owner-Trainer: Jenni King
Breeder: Dennis Bontrager

Older Male Trot: Bringthegold
Owner: Jane Carter
Trainer-Breeder: Dave Carter

Older Mare Pace: Place At The Beach
Owner: Peg Hoffman
Trainer: Gerald Longo
Breeder: John Hendricks

Older Male Pace: Forgiveusourzins
Owners: Carol Polkowske, Barbara Roland and Royal Roland
Trainer: Nick Roland
Breeders: Barbara and Royal Roland

The 2018 county fair awards, also presented on Saturday, went to the following:

Driver of the Year: Brian Detgen with 14 wins and 1,015 points.

Trainer of the Year: Jenni King with 6 wins and 595 points.

Trotter of the Year: Floatinonthebreeze (three-year-old filly by Money Talks), owned and trained by Jenni King.

Pacer of the Year: Read Me My Rights (three-year-old gelding by Fancy Schmancy), owned and trained by Scott Bannitt.

The 2019 racing season in Minnesota starts on May 18 at Running Aces.

(Minnesota Harness Racing)