5/4/10

Paul Estok, general counsel and corporate secretary of Harness Tracks of America for the last 15 years, has assumed his new HTA duties as Executive Director. Estok served in his previous role, and as an executive assistant and researcher, during his honors career at the University of Arizona in the College of Agriculture and since his graduation from the Race Track Industry Program and from the University of Arizona College of Law. In his new role Estok will be responsible for the overall management of the day-to-day operations and budget of HTA, providing oversight and administration of all membership services. He will work alongside Executive Vice President Stan Bergstein, who will continue producing and editing the association’s daily, weekly and monthly newsletters and editorial content and public relations image.

Estok, who graduated magna cum laude and was named the outstanding graduating senior in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Arizona in 1994, previously studied at the University of California San Diego, the Baruch College of the City University of New York, and the New School for Social Research in New York City. Before his Arizona days, he worked as an editor at Lucent Books and Greenhaven Press in Rancho Bernardo, California and as a legal proofreader at Cleary, Gottlieb, Stein and Hamilton in New York City. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Estok said he is "looking forward to working with Bergstein to keep HTA the vibrant and vocal organization it has been for the last 50 years." Along with HTA president Hugh Mitchell’s announcement of Estok’s promotion, Estok and Bergstein announced the advancement of Jennifer Foley from manager of web development and information services, a position she will continue to serve, to a new role as executive assistant of HTA.

3/22/10

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE 2010-2011 HTA SCHOLARSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT AND ADS

2/18/10

Edward G. Rendell, governor of Pennsylvania, has been named winner of the 2010 Stanley F. Bergstein Messenger Award, highest honor bestowed by Harness Tracks of America, the association of North American harness racetracks.

The annual award, named for the English thoroughbred imported to America in 1788 and founder of the harness breed, and for Stan Bergstein, now in his 49th year as executive vice president of HTA, recognizes exceptionally meritorious contributions to the sport of harness racing. Governor Rendell is the 30th recipient, and is being recognized for his determined and decisive efforts in revitalizing harness racing in Pennsylvania.

Hugh Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer of Western Fair Raceway in Ontario and President of HTA, announcing this year’s winner, said, "Ed Rendell’s contributions to Pennsylvania harness racing have been immense, and have transformed the sport in his state to major international prominence and stature."

Gov. Rendell will receive the Messenger at the 2010 annual joint convention of HTA and the Thoroughbred Racing Associations on Wednesday, March 10 at the Hyatt Grand Champions in Indian Wells, California.

2/10/10

Maureen (Mo) Dolan, a veteran groom in the Jeff Smith stable based at Showplace Farms in New Jersey, has been named Groom of the Year in the annual competition sponsored by Harness Tracks of America and Hanover Shoe Farms.

Ms. Dolan, currently caring for the $208,814 older trotting gelding The Mighty Mr. K, from Jeff Gural’s Little E Stable, has cared for some major stars in the past, working for trainer Joe Holloway. Past horses in her care included Tooter Scooter, Megamind, Island Glow and She’s A Great Lady, as well as that great filly’s foal Lady McBeach. She also cared for Jenna’s Beach Boy for a short time.

Ms. Dolan worked for 20 years alongside Pam Baillie, Groom of the Year in 1996, when Pam was caring for world record holder Jenna’s Beach Boy. It was Ms. Baillie who nominated Ms. Dolan, and in her nomination letter she wrote that good horses make for good grooms, but said Maureen Dolan went far beyond that. "What makes Mo a great groom is her dedication, commitment and sacrifice, no matter how good the horses are. I’ve worked with Mo long enough to know that she is the hardest-working, most conscientious person I know. Anyone who knows her can attest to that. She is never in a hurry to get done and never takes short cuts. She puts 100% into taking care of horses no matter their price or class. She’s always willing to take that extra time to make sure a horse is properly cared for. She takes great pride in her work. Over the years she has managed her money well enough to own a home and truck and trailer, which she manages to make extra money with. You don’t see that a lot any more. She sets a great example for all of us." HTA’s and Hanover’s judges, agreeing, noted that the award is symbolic of the work ethic of grooms everywhere.

1/4/10

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE 2009 DRIVER OF THE YEAR AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT

9/29/09

2/13/09

CLICK HERE TO VIEW 2009-2010 HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT AND ADS

1/8/09

Western Pennsylvania’s perennial driving champion Dave Palone and record-setting driver Tim Tetrick have finished in a tie for harness racing’s highest honor for drivers, the Harness Tracks of America Driver of the Year Award.

