Author: from the USTA Communications Department

Joe Faraldo, president of the North American Amateur Drivers Association, announced today a donation of $2,500 to Doctors Without Borders, a  501(c )(3)  entity that provides urgent medical care to hundreds of thousands of people affected by war, salvation, and disease in more than 70 countries around the world each year.

Dexter Dunn and Noel Daley, as expected, were comfortably selected Dan Patch Award winners for 2024 Driver and Trainer of the Year, respectively, in recent voting conducted by the United States Harness Writers Association. It’s never much of a surprise when the Burke Racing/Weaver Bruscemi partnership is among the finalists for Owner of the Year, either, and they did win as well — but their margin of victory was as narrow as it could be.

Lous Lancelot, who proved a punctual favorite in the first Open Trot of the meet two weeks ago, looks for an encore in Friday night’s (Dec. 27) $7,700 headliner at Cal Expo.

Wanda Polisseni is a Standardbred owner who has devoted much of her life to helping the unfortunate via foundations. Her latest venture involves support for retraining racehorses past their competitive years, giving them other ways to continue a productive life. For these reasons, she has been honored with the 2024 Stan Bergstein Proximity Award, the highest honor voted on solely by the United States Harness Writers Association.

Harrah’s Philadelphia has a little bit extra to celebrate during this holiday season, as during its Christmas Eve noon program, the track handled $1,587,638 — the biggest betting total ever at the southeast Pennsylvania oval.

Incumbent USTA membership director Royal Roland of Grinnell, Iowa, has been re-elected to a three-year term in District 4A.