The United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) announced its 2024 media award winners on Tuesday, Jan. 14, including a number of Canadian recipients.
Andrew Cohen and Keith McCalmont were named winners of the 2024 John Hervey Awards for excellence in harness racing journalism while Clive Cohen and Walter Wlodarczyk were named recipients of the George Smallsreed Awards for photography and Horse Racing Alberta and Shine Light Entertainment was selected winner of the Sam McKee Award for broadcasting.
The winners will be recognized at the Dan Patch Awards banquet, presented by Caesars Entertainment, on Feb. 23 at Rosen Centre in Orlando, Florida. Meadowlands Racetrack Chairman Jeffrey Gural is continuing his longstanding sponsorship of the awards by providing banquet tickets for the winners.
Andrew Cohen won in the news/commentary category for his column, “Keeping Pace: The Life and Death of Alan Leavitt,” which was first published on May 13 on the Paulick Report website. This is Cohen’s third Hervey Award, all in the news/commentary category.
McCalmont won in the feature division for his story, “Love is Blind,” which appeared in the September issue of TROT magazine. The feature highlights the story behind filly pacer Its A Love Thing. This is McCalmont’s second Hervey Award. His previous award was also in the feature category.
Honourable mentions in the news/commentary category went to Dave Briggs for “Sport’s lack of reciprocity and unity truly shows in the tragic death of Finish Line,” which was published on Feb. 18 in Harness Racing Update and Bob Heyden for “Happy 100th Birthday Stan Bergstein,” which was published on June 21 in Harness Racing Update.
In feature writing, honourable mentions went to Evan Pattak for “The Jewel of the Isle” in the November issue of Hoof Beats magazine, Natalie Voss for “Former Indiana Commission Employee Blows the Whistle on What He Says Was Lax Enforcement” on the Paulick Report on April 18, and James Witherite for “Grand Ambassador” in the July issue of Hoof Beats.
The writing categories were judged by a panel consisting of retired longtime sportswriter and two-time Hervey Award winner Brad Schmaltz, former Philadelphia Inquirer Sports Editor John Quinn, and Delaware State News Editor-in-Chief and former harness writer Andrew West.
In the Smallsreed competitions, Clive Cohen won in the feature category for his photograph “Fiery Sunset,” which was taken June 29 at Woodbine Mohawk Park and appeared that day on the Woodbine Mohawk Park Facebook, Instagram and X feeds. Cohen is a five-time Smallsreed winner.
Wlodarczyk won in the action category for his photograph of driver Yannick Gingras celebrating Karl’s win in the Hambletonian Stakes as they reached the finish line in a torrential downpour at The Meadowlands on Aug. 3. The photograph appeared on the Hambletonian Society website the week of Aug. 4 and remains in the website’s gallery of champions. This is Wlodarczyk’s second Smallsreed honour.
Honourable mention in the feature category went to Jenny Leslie for “Purple, With a Splash of Mud,” which appeared on Nov. 21 on the Kentucky Harness Horsemen’s Association Facebook page. Honourable mention in the action category went to Mark Hall for his photograph “Shadow Racing,” which appeared in the November issue of Hoof Beats.
The Smallsreed categories were judged by racetrack and newspaper photographer Bill Denver.
In the McKee competition, Horse Racing Alberta and Shine Light Entertainment were honoured for their video, “Women in Standardbred Racing,” which appeared on Oct. 25 on the Horse Racing Alberta website and social media channels. The feature, which can be watched below, was produced by Jeff Robillard of Horse Racing Alberta and Mike Little of Shine Light Entertainment. This is Horse Racing Alberta’s third award in the broadcast division and Shine Light Entertainment’s first.
Honourable mention went to Cujo Entertainment’s CBS Hambletonian Show, which aired on CBS Sports Network on Aug. 4. The production team included producer Curtis MacDonald, technical producer Cameron Chick and director Luke Van Belkom. The show was hosted by Greg Blanchard, Emily Gaskin and Michael Carter.
Entries for the Sam McKee Award were judged by former horse racing producer Liane Davis, a past winner in this category.
(With files from United States Harness Writers Association)