In the third annual edition of The HRU Awards, our contributors make their picks for the very best of the year in eight categories.

Harness Racing Update is proud to present the third edition of The HRU Awards.

We asked our contributors to give their picks for the best of 2023 in eight categories.

Keep in mind, we purposely left the interpretation for each category up to the contributors. Some chose to think nationally or globally, some chose to think more regionally, focusing on the area they cover or to which they are most familiar. Contributors that felt they could not provide an educated opinion for a question left it blank.

1. HORSE OF THE YEAR

Thomas Hedlund: Hohneck. Philippe Allaire’s trotter was the best at Solvalla in Elitloppet and in his return to Stockholm, the French trotter was even more impressive in the U.E.T final.

Murray Brown: Confederate. In my opinion a no brainer.

Jay Wolf: Confederate. If it isn’t Confederate, I would be stunned.

Dave Briggs: Confederate.

Melissa Keith: Sylvia Hanover. Sylvia kept it interesting all year. A winning favorite in most of her starts at age 3 despite strong adversaries (led by Twin B Joe Fresh) and a heart-stopping penchant for improbable trips.

Dean Towers: Confederate. Considering his only two losses were because he was too far back and he had an off night it’s one of the easier votes we’ve had, in my view.

Frank Cotolo: Confederate.

Debbie Little: Confederate. Period.

Bob Heyden: Confederate. It should be unanimous for the second straight year, but I’m sure a couple will dissent. The fastest, richest and HOY is not always the case, but it should be for the second straight year.

2. PERSON THAT MADE THE BIGGEST CONTRIBUTION TO HARNESS RACING IN 2023

Melissa Keith: A controversial call, but probably Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Dave Briggs: Gabe Prewitt. Handle is the lifeblood of the sport and he knows how to drive handle.

Thomas Hedlund: Greg Sugars and all the people surrounding Australian horse Just Believe. Their journey to Europe was pretty much “a fun thing to do” when the invitation to Elitloppet was accepted, but the story about the horse turned into so much more, including a wish for a quick return to Europe in 2024 on the fans’ part. A sunshine story in the sport.

Bob Heyden: Ron Burke and his owners. It was their 15th straight training title, 10th straight $20-million season and second richest single season ever. Most starts and wins ever in a single year. BUT-the new Wrinkle/