The Florida chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association has announced the 2020 inductees to the Florida Harness Racing Hall of Fame.
The four new human inductees are Anthony ‘Tony’ Alagna, Frank Antonacci, Tom Merriman and Laurie Poulin.
There was one equine inductee, the pacing stallion McWicked.
Their induction will take place on Friday, March 27 at McDivot’s at the Carolina Country Club in Margate.
Tony Alagna, of Manalapan, NJ, has been a prominent Florida figure in harness racing, as he spends every winter training upwards of 80 two and three-year-old trotters and pacers at Sunshine Meadows Equestrian Village in Delray Beach.
This season Tony has the most expensive yearling ever sold, Maverick, for $1.1 million, in his stable, along with a slew of promising two-year-olds and some great three-year-olds that includes Ramona Hill, the Dan Patch Two-Year-Old Trotting Filly of the Year last season.
Frank Antonacci, of Somerville, CT, is no stranger to Florida harness racing. He has had his Lindy Farm Stable wintering at Sunshine Meadows for nearly 30 consecutive years. Frank and the Antonacci family have a great passion for the sport of harness racing and have been actively involved in promoting the industry for decades.
Tom Merriman, of Delray Beach, is one of only a handful of people who can boast of being at Pompano Park when the track first opened in 1964, but that’s where Tom Merriman was driving that night. Merriman trained three million-dollar-winning horses (Civil Action, Monte Hall, Energy Burner), and they are just a few of the many great horses he has handled over the years. His trademark warming smile is always there to greet friends and it is just this year that Tom has hung up the lines and no longer is training horses after 60-plus years in the sulky.
Laurie Poulin, of Okeechobee, has had very successful racing seasons for decades in Florida. The former trainer/driver has bred, foaled and owned numerous Florida Sire Stakes champions from her farm in Okeechobee. Current and past champions include Diamond Goal ($586,000), Prairie Jaguar ($408,000), Prairie Panther ($332,00) and many more top ‘Prairie’ horses over the years.
McWicked was the 2018 Harness Horse of the Year in both Canada and the U.S. In 2019 he was voted the Aged Pacer of the Year and is now retired to stud duty in Canada. His career was amazing and every winter he was in Jim McDonald’s stable at Pompano Park. McWicked’s lifetime mark was 1:46.2 and he earned more than $5 million in purses.
This year there will be two President’s Awards presented by Florida chapter president Steve Wolf. The President award winners are Eric Cherry and Maurice Chodash, of Boca Raton, for the development of ongait.com. The second President’s Award goes to Myron Bell of Boynton Beach, for his part in the development of On The Deck at Sunshine Meadows.
The other award winners that will be honored at the dinners are named below.
The Bill Popfinger Award for pacing goes to trainer Kim Sears of Osteen, the first person ever to win this award three times. The Stanley Dancer Award for trotting goes to driver/trainer Peter Wrenn of Carmel, IN, who trains at Sunshine Meadows.
The Francis Dodge Van Lennep Award to an outstanding female in the industry goes to Casie Coleman-Herlihy of Cambridge, Ont. The Dan Gawlas Good Guy Award goes to John Hallett of Margate.
There are two Lifetime Achievement Awards that will go to farrier Phil Cable of Pompano Beach, and trainer Mike Murphy of Otisville, MI.
The Caretaker of the Year Award will be presented posthumously to Joe Kroll, who died this past year. Joe was an outstand caretaker during his career. He took care of two world champions in McWicked and Tarport Frenzy, plus many other stake champions. Accepting his award will be his widow, Shawna Kroll of Lake Worth.
For further information, to purchase tickets, please contact Steven Wolf at 954-654-3757 or email [email protected].
(With files from USHWA’s Florida chapter)