On Hall of Fame Day (July 3), the Monticello-Goshen Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association made its annual donation of $4,000 to Goshen Historic Track.
Track president Steve Jones accepted the donation from chapter president Chris Tully, while simultaneously holding the So Surreal gelding JD, who had just set the 1:52 all-age track record at the landmark harness racing venue.
JD, driven by Mark MacDonald for trainer/co-owner Ray Schnittker, breeder/co-owner George Zitone and co-owner Melissa Beckwith, erased the 1:52.4 record previously set by Flipper J in 2011.
Jones stated, “This has been a fabulous three days of racing and the track is grateful for the decades of support from our local harness writers.”
Tully emphasized that, “Historic Track is a grand institution to so many fans and participants in harness racing. There were literally thousands of people here this weekend. We consider it an honour and a privilege to continue to raise money for both Goshen entities.”
The organization makes annual donations to both Goshen Historic Track and the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame, two separate and distinct entities that share the same hallowed ground and a mutual purpose of preserving and promoting harness racing.
The practice of raising money and donating funds to Historic Track and the Hall of Fame began in the mid-1970s with Monticello Raceway publicity icon John Manzi and has continued ever since. In just the last 20 years, the local Monticello-Goshen chapter has donated well over $100,000 to these important industry preservationists.
This year’s Monticello-Goshen USHWA awards banquet will be the chapter’s 63rd annual event and is being held at the Wallkill Golf Club on Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022, where Hall of Famer Wally Hennessey will be the chapter’s primary honouree.
(Monticello-Goshen Chapter of USHWA; Photo of Chris Tully presenting a cheque for $4,000 to Goshen Historic Track president Steve Jones, who is holding track record-setting JD with the Zitones [left])