by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Ken Weingartner

Freehold, NJ — Dave Palone became hooked on harness racing as a teenager when he saw his first Adios at The Meadows in 1976, a race won by Hall of Fame trainer/driver Joe O’Brien with Armbro Ranger.

More than 30 years later, Palone is still at The Meadows and still hooked on harness racing. And next summer, the 47-year-old Palone will join O’Brien and the sport’s other legendary performers in the Hall of Fame.

Palone, who ranks third in North American harness racing history for driving wins, was elected to the Harness Racing Hall of Fame on Tuesday, along with Hal Jones, who revolutionized the sport with the introduction of artificial insemination. Murray Brown, pedigree guru and publicist for Hanover Shoe Farms, and Jim Moran, the announcer and publicist at New York’s Vernon Downs, were elected to the Communicators’ Hall of Fame. All balloting was conducted by the U.S. Harness Writers Association.

Dave Palone

“I just can’t get the smile off my face thinking about it,” Palone said. “I grew up idolizing the guys who are in that Hall; they were my heroes. To think a guy who is the son of a car dealer with no harness racing background could get in there, it’s very humbling. I’m so appreciative of it. There are so many people that I want to thank, right down to every groom and every trainer and every owner I’ve raced for over the years. It takes more than a driver to win a horserace.”

A native of western Pennsylvania, Palone won his first race in 1983 with a horse named Red’s Folly. He has won the driving title at The Meadows each of the last 20 years and his 13,266 lifetime triumphs trail only Herve Filion and Cat Manzi. He is a five-time recipient of Harness Tracks of America’s Driver of the Year Award.

This season, Palone is well on his way to another title at The Meadows and ranks fifth in wins in North America, with 487. In 2008, Palone set career highs with 885 victories — including a Breeders Crown with In Focus and the Roses Are Red with Tidewaterdragonfly — and $10 million in purses.

In 2005, he won the Little Brown Jug with P-Forty-Seven. In 1999, he won the Adios with Washington VC.

“You think about all the highs and lows,” Palone said. “It’s just 25 years of hard work. It’s nice to be appreciated.”

The group will be honored twice next year; first, at the annual USHWA awards banquet, at Empire City at Yonkers Raceway on Sunday, February 28. The formal induction ceremonies take place at the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Goshen, New York, on Sunday, July 4.