by Tim Bojarski, President, UNY-USHWA

Akron, NY — The Upstate New York Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association has unanimously chosen Jack Flanigen to receive the Comeback of the Year Award for 2009.

Jack Flanigen

A bad racing accident sidelined Flanigen for several months and put a serious dent in his 2008 performance. When he did return to the sulky, many of his catch drives were picked up by other drivers. But it didn’t take long for Flanigen’s aggressive driving style to find his services back in high demand and for him to put his mounts back in the winner’s circle. Before you knew it, he had a horse in every race once again.

To date in 2009, Flanigen has 155 wins and just under $700,000 in purse earnings. He is hitting the board 44 percent of the time with a UDR of .281, and will surpass the largest annual purse earnings total of his career. This year saw Flanigen start in the most races and record the most victories in one year in his career since 1999. His previous high purse earnings for 12 months were in 2006 when he bankrolled $698,000. Since his first career win in 1984, he has scored 3,200 first place tallies and $7.5 million in purses.

Jack Flanigen will receive his award during the UNY-USHWA Night of Distinction which will be held at Batavia Downs on Friday, December 4, during the live racing card.

Horse, driver, and trainer of the meet for the Batavia Downs fall meet and Western New York horse, driver, and trainer of the year will also be announced at the track on Friday, December 4.

For more information, please log on to www.upstatenyushwa.com.