The award, the most difficult in harness racing to win, requires a driver to finish in the top 25 in North America in money won, races won, and driver percentage (UDRS) standings. Points are awarded from 25 points down to 1 point for 25th, with a 25-point bonus for finishing in the top 25 in all three categories. Only 5 drivers, out of 4,321 who drove in at least one purse race last year, were able to accomplish that feat. Based on Palone’s and Tetrick’s performances, the North American title wound up a tie for only the third time in the 41 years the award has been presented by HTA, an association of 38 major harness racing organizations in the U.S. and Canada.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW CHART

Palone, who has won the HTA award four times before (in 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2004) finished first in UDRS with a .447 "slugging average," third in wins with 887, and sixth in money won with $10,104,572. With the 25-point bonus, Palone finished with 93 points.

Tetrick, who won the 2007 award in a year in which he won more races and purse money in a single season than anyone in history, finished first in money earnings with $19,752,066, eclipsing last year’s record total of $18,342,367, second in wins with 903, and seventh in UDRS. The addition of the 25-point bonus gives Tetrick 93 total points.

The World in Harness, the World Wide Web online presentation of Harness Tracks of America, will be heard as an Internet feature 52 weeks a year in 2009.

The show, which can be accessed at www.harnesstracks.com on HTA’s home page, features interviews by HTA executive vice president Stan Bergstein with major harness racing newsmakers. All shows are archived permanently, and can be heard at any time, day or night, indefinitely, on the Web.

The first of the new series, which appeared online Christmas week, is an interview with Greg Peck, the dual career professional who trains Fortune 500 company personnel in media relations and also trains the early 2009 Hambletonian favorite, the champion 2-year-old trotter Muscle Hill, winner of $817,301 this year in his first season of racing.

Marc A. Smith, Chief Social Scientist for Telligent Systems and former Senior Research Sociologist and founder of Microsoft Research Community Technologies, will be a featured speaker at the fifth Racing Congress, scheduled for Bellagio in Las Vegas Feb. 2-6, 2009.

Smith, 43, an internationally recognized authority in his field, will discuss coming phone technology and the implications of social networking for horse racing. Holder of three degrees, a Bachelor’s from Drexel University in Philadelphia, a Masters from Cambridge University in England and a Ph.D. from UCLA, he has authored or co-authored more than 100 papers on social interaction and is co-editor of "Communities in Cyberspace," a collection of essays on interaction in online groups.

Following Smith’s presentation a panel moderated by William Shanklin, a professor in the business school at the University of Akron and a longtime observer and analyst of racing, will discuss Web 2.0 computer technology and its applications to racing. The panel will consist of Jack Schibrowsky, professor of marketing at the University of Nevada Las Vegas; Tim Capps, a longtime racing editor and lecturer at the University of Louisville Equine Industry Program; Steve May, a graduate student and blogger in his final year of studies at the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program; and Andrew MacDonald, Woodbine Entertainment’s vice president of marketing and communications. There also will be audience participation.

The Racing Congress includes members of Harness Tracks of America, the United States Trotting Association, Thoroughbred Racing Associations, Harness Horsemen International, the U.S. Harness Writers Association, the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium and other affiliated groups and interested individuals. Registration and room reservations can be made through Jennifer Foley at HTA.

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2008 "Groom of the Year" Award. The award, sponsored annually by Harness Tracks of America and Hanover Shoe Farms, recognizes the unsung heroes of the sport, the grooms who maintain the health and welfare of the sport’s horses.

All that is needed to nominate a groom for the 27th annual "Groom of the Year" award is a letter from an individual or group to Harness Tracks of America detailing the skills and special qualities of the groom. The winning groom receives an oil painting of himself or herself with the horse of their choice. All individuals nominated for the award receive a certificate of excellence and the first 50 grooms nominated also receive an embroidered jacket as a groom of the year nominee.

The "Groom of the Year" Award was founded in 1982 after Delvin Miller, addressing attendees at the annual HTA meeting as its Messenger award winner for that year, noted the sport gave no recognition to its grooms, its unsung stars. The 2007 "Groom of the Year" was Fia Svensson.