Harrisburg, PA – Foiled Again, the richest Standardbred racehorse of all time with $7,635,588 and now retired from the racetrack, caused a sensation at the recent Dan Patch Awards Banquet in Orlando, FL when the now 15-year-old actually showed up at the fancy dinner to “accept” the Stan Bergstein Proximity Award he was voted by the U.S. Harness Writers Association for outstanding contributions to the sport.

Foiled Again at the Dan Patch Dinner. Chris Tully Photo.

And Foiled Again is now receiving another award – the Mary Lib Miller Award, the highest honor given by the Keystone Chapter of USHWA, for his unmatched career as racehorse and ambassador.

It’s not like Foiled Again has never been honored before by Keystone USHWA – he was the journalists’ PA-Sired Horse of the Year from 2011 to 2013, the same three years he was voted national division champion for the free-for-allers. But the group thought to mark the retirement of the evergreen pacer, whose last campaign was a barnstorming Farewell Tour that took him to 19 different racetracks, by voting him its highest award, especially an award named after the ever-present and gracious mate of “Mr. Harness Racing” himself, Hall of Famer Delvin Miller.

McWicked, the 1:46.2 pacer who was 2018’s Harness Horse of the Year and led all competitors with seasonal earnings of $1,575,364, got the nod for PA-Sired Horse of the Year as well – he was also voted co-PA Sire Stakes Horse of the Year by the Keystone Chapter four years ago. The breeders of McWicked, the Prushnok family of Andray Farms in western Pennsylvania, will receive the Pennsylvania Breeder of the Year Award for having producing harness racing’s top 2018 performer.

The only two Pennsylvania Sire Stakes performers who led their division in preliminary point accumulation and then went on to win their respective finals, the three-year-old males Dorsoduro Hanover (pace) and Crystal Fashion (trot), were picked as the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Horses of the Year for their respective gaits. The duo were two of the top four money winners in the sulky sport last year; Dorsoduro Hanover also won his Breeders Crown event at Pocono en route to being named divisional champion.

For Pennsylvania Harness Horse of the Year honors (50 percent plus – starts within Pennsylvania), the world’s fastest trotter, Homicide Hunter (1:48.4 at Lexington in the fall), was the consensus champion. Homicide Hunter won his Breeders Crown at Pocono, and he also took four legs of the Great Northeast Open Series before setting a world record over 1-1/4 miles in the GNOS Championship.

In a close race between former honorees, George Napolitano Jr. edged out Aaron Merriman for Pennsylvania Driver of the Year. Merriman was named 2018 North American Driver of the Year for being the first sulky sitter to post more than 1,000 victories in two years, but Aaron won “only” 262 of those races in Pennsylvania, while Napolitano won 637 times within the confines of the Keystone State, taking his fifth straight crown at Harrah’s Philadelphia and his seventh consecutive title at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.

The Schadel brothers, Todd and Tony, both earned a place in the spotlight during 2018. Todd was the leading trainer and driver at the PA fairs by a wide margin to earn election as Pennsylvania Fair Horseman of the Year; he also captured a North American title with the highest UDR in the 300-499 starts class. Tony was driver and co-owner of the two-year-old Aflame Hanover, who in winning his Fair Championship posted a clocking of 1:51.4 – the fastest time ever in a Pennsylvania Fair Championship, faster even than any 3-year-old; for that milestone, Aflame Hanover was voted a Special Achievement Award.

These honorees will be presented their trophies by members of Keystone USHWA during trackside ceremonies at their respective ovals, or when they come to Pennsylvania, within the next couple of months.