The upstate New York chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association will present the connections of Arm And A Leg the 2009 Horse of the Year trophy for

western New York.

When trainer John Cummings, Sr. called his owner, Mark Jakubik, and told him he found a really nice horse for him to buy, little did they know just how nice the horse would turn out to be. The change of ownership took place in January of 2008 and Arm And A Leg had a new home. Since then, the horse has done nothing but win races and make money.

This year, Arm And A Leg raced exclusively in the top class at Batavia Downs and Buffalo Raceway, and in his 39 starts had an outside post almost every week due to the handicap. With that built in disadvantage, he was still able to post 13 wins, 10 second-place finishes and two thirds from 38 starts, which equated to a 63 per cent in-the-money finishing rate. The six-year-old gelding bankrolled $86,000 during his 2009 campaign. The single most impressive fact is that all 13 of the gelding's wins were in Open Handicap Paces against the best horses the western part of New York State had to offer.

In the almost two years the Jakubik-Cummings team has owned Arm And A Leg, he has scored 25 victories and just under $170,000 in earnings.

Arm And A Leg will receive his deserved recognition during the UNY-USHWA Night of Distinction, which will be held at Batavia Downs on Friday, December 4 during the card of live racing.

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(With files from USHWA)