Dave Palone, who last season eclipsed the North American record for most driving records ever, will soon receive an award that will be dear to his heart – for it is announced that the Keystone Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association has voted Palone the Mary Lib Miller Award, named after the wife of “Mr. Meadows,” Hall of Famer and Meadows founder Del Miller, at whose track Palone has been the leading driver for over two decades.
Palone, who took home boatload of other awards after the 2012 season, was an easy choice for the Pennsylvania media people, since the vast majority of his record number of wins have come at the Pennsylvania track The Meadows, including the his historic 15,000th wins, and then finally victory number 15,181, after which Palone was greeted in the winner’s circle by none other than fellow Hall of Famer, Herve Filion, the feisty French Canadian now in semi-retirement who had set the monumental, “unreachable” mark of 15,180 during his spectacular driving career.
Dave continued on to be not only the top driver at The Meadows last year, which is by now customary, but he also held off a late charge by top money earner Tim Tetrick to take the national dash title, for his third time atop the North American colony. As almost an afterthought, Palone was also named the group’s Driver of the Year.
Keystone USHWA also voted honours to these individuals (and a farm) and horses:
OWNER OF THE YEAR – Richard Gutnick of Blue Bell, who became “an overnight sensation after 30 years in the business” by owning not only 2012’s Harness Horse of the Year and its fastest trotter, Chapter Seven, but also its richest horses and the Hambletonian winner, Market Share.
TRAINER OF THE YEAR – Ron Burke, Meadows-based, who can’t seem to be able to improve over the last year he just posted, but has managed to do so the last couple of campaigns, with this one setting record for wins, and for money by a stable and by a horse (see below).
BREEDER OF THE YEAR – The definition of “perennial,” as their offspring have won the most money in each of the 64 years that records have been kept, Hanover outdid itself in 2012 by posting the sport’s first “$30 million season” for a breeder.
CARETAKER/SMALL STABLE OF THE YEAR – The green and white of the McMullen clan, who posted big win numbers on the fair circuit with a small group of trotters and pacers, and unveiled the powerful two-year-old trotting filly Lady Broadway, the only horse last year to both win her fair points title and her Championship race.
PENNSYLVANIA SIRE STAKES HORSE OF THE YEAR – Economy Terror, one of only a handful of horses in PaSS history to score championships at both two and three; in 2012, for the second straight year, she set a world record in her final, this victory in 1:49 to be the co-fastest PaSS champion ever.
PA-SIRED HORSE OF THE YEAR – Foiled Again, “the old man” who posted his second straight $1 million+ plus winning season, and gained national division honours; perhaps more importantly, he became the richest pacer in harness racing history, with a lifetime bankroll at $4.7 million.
PA HORSE OF THE YEAR (must make half his/her starts in the state) – Winning Mister went 12-for-19 against the very best trotters at The Meadows, and a winner against international competition at Georgian Downs and The Meadowlands.
Presentations of these awards will be made at the “home tracks” of the award winners throughout the spring.
(USHWA)