from Standardbred Breeders Association of PA

Harrisburg, PA — The Standardbred Breeders Association of Pennsylvania (SBAP) is proud to announce that Hanover Shoe Farms (HSF) has received the Pennsylvania Breeder of the Year Award from the Keystone Chapter of the Harness Writers Association for 2011. The award was presented to James Simpson, Paul E. Spears, and Dr. Paul F. Spears of HSF by the PA Harness Racing Commission (HRC) during their April meeting.

The Harness Writers Association is a trade association of communicators in harness racing which looks for quantity and quality in production of farm offspring at a particular farm when selecting recipients of the Breeder of the Year award.

“The choice was really easy this past year when Hanover posted the largest one-year breeding total ever, as its offspring raced to $25.9 million in earnings at North American Racetracks. It’s that simple, really,” Gerry Connors, an Administrator with the Commission said. Mr. Connors said HSF was also selected because it is a world-class breeding farm and a strong supporter of their local economy. Currently, the farm employees over 75 Pennsylvania families, has purchased 35 hauling trucks and 17 tractors from local dealers, feeds their horses with over 3,000 tons of locally-grown straw and hay, and supplies mushroom growers with 235 tractor-truck loads of organic horse manure.

HSF is the largest and winningest Standardbred breeding farm in the world and sits on 2,700 acres in the picturesque Hanover, PA countryside. In 2010 the farm was home to 11 PA stallions, 333 yearlings for 2010 sales, 437 mares which were booked to be bred in 2010, and 418 mares scheduled to foal. So far this spring, the farm has welcomed over 270 foals from prize-winning lineage during the April foaling season and looks forward to a healthy and productive harness racing season over the summer.

About the Standardbred Breeders Association of PA:
Standardbred Breeders Association of PA (SBAP) represents the interests of Standardbred horse breeding farms by providing effective leadership for the industry in Pennsylvania before the Harness Racing Commission, the PA Department of Agriculture, the General Assembly and the Administration.

SBAP encourages governmental action beneficial to the Standardbred breeding industry through active membership participation. The mission of the SBAP is to enhance the growth of the Standardbred breeding industry in Pennsylvania.