from the U.S. Harness Writers Association

Harrisburg, PA — The announcements of the 2014 Pacer of the Year, Trotter of the Year, and Horse of the Year will be made in a special live webstream on Thursday afternoon (Dec. 18). The announcements will be made at Victory Sports Bar at the Meadowlands and streamed live on the racetrack’s website, www.playmeadowlands.com.

Voting for the 2014 Dan Patch Awards, which honor the champion harness horses of the year as voted by members of the U.S. Harness Writers Association and the American Harness Racing Secretaries, will close on Tuesday morning (Dec. 16).

The six trotting divisional Dan Patch winners will be announced via a press release at noon on Dec. 16, with the six pacing divisional Dan Patch winners announced at noon on Wednesday (Dec. 17). The final three awards will be announced at 1 p.m. at the press luncheon.

USHWA will also announce in the coming weeks its human award winners, including the Proximity Award, which is second only to induction into the Hall of Fame. While Yannick Gingras has already been named the unanimous winner as the 2014 Driver of the Year, other awards still to be announced include Trainer of the Year, Owner of the Year, Breeder of the Year, Good Guy, Unsung Hero, Rising Star and Breakthrough.

If attending the announcement luncheon, please RSVP to Jenn Bongiorno at Jbongiorno@playmeadowlands.com. If not, watch the live stream at www.playmeadowlands.com.

All honorees will be recognized at USHWA’s annual awards dinner scheduled for Sunday night (Feb. 22, 2015) at the Doubletree Hilton at Sea World in Orlando, Fla. For more information, including directions on making hotel reservations, please go to www.ushwa.org.