Canadians Nominated For USHWA Awards

Canadians are well represented among the 2025 nominees for the Dan Patch Awards.

The United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) conducts the official annual balloting for the Dan Patch Awards, which honour the best performers in North American harness racing. Voting is underway by USHWA members and the award winners will be announced in advance of the Dan Patch Awards banquet, which will be held on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026 at Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida.

James MacDonald has been nominated for USHWA's Driver of the Year award, along with Jason Bartlett and Ronnie Wrenn Jr.

How many drivers can call themselves a 2025 World Driving Champion? Just one driver can lay claim to being the best in the world, and that's MacDonald. In a six-leg, 20-race competition at tracks across New Zealand from Nov. 1 through Nov. 11, the 39-year-old based in Guelph, Ont. etched his name in harness racing's record books as just the fifth driver to win multiple World Driving Championships by besting his nine international rivals to repeat his World Driving Championship success on home soil in 2017.

MacDonald — who earned his right to represent Canada by winning Canada's National Driving Championship in 2024 as part of his fourth straight season as the nation's Keith Waples Driver of the Year — leads all drivers in money earned on Canadian soil ($7,726,712) once again in 2025 while sitting second in wins (345). MacDonald is an early favourite to win again, and no driver in Canadian harness racing history has won the O'Brien Award as Canada's Driver of the Year in five consecutive seasons.

Among the regulars at North America’s preeminent year-round harness racing destination, Woodbine Mohawk Park, MacDonald is on pace to top the drivers standings for the fifth straight year as the track's leader in wins, earnings, win percentage and UDRS. During his stellar 2025 North American campaign, MacDonald added his name to the annals of multiple graded stakes including the illustrious Hambletonian Oaks (with Conversano) and Armbro Flight (courtesy Dial Square S), while his three victories in the 2025 Ontario Sires Stakes Super Finals (Strobe Lite, Chantilly and Monalishi) topped all drivers in the province’s year-end championships.

Dr. Ian Moore is a nominee in USHWA's Trainer of the Year category, along with Ron Burke and Chris Ryder.

Born in Sheffield, England and raised in Prince Edward Island, Moore is based in Ontario, with an average stable size of 10-15 horses. In 2025, Moore enjoyed his best season with purse earnings totalling $3,794,816 while winning 47 of 223 starts.

Beau Jangles and Prince Hal Hanover led the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Famer's stable, with Beau Jangles going undefeated and banking $1,688,750 with Grade 1 wins in the Metro Pace and Breeders Crown. Beau Jangles set a 1:48.3 Canadian record in the Breeders Crown at Mohawk, defeating two world record holders and the previous fastest rookie pacer in Canada. Beau Jangles also achieved victories in the Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final, Battle Of Waterloo and division of the Nassagaweya Stakes.

Prince Hal Hanover won the Grade 1 Adios Pace and Grade 2 Carl Milstein Memorial, along with divisions of the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes and Bluegrass Stakes and a Breeders Crown elimination. He crossed the wire first in the Grade 1 Meadowlands Pace, but was placed second. Prince Hal Hanover earned $1,142,023 in 2025.

John Rallis is a finalist for USHWA's Breakthrough Award, along with Pennsylvania fairs broadcast producer Seth Dowling and Jenna Otten, racing commentator and Operations Manager at Eldorado Scioto Downs.

Rallis quickly emerged as one of harness racing’s most dynamic young voices, bringing fresh energy and a modern perspective to the sport at the ripe young age of 30. As a key member of Mohawk's nightly simulcast team, Rallis delivers clear, insightful race analysis while helping shape a polished broadcast.

His role has continued to expand, most notably during the 2025 Meadowlands Pace and the 2025 Hambletonian, as he provided the morning line odds, and at the 2025 Breeders Crown, where he contributed extended on-air coverage and interviews that elevated the event’s overall presentation with his pre-race and post-race interviews. For Fall Four Stakes/FanDuel Championship Night, he conducted paddock and post-race interviews, as well as hosted several in-depth vignettes. In addition to Mohawk and Meadowlands, he added The Red Mile and Scioto Downs to his resume in 2025. 

In addition to his broadcast talents, Rallis is the Associate Editor for TROT magazine, does race analysis for the Daily Racing Form and has been featured on United States Trotting Association live broadcasts for major racing events.

John MacMillan is a nominee for USHWA's Unsung Hero Award, with Preferred Equine's Lillie Brown and Delaware Valley area horsewoman Janet Stevenson Davis.

As of last December, MacMillan was 20 months post-surgery for stage-4 glioblastoma. In December 2025, the 55-year-old horseman's incredible fight continues at Rideau Carleton Raceway, motivating all who know him.

He started his career at 16, as a caretaker at Kingston Park Raceway, then he became track announcer, plus Rideau's back-up announcer. Hired as full-time Rideau announcer/race secretary in the 1990s, MacMillan also filled in as paddock blacksmith. 

The youngest person ever accepted to Queen’s University's Executive MBA program, he earned his degree while working as Rideau's General Manager, successfully lobbying to bring permanent casino gaming in 2013. His advocacy for the sport started with the Ontario Harness Horse Association (OHHA) in 1999. He then formed and served as director of the National Capital Regional Harness Horse Association (NCRHHA), representing Rideau Carleton horsepeople.

MacMillan established the Coville Cup driving tournament in 2007. Like the amateur announcing contest he also introduced, the Coville Cup provides opportunities for less-experienced members of the Rideau racing community to improve their skills through friendly competition.

MacMillan filled in for Ken Middleton after the Mohawk announcer was injured in a 2023 training accident but was unable to continue calling races there after his own diagnosis and emergency surgery. MacMillan completed the 2023 meet at Rideau Carleton, retiring as race caller in March 2024.

MacMillan was told he could expect to live six months to a year after his diagnosis. Instead, the past winner of Billings Amateur Driving Series races at Woodbine Racetrack and Vernon Downs has kept training his stable, even driving two-year-old Speedy Dancer to a maiden win on Sept. 14, 2025. On Nov. 14, 2024 at Rideau, MacMillan marked his 1,800th training win with Hes Got A Vendetta.

Few have dedicated their life work to a racetrack like MacMillan has done for Rideau.

Wally Hennessey has been nominated for USHWA's W.R. Haughton Good Guy Award, along with trainer Chris Ryder and former Kentucky Senator Damon Thayer. The award is annually given to a person in the sport who is deemed cooperative with the media and who, in personality, closely exemplifies the best characteristics of the late William Haughton.

There is never a time when visiting Hennessey, 69, that he does not have a smile on his face and a cheerful hello to greet you.

Year after year, the Hall of Fame horseman works with racetracks and the media to help promote the industry. He always cooperates with track photographers, the media interviews and takes part in promotional activities. He understands the importance of working together to help support the industry and getting the word out to the public.

His stable was also always open for guests, visiting dignitaries, Chamber of Commerce tours. He was the backstretch ambassador at Pompano Park. When Stephen Tyler came to Pompano Park, it was Hennessey who came forward and offered to bring a horse and sulky for photo ops.

The Prince Edward Island native achieved another historic milestone by winning his 12,000th career race on July 22 at Saratoga Casino Hotel. This achievement is a testament to his exceptional talent and dedication to the sport of harness racing. While shedrow whispers talk of a possible retirement ahead, Hennessey just keeps on driving winners for the numerous trainers and owners over his career. The horse he has driven have earned more than $83 million.

Over his illustrious career, he has been inducted into five Halls of Fame including the P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame, the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in Goshen, New York, the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, the Florida Harness Racing Hall of Fame and the Saratoga Harness Hall of Fame.

Bill O'Donnell is among the nominees for USHWA's Stan Bergstein Proximity Award, along with Caesars Entertainment racing executive Joe Morris and Janet Terhune for her work with the United States Trotting Association and Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame. The award is given annually for outstanding contributions to harness racing.

O’Donnell has been inducted to five Halls of Fame: the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, Goshen, New York’s Harness Racing Hall of Fame, the Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, the Little Brown Jug Wall of Fame and the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame.

Born in Spring Hill, N.S., O’Donnell became one of the most sought-after catch-drivers in harness racing with the ultimate compliment being when the iconic Hall of Famer Billy Haughton named O’Donnell to drive Nihilator in the world’s richest harness race, the $2,161,000 Woodrow Wilson Pace in 1984, which he won in 1:52.4.

O’Donnell went on to become the first driver in win $10 million in purse money in a single season (1985) …this after only three seasons when he became the first to win $5 million. He was given the nickname "The Magic Man" for being able to drive a horse seemingly past its limitations. In 1982 and 1984, he was voted the Harness Tracks of America Driver of the Year award. At the end of his driving career in 2017, O’Donnell had racked up 5,742 wins and earned nearly $100 million in purses won. He also trained some horses during his career with 119 training wins.

Throughout his career, O’Donnell worked well with fellow horsemen and the media, often giving out some of the best publicity quotes in the industry. He is also a great story teller.

Since returning from the United States to Canada in 2001, O’Donnell also become involved in the politics of racing, giving much of his time and considerable expertise to several horsemen's groups. In 2009, while cutting back on his driving career, O’Donnell embarked on a new line of work, becoming the lead co-founder and president of the newly formed Central Ontario Standardbred Association (COSA). Within less than two months, O’Donnell and COSA finalized a new five-year contract with Woodbine Entertainment. COSA and O’Donnell continue to negotiate the racing contract with the largest track operator in Canada. He took on the immense responsibilities involved in creating a new racing organization and achieving its forward progress for the last 16 years.

In addition, he served as the representative for Standardbred horsepeople on the board of the Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association and is a current Director on the board of Standardbred Canada as well as Vice-President of the Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society.

(Standardbred Canada with files from USHWA)