from the Wisconsin HHA Marketing Department
Madison, WI — The Wisconsin Harness Horse Association will hold its awards banquet on January 21 in Madison, Wis., at the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel on East Washington Avenue. Numerous awards will be given including the Horseperson of the Year Award.
Each year the president of the WHHA chooses the recipient, and President Gabe Wand has chosen Jeanne Marquis of Dane, Wis., to be honored.
Born into a harness racing family, Jeanne Marquis has been active in the harness racing industry since she was barely able to walk. As daughter of Wisconsin Hall of Fame member, William “Doc” Marquis, Jeanne was taught on the family farm, where race meets were actually held, what it took to be a true horseperson.
Jeanne has done it all. She’s been an owner, a trainer and even one of the few women drivers that Wisconsin has seen. But Jeanne is most well-known for her love of trotters, owning nothing but those diagonal gaited steeds. Through the years she has sent numerous trotters to the track — all with ‘Mar’ somewhere in the title. Perhaps her most successful is Carry The Mar, a gelded son of Carry The Message. He bankrolled more than $180,000 throughout his career for Jeanne and still has a home on her farm in Dane.
Through the years, Jeanne has sent numerous trotters postward on the Wisconsin circuit. It was this devotion that netted her 19 top-10 trotters since the inception of the Top Ten Trotting Club in 1989. Three times she received Trotter of the Year honors (Justamar ’91, Coopermar ’92 and Magicmar ’94) and was twice named Runner-Up (Aprilmar ’92 and Margene’s Kim ’08). As you can see, in 1992 Jeanne had both Trotter and Runner-Up Trotter of the Year. In 2006, she had an astonishing three trotters in the Top Ten Trotting Club!
Jeanne has always taken an active role with her horses from picking out the breeding to getting them to the races. But as a true horseperson, she never stops learning, often seeking advice from her trainers and drivers throughout the years — Eric Tong, Maury Hughes, Tom Long, and Russ, Ben and Scott Gald.
For additional information regarding the WHHA banquet, all of their weekend festivities or to book tickets to the event, contact WHHA President Gabe Wand at 608.574.5468 or e-mail gabewand@yahoo.com.