Harness racing's 2024 top performers will be honoured at the United States Harness Writers Assocation's annual Dan Patch Awards dinner on Sunday, Feb. 23 at Rosen Centre in Orlando, Florida and Meadowlands Racetrack takes a look back at how the New Jersey oval impacted the U.S. divisional award winners' campaigns.
Two-year-old male trotter – Maryland: His seasonal bankroll of $1.67 million led the sport, allowing him to become the first in his division to lead the game in money earnings in more than 70 years. He won three times at The Big M, with the final two victories of his six-win season coming in the Breeders Crown and Kindergarten.
Two-year-old female trotter – Champagne Problems: Five of her seven wins this year were at The Meadowlands, including the New Jersey Sire Stakes final and Kindergarten.
Three-year-old male trotter – Sig Sauer: He burst onto the scene with a 68-1 upset of eventual Hambletonian champion Karl in the Stanley Dancer Memorial and capped his year off by winning the Breeders Crown, giving him three wins – out of a total of five – at the mile oval on the year.
Three-year-old female trotter – Allegiant: Had a total of six wins, half of which were in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The first was in a Hambletonian Oaks elimination before she took both her Breeders Crown elimination as well as the final.
Older male trotter – Winners Bet: Six of his nine wins were at The Meadowlands, including the Graduate and Breeders Crown.
Older female trotter – Jiggy Jog S: A generational talent whose name will go down in history with others like Atlanta and Bella Bellini, she was perfect in six seasonal tries before an injury ended her career. She began her 2024 season with wins at The Big M in the Cutler Memorial, Six Pack and Cashman Memorial.
Two-year-old male pacer – Louprint: A seven-time winner during 2024, he only made it out to New Jersey for the Breeders Crown, but made it count. After finishing third in his elimination, he came back and won the final.
Two-year-old female pacer – Miki And Minnie: After beginning the year with four straight second-place finishes, she won six of her last seven outings, with two of those at The Big M -- the first in the Breeders Crown and the second in the Three Diamonds.
Three-year-old male pacer – Captain Albano: Headquartered in New Jersey in the barn of USHWA Trainer of the Year Noel Daley, the 12-time winner during 2024 participated in both the eliminations and final of the Meadowlands Pace and Breeders Crown. A second-place finish in his Pace elimination and a win in his Crown elimination was as good as it would get for this Little Brown Jug champion, who will return to the races in 2025, which will likely include a handful of Big M starts.
Three-year-old female pacer – My Girl E J: A winner of half of her 18 starts last year, this mid-November million-dollar acquisition (on the Preferred Equine Online Mixed Sale) by William Pollock, Bruce Areman and trainer Andrew Harris hit paydirt at The Big M twice, in her Breeders Crown elimination and final.
Older male pacer – Abuckabett Hanover: The horse known as “Bucky” in his barn won seven races on the season while swimming in the shark-infested waters known as the older male pacing division. He won three times at The Big M, scoring in the Dave Brower Memorial, William Haughton Memorial and FanDuel Championship.
Older female pacer – Twin B Joe Fresh: The USHWA Horse of the Year favourite went 11-for-13 with two seconds during a spectacular campaign. Her five Meadowlands victories were in the Perfect Sting, Dorothy Haughton Memorial, Lady Liberty, Breeders Crown and FanDuel Championship.
The 12 divisional winners are known. What’s not known is who the USHWA Pacer, Trotter and Horse of the Year will be. You can see who will walk away with that hardware by watching the live stream of the Dan Patch Awards dinner on the USHWA Facebook page. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. (red carpet at 5:30 p.m.) on Sunday.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)