When the Monticello-Goshen Chapter USHWA presents its 54th annual Awards Banquet on Sunday, November 18 at The Fountains in Middletown, NY, the scribes will honour Chris Wittstruck with their Phil Pines Award.
Wittstruck will be the fourth recipient of the prestigious award. The award is named in honour of the late Hall of Famer.
When he was notified that he’ll be this year’s recipient, Wittstruck was very pleasantly surprised.
“Receiving this award is truly an unbelievable honour, albeit an undeserved one,” Wittstruck said. “First, it is the rare individual who can even be mentioned in the same breath with Phil Pines. Artist, historian, curator, award-winning writer and broadcaster, master of ceremonies. Phil was, and is, the standard against which all harness racing communicators should be judged.
“Second, I am in awe of those who have quite deservedly received this honour. Past recipients Moira Fanning, Kelly Young and Bob Heyden are among our sport's top communicators. Each tirelessly carries on the Pines' tradition every day of their lives. It's just hard for me to imagine the kid who simply fell in love with this sport watching Abercrombie pace at Roosevelt Raceway being given this honour. My heartfelt thanks to the ever-vibrant Monticello-Goshen chapter for this accolade.”
Wittstruck was a 2005 and 2006 winner of the prestigious John Hervey Award. His piece, 'What's a Rebate?...and Why We All Need to Care' which appeared in the publication 'Hoof Beats' was judged to be the best magazine article of 2005 in America concerning harness racing. This same article was cited in the Final Report to the Court of the Federal Monitor of the New York Racing Association. His article concerning racehorse adoption was judged the best piece of 2006.
He writes the monthly 'Racing and the Law' column for the United States Trotting Association and is a director of the Standardbred Owners Association of New York. Wittstruck is also a member of the New York City Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) and he was named the 2006 National 'USHWAn of the Year.'
As a regular presenter at the Albany Law School Racing and Gaming Program's Saratoga Institute, Wittstruck has lectured on legal issues involving racehorse ownership at Hofstra University in New York and Rutgers University in New Jersey, as well as for The Suffolk County Bar Association. He is a contributor of treatises on critical legal issues regarding the racing industry.
Wittstruck has been interviewed concerning racehorse ownership on NBC 4 New York, the NBC program 'Jane's New York,' Business Week Weekend T.V., CNBC, CNNfn, CBS 2 New York, and News 12 Long Island, and has appeared on the NYRA Today segment of the television program 'Raceday Aqueduct,' as well as on The Paddock Show from Belmont Park. His radio appearances include Bloomberg Radio, WRHU and WLIR. Articles concerning Wittstruck's ownership interests and ownership educational endeavors have appeared in The Blood-Horse Magazine, The Thoroughbred Times Magazine, TIMES: in Harness Magazine, Newsday, The Canadian Sportsman and The Saratogian.
Chris Wittstruck, received his Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, and his Juris Doctorate degree from Saint John's University, New York. He is an attorney licensed to practice before the Courts of New York State since 1982, and before the United States District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York since 1984. He is a licensed thoroughbred owner in New York State, as well as a standardbred owner licensed by the state harness racing authorities in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.
In 2012, Wittstruck was a recipient of a United States Trotting Association's President’s Award for his "...great ability to take complex issues and present them in a manner we can all understand."
(USHWA)