The United States Harness Writers Association has announced that the Dan Patch Awards for 2014 Pacer of the Year, Trotter of the Year, and Horse of the Year will be announced in a special live webstream during the afternoon of Thursday, December 18.
The announcements will be made at Victory Sports Bar at the Meadowlands and streamed live on the racetrack’s website, playmeadowlands.com.
Voting for the 2014 Dan Patch Awards, which honour the champion harness horses of the year as voted by members of the U.S. Harness Writers Association (USHWA) and the American Harness Racing Secretaries, will close on the morning of Tuesday, December 16.
The six trotting divisional Dan Patch winners will be announced via a press release at noon on December 16, with the six pacing divisional Dan Patch winners announced at noon on Wednesday, December 17. The final three awards will be announced at 1 p.m. at the press luncheon.
In the coming weeks, USHWA will also announce its human award winners, including the Proximity Award, which is second only to induction into the Hall of Fame. While Yannick Gingras has already been named the unanimous winner as the 2014 Driver of the Year, other awards still to be announced include Trainer of the Year, Owner of the Year, Breeder of the Year, Good Guy, Unsung Hero, Rising Star and Breakthrough.
All honourees will be recognized at USHWA’s annual awards dinner scheduled for the evening of Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Doubletree Hilton at Sea World in Orlando, Fla.
For more information, including directions on making hotel reservations, please head to ushwa.org.
(With files from USHWA)