At the recently concluded Annual Meetings and Awards Banquet of the United States Trotting Association’s District 8 and the New York Horse Breeding and Development Fund, which were held at Vernon Downs on November 15, Monticello Raceway’s general manager, Shawn Wiles, was elected chairman of the District, which includes the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth judicial districts and Orange County of New York State.

The United States Trotting Association, which governs the sport of harness racing in the U.S., is made up of 12 districts, which include most of the United States.

Wiles was previously a director of District 8 before being elevated to the chairman of the district in an election at the meetings in central New York.

As district chairman, Wiles will preside over the District Board of Review, which includes all the directors in the district, and they would be the original jurisdiction for the hearing for any suspension and fine levied to any of its members.

“I am honoured that the other directors have elected me chairman of the district and I would like to thank Bruce Tubin for the excellent job he has done during his tenure as chairman,” Wiles said.

Wiles has been involved in harness racing since 1973, initially working for Richard Sturgis, Robert Camper and James Grundy. However, his long tenure with the famed Continental Farms (Hakan Wallner, Jan Johnson and Hall of Famer, Berndt Lindstedt) from 1980-1986 provided him not only with a great knowledge of the game, but the regimentation and hard work that it takes to be successful. And to his credit, Wiles was first American to serve as second trainer for the famed trotting specialists.

Wiles began his affiliation with Monticello Raceway 13 years ago in the publicity and public relations office. In 2006, he was promoted to director of facilities, and in February 2008 he was promoted to assistant general manager at Monticello Casino & Raceway. Earlier this year, Wiles was named general manager of Monticello Raceway

Wiles was first executive in New York to take a stand against horsemen who use illegal substances to enhance the performance of horses. Wiles led the charge in formulating a policy to severely punish the horsemen who were caught providing illegal substances to the horses.

“Shawn has always had an extreme desire to offer racing patrons honest racing,” said Ehrlich, president of Monticello Casino & Raceway. The substance abuse policy was the result of Shawn’s passion and love of the sport.”

Prior to being elected District 8 chairman, Wiles has been a United States Trotting Association director from District 8 for seven years. He is involved in numerous community activities, such as the vice president of the Fallsburg Central School District Board of Education, the chairman of the Woodridge Housing Authority, volunteer coach with American Youth Soccer Organization Soccer and vice-president of the Monticello-Goshen Chapter of United States Harness Writers Association.

(Monticello)