The United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA), harness racing’s leading group of industry communicators, held its annual Directors and Membership meetings on Feb. 20 and 21 virtually using the Zoom technology, as the group’s annual “weekend” including these meetings and culminating in the Dan Patch Awards banquet had to be cancelled due to the health pandemic.
Dan Patch award winners were honoured through a virtual “Dan Patch Awards” program before a Saturday night card at The Meadowlands in January. That effort was chaired by Gordon Waterstone, and was brought to fruition largely through the efforts of Jason Settlemoir, Jeff Gural, and many members of The Meadowlands’ communications office. The show was watched through The Meadowlands’ signal, and through a number of USHWA and other social media platforms, which generated much viewing and engagement.
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With so many accolades having come his way over the last two years, driver Dexter Dunn can be forgiven for not being aware he had reached a big career milestone Friday night at The Meadowlands.
The 31-year-old New Zealander, who dreamed as a youngster of playing for the All Blacks, a famous rugby club back in his homeland, was his usual aw shucks self after winning his 1,000th career North American race in the second with Roger Rabbit on a frigid night at The Big M.
“I didn’t know I was close,” Dunn said.
If that’s the case, he probably does not remember that his first win came in June of 2011 with Mcclelland in a high-end conditioned pace at The Big M. Dunn returned home after that season and was not seen back in the States again until 2017. He won 93 races in 2018 before rising to the top of the sport in 2019, winning 460 times for earnings of over $12 million.
The first three Saturdays of 2020 were solid from a business perspective at The Meadowlands, as total wagering of $7.7 million averaged out to $2.569 million per card, resulting in an average per race of $183,523.
Turn the page to 2021, and despite the COVID-19 pandemic’s continued miserable grip on the globe, business at the industry’s handle leader has been booming.
Good as the numbers were during the first three Saturdays of a year ago, thus far this year has seen tremendous gains over the corresponding race cards.
Betting reached $4,562,477 on Jan. 2, which represented the third-highest single-card handle–beaten only by Meadowlands Pace Night and Hambletonian Day–over the last 13 months.