Teague To Be Feted In February

George Teague Jr. has been awarded the Dominic Frinzi Person of the Year award by Harness Horsemen International.

Teague is best known for conditioning and owning such greats as Wiggle It Jiggleit and Rainbow Blue.

The 53-year-old Harrington, Del. native has conditioned 1,631 winners to the tune of $35,161,481 in career earnings to date, and has graciously allowed the public to meet and greet Wiggle It Jiggleit on many occasions to help promote harness racing.

Chaplain Lee Alphen is honoured with the HHI Appreciation Award. Since 2010, Alphen has led the non-profit, non-denominational Christian organization that serves the harness racing community.

Prior to her current position, Alphen was the Chaplain at Rockingham Park in Salem, NH, since 1975, ministering to both the harness and Thoroughbred racing industries, and also served as the Chaplain at Scarborough Downs and Suffolk Downs.

Every fall, Chaplain Alphen comes to the Little Brown Jug for the week, administering a traditional Wednesday morning prayer breakfast.

Tom Cassidy and Roger Huston are HHI's Clyde Hirt Media Award winners for this year.

Huston is one of the most well-known voices in harness racing, serving as the announcer at The Meadows and as the voice of the Little Brown Jug. He has called more than170,000 races in his career at 126 tracks in 17 states and seven countries.

Cassidy is an on-air horse racing analyst who has been with TVG since March 2012 and was also the former handicapper for Monmouth Park.

The HHI Lifetime Achievement Award winners are Mike O. Izzo of Pennsylvania and Leo McNamara of New Jersey (posthumously).

Izzo is the CFO of the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen's Association, administering the health and pension programs and has also served as the executive administrator of the Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association of New Jersey and as former executive director for both HHI and PHHA.

McNamara was a third generation horseman who worked at Two Gaits Farm and Hanover Shoe Farm, and was the longtime executive director of the SBOA of New Jersey. He passed away earlier this year. His contributions to the well-being of the Garden State's harness racing industry are numerous.

All of these gentlemen will be feted with their HHI awards during the U.S. Harness Writers Association's Dan Patch Awards Night of Champions on Feb. 26, 2017.

(HHI)