by John Pawlak, the U.S. Trotting Association

Columbus, OH — The annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Trotting Association, which will be celebrating its 75th anniversary during 2013, will convene on Saturday (March 2), as part of the upcoming Harness Racing Congress in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

USTA business will open at 1 p.m. on Saturday, with meetings of the Rules, Executive, Registration, Pari-Mutuel and “Save our Standardbreds” committees.

The full board will convene on Sunday (March 3) at 1 p.m. to seat two new members, Stacy Cahill and Dave Bianconi, both track directors representing Ohio. The board will hear activity reports from USTA President Phil Langley, USTA Executive Vice President and CEO Mike Tanner and a report on Association finances from USTA Chairman and Finance Committee Chairman Ivan Axelrod.

The session will also feature remarks by newly elected Grand Circuit President John Campbell, who will announce changes to the 2013 Grand Circuit schedule.

USTA Rules Committee Chairman Dick Brandt, Jr. will also present the newly codified USTA Rule Book. Over the past year a committee closely examined all the USTA rules and excised archaic wording and added dozens of definitions to help clarify rules. The committee’s report, in the form of a newly edited rule book, will then be acted upon by the full board. Brandt will then lead a discussion of rule change proposals for 2013.

Video of the entire Sunday full board session may be seen, live, over the internet, by visiting www.ustrotting.com between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. (EST). Monday’s (March 4) full board session, which will also convene at 1 p.m., will also be shown online. Video coverage will also be archived for viewing at a later date.

Three committees, the Rules, Finance and Communications and Marketing panels, will complete their work on Monday morning (March 4), beginning at 8 a.m., in advance of what will be the closing session for not only the USTA annual meeting, but also for the entire Harness Racing Congress.

At that Monday afternoon session, the full USTA Board will give its approval to the reports of the various committees, formally adopt the Association’s 2013 operating budget, and confirm the time and place of the USTA’s 2014 annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio.