Barry Lefkowitz has been selected as the United States Harness Writers Association's Member of the Year (also known as “USHWAn of the Year”) through a poll of former award winners.

Lefkowitz is a past president of United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) and its present Chair of the Board, with a strong history of service to the Association, especially in the financial realm, and still working hard on future improvements.

Lefkowitz was first exposed to the sport at Monticello Raceway at age nine, and it was a “Catskills Connection” that helped establish him in the sport: Andy Furman got him to write for local papers in the Brooklyn area, and Communicators Hall Of Famer Allen Finkelson facilitated his first racetrack hiring in the sport, at Jackson Raceway in outstate Michigan. Lefkowitz has also worked for Scioto Downs, Windsor Raceway, Batavia Downs (as general manager), and perhaps most notably at Roosevelt Raceway, where he oversaw the massive effort to stage the prestigious Roosevelt International Trot, “down to dealing with Customs and having the track cleared when the quarantined foreign horses worked out.”

After graduating Kingsborough Community College and attending Brooklyn College before entering racing, Lefkowitz eventually turned to the insurance business as his profession, and is still successful in that endeavour. His strong sense of finances, of streamlining expenses and “reaching out” to produce additional funds, is what he thinks has been his major contribution to USHWA, as the Association’s finances have enjoyed an unprecedented boom period. He helped initiate these actions when Association treasurer; Lefkowitz is one of only a few persons to hold five different officer positions in USHWA. He has been a member of USHWA for 30 years, and has served as Director for 17 of those years; besides his Board participation, he has represented the New York City, Ohio, Western New York and Delaware Valley chapters as their director.

A major project Lefkowitz has taken charge of is nearing completion: the compilation of all the annual divisional racehorse winners and Trotter/Pacer/Horse of the Year, along with their trainers and drivers, back to the first elections in 1947. A labour of over two years, the assembled data will be used to blend the champions of yesteryear with the stars of today.

Lefkowitz will be honoured at USHWA’s Dan Patch Awards Banquet, presented by Caesars Entertainment, to be held on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025 at the Rosen Centre in Orlando, Florida. 

(With files from USHWA)