Harrisburg, PA – Foiled Again, the highest, money-winning Standardbred racehorse of all-time with $7,634,938 in his bankroll, in the final stages of a whirlwind “Foiled Again Farewell Tour” as he faces mandatory retirement upon reaching 15 years of age on Tuesday (Jan. 1), has been selected for the Stan Bergstein/Proximity Award, the highest award in the sport voted on exclusively by the United States Harness Writers Association, harness racing’s leading media association.

Foiled Again was named the winner of the 2018 Stan Bergstein/Proximity Award by the USHWA. USTA Photo.

Foiled Again is an altered son of Dragon Again out of the Artsplace mare In A Safe Place. He raced for trainer Herman Heitmann at two and three, and into his fourth year before being purchased by Sylvia Burke, Weaver Bruscemi LLC (Mark Weaver and Michael Bruscemi), and JJK Stables LLC (Joseph Koury Sr. and his sons Joseph Jr. and Kevin). Mickey Burke, Sylvia’s husband and Ron’s father, was transitioning from raceway activities to overseeing the younger horses, and he handled the conditioning of Foiled Again until Ron took over full-time training responsibility in November 2008.

Foiled Again reached his full potential under his new connections, staying a vital member of the free-for-all pacing community for half-a-dozen years. He was Older Pacing Horse of the Year in 2011, 2012, and 2013, during each of which he earned more $1 million. Foiled Again took his mark of 1:48 in 2013 at the age of nine, in the elimination race of the Ben Franklin Pace at Pocono, coming back the next week to win the Franklin Final and then later in the year to sweep his Breeders Crown action over the same red clay oval.

Fans grew to embrace Foiled Again as he battled on at a high quality of performance over the years; they latched onto this “evergreen pacer” who they knew would always give them every ounce of his energy. Once he broke the record for earnings ($5.8 million by the trotter Ready Cash), he gained even more cache, and attracted media attention like few other Standardbreds or any other racehorses.

As he entered his 14^th year, perhaps a step or two off his peak speed but still competitive every time behind the gate, his connections decided to establish a “Foiled Again Farewell Tour,” matching him against local horses and letting fans around the United States and Canada give one last salute to the gallant pacer. He raced at 18 different tracks during 2018, in 10 different states and provinces, and seemed very little the worse for wear. When he raced at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Sunday, (Dec. 9), he returned to a track where he had first raced 4,165 days – 11 years, 4 months, and 25 days – earlier.

Foiled Again’s 331^st and final start comes on Monday (Jan. 31) at The Meadows, the home track of the Burkes and Weaver Bruscemi, and as has been noted, “it’s unlikely there will be a dry eye in the house.” (Start 330 came at Mohawk last Saturday (Dec. 22), where Foiled Again posted career victory 109.)

Foiled Again is only the second horse to win the Bergstein–Proximity Award: the other was Rambling Willie, who was honored in 1984 after a career that strikingly parallels Foiled Again’s in longevity, earnings record-setting, competitiveness in the free-for-all ranks for years, and popularity among the race-going public. In an ever-changing world, Foiled Again reaches across 34 years to join another horse who didn’t know the meaning of the end of a mile, the end of a career, or making outstanding contributions to harness racing.

Foiled Again and his connections will be honored at USHWA’s annual Dan Patch Awards Banquet, celebrating the best and brightest of harness racing in the past year. The banquet honoring the champions of 2018 will be held on Sunday, February 24, 2019 at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando FL, the climax of a weekend that also finds USHWA holding its annual national meetings.

Reservations for those attending can be made through USHWA’s website, www.ushwa.org; a link to the hotel’s computer is on the front page of the website. Those who would like to take out congratulatory ads for award winners in the always-popular Dan Patch Awards Journal can do so by contacting Kim Rinker at trotrink@aol.com (the 2018 journal is online at the writers’ website). Information about purchasing tickets for the dinner will become available and be posted shortly.