by Jessica Schroeder, U.S. Trotting Association Assistant Fair Liaison

Madison, WI — The 80th annual meeting of the Wisconsin Harness Horse Association and USTA District 4B meeting was held Saturday (Jan. 21) at the Howard Johnson Hotel in Madison, Wis.

During the morning session, Dr. Phil Kapraun talked to a group of 40 horsemen about common ailments of racehorses, including EPM, OCDs, respiratory infections, ulcers and injecting joints.

After a quick lunch break, the annual business meeting of the Association was held. Board of Director elections saw incumbents Jeanne Marquis and Susan Schroeder being re-elected; Sara Weaver and Patty Strand were also elected to the nine person board.

The WHHA has worked extensively to promote harness racing, the participants (both equine and human) and encouraging participation in the county fair program. Marketing efforts for 2011 included participation at the Midwest Horse Fair, creating a “Harness the Stars” tour, an initiative to bring trainers and drivers to the fans in the grandstand, as well as t-shirt tosses and an extensive push to get coverage in local newspapers where race meets are held.

Because of the limited number of racehorses in the state, the WHHA discussed:

• one day race meets will have an open box
• how many race meets will have charted lines and photo finish
• having a twilight race meet at Elkhorn to entice a fan base to come to the races after work
• time-bar races will be held at the earlier race meets

With Prairie Meadows in Iowa no longer hosting harness racing, Running Aces (just north of Minneapolis) will now be the only harness track in District 4. Vern Devine, a Minnesota Harness Racing, Inc. board member, gave an update about the racing, which will be held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays this summer with an expected 16 percent purse increase. There also was an announcement that Susan Schroeder will be the new executive director of MHRI, effective March 2012.

After a buffet dinner, the awards program ensued. Some of the big winners of the evening were:

• Trotter of the Year: Windsong Erica, owned by Janice Simmons
• Pacer of the Year: Spicymac, owned by Sally Amundson and Jay DeLong
• Driver of the Year: Gabe Wand
• Horseperson of the Year: Jeanne Marquis
• James Laird Memorial Award for Excellence: Bo and Pat DeLong Stable
• Wisconsin Harness Racing Hall of Fame: Miss Gypsy Witt, The Harvester and August Uihelin

The evening’s 50/50 raffle, silent auction and live auction raised close to $8,000 for the Association. The two auction toppers were a signed print of John Simpson, Tar Heel and Star’s Pride at $650 and an Xtreme Harness by JH Harness for $600.