Page 20 - Dan Patch Award News Today

As the yearling portion of the 2018 Standardbred Horse Sale neared completion, Joseph Lyons Mound looked to buy one more horse for his family’s racing stable. He had his eye on two fillies but was unsuccessful in placing the winning bid on either. Not a big deal, Lyons Mound told himself, because he already had purchased a good number of horses.

Jon Erdner has been involved in harness racing for some four decades, and bred horses for nearly as long, but never enjoyed a year like he did in 2021 with Dan Patch Award-winning trotter Jujubee.

When David McDuffee and Mel Hartman's Poof Shes Gone cracked the million-dollar threshold as a rookie trotter in 2009, she became just the second trotting filly in harness racing history to boast a seven-figure bankroll. Twelve years later, Hartman and McDuffee are also partners on the third squaregaiter to reach that elusive plateau.

Three-year-old colt Perfect Sting was a repeat winner and four-year-old mare Lyons Sentinel also earned a second trophy as 2021 Dan Patch Award division champions for pacers were announced on Monday, Dec. 20 by the U.S. Harness Writers Association.

Three-year-old female pacer Test Of Faith ended the Grand Circuit season as the No. 1-ranked horse in the final 2021 Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll released Tuesday (Nov. 30).

A little more than a year ago, Ramona Hill became the fourth female trotter to win the Hambletonian Stakes since it moved to The Meadowlands Racetrack in 1981. On Saturday (July 17), she will return to The Big M to try to add the E.T. Gerry Jr. Hambletonian Maturity to her list of accomplishments. Since the modern version of the Hambletonian Maturity was created in 2014, only one horse has won both races: Marion Marauder. Ramona Hill will face 11 rivals in Saturday’s edition, leaving from pos...

With one Grand Circuit win under his belt, Stretch The Line might get the chance to go for another in the upcoming MGM Springfield Stakes at Yonkers Raceway. Stretch The Line won Friday’s $11,350 Landmark Stakes for two-year-old male pacers at Goshen Historic Track, going gate-to-wire in 2:00.2 with Tyler Buter at the lines for trainer Erv Miller. It was Stretch The Line’s first win in his second start. He went off stride on June 23 at Harrah’s Philadelphia. A gelding by Huntsville out of...

Three newcomers vaulted into this week’s Top 10 in the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll, led by three-year-old male pacer Perfect Sting, who landed at No. 6 after defeating older rivals in 1:48.1 at The Meadowlands. The time equaled the fastest mile of the season by a sophomore pacer. Racine Bell and Ruthless Hanover also entered the Top 10. Racine Bell, ranked No. 8, won the Kissin In The Sand Series final while Ruthless Hanover, at No. 9, won the fourth leg of the Graduate Series fo...

Maxie Lee Memorial winner Manchego remained the No. 1-ranked horse in the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll, adding 11 first-place votes and 43 points to her Week One totals. The six-year-old female trotter received 31 of 35 first-place votes and was five points shy of a perfect 350. Abuckabett Hanover, undefeated in three starts, and Commodore Barry Invitational champion Nicholas Beach received the remaining first-place tallies and improved their positions in the rankings. Abuckabett Ha...

A 23-1 wagering afterthought, You Ato Dream fired through the "sloppy" Lightning Lane to pull off the shocker in Saturday’s (May 29) Pennsylvania Sires Stake at The Meadows and snap the eight-race winning streak of Anoka Hanover. Love Muffin captured the other division of the $143,132 event for three-year-old trotting fillies known as the Meadow Bright. You Ato Dream banked more than $217,000 at two, but suffered occasional gait problems. In the Meadow Bright, she rated beautifully in the poc...