Harness Horsemen International (HHI), comprised of horsemen's associations from the United States, will honour three well-deserving individuals for their contributions to harness racing in North America on Feb. 26 at the Embassy Suites Resort and Spa, Deerfield Beach in Florida.
Ellen Taylor is being honoured with the Dominic Frinzi Person of the Year award. Tara Ellen Taylor, the daughter of Richard and Margot Taylor and granddaughter of Don Taylor, is a Midwesterner who believes in the positive power of introducing and educating people about harness racing. She has been working with the Harness Horse Youth Foundation (HHYF) since she was 16 years old -- first as camp coordinator and, for the past 35 years, as the charity's executive director. Her responsibilities at HHYF have included coordinating, travelling and teaching the now almost year-round, hands-on programming.
Having grown up in the industry, Taylor is a true "trainer's daughter." She can clean stalls, foal watch and received HTA's Caretaker of the Year recognition in the mid-1980s. She is a writer for the Indiana Standardbred Association's magazine, she's an active member of the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) and she works part time in the test barn at Harrah's Hoosier Park. In her spare time, Taylor enjoys reading about racing's colourful history and collecting harness memorabilia.
Recognition received by Taylor includes the Stan Bergstein Proximity Award in 2009 as well as recent induction into the Indiana Horse Racing Association's Hall of Fame.
Jessica Hallett is being honoured with the HHI Appreciation Award. Hallett has been involved with harness racing throughout her life as the daughter of horsemen John and Michelle Hallett and granddaughter of Bruce Aldrich. In 2021, she graduated from Nova Southeastern University as a double major in Biology and Neuroscience with four minors. On the track to medical school, she had applied to a job as an ER tech when Gabe Prewitt, Rosie Huff and Wally Hennessey approached her regarding Pompano Park’s need for a track photographer in the final year. Weighing her options and with a minimal background in photography as a hobby in recent years, she decided to take the chance at being a track photographer.
When Pompano closed in 2022, she moved to Saratoga and was asked again to take on the role of track photographer. In 2025, she will go into her third year working for Saratoga and in her role, she shares constant updates in harness racing news and many candid photos every day in an effort to promote the best light for the sport.
She was a three-time USHWA Dan Patch Award winner in 2023 following her efforts in the Tioga Strong movement.
Kim Rinker is the Clyde Hirt Media Award winner. Rinker is a longtime harness racing writer, publicist and author, with a BA in Journalism and Master’s in film. Rinker’s lifetime involvement with Standardbreds is as a journalist and trainer/driver, representing the United States in the 1995 World Driving Championship in Moscow, Russia.
Rinker is a three-time Hervey winner, former President & Life Member of USHWA, has written for Hoof Beats, Horsemen & Fair World, Sports Eye and Harnesslink, creates the annual Dan Patch Awards Journal and has managed numerous industry websites. She was the former Illinois Standardbred magazine editor; Hoof Beats managing editor, Maywood Park publicity director and served on Sportsman’s Park, Scioto Downs and Balmoral publicity staffs. Rinker has authored 11 books, including Chicago’s Horse Racing Venues, Arlington Park Racetrack, An Adventure Guide to Switzerland, Springfield: An Intimate Portrait, Vols I & II, and Immigration from the Dominican Republic, and is an instructor at Ohio’s Tiffin University.
(Harness Horsemen International; photo of harness racing at Saratoga Raceway by HHI Appreciation Award winner Jessica Hallett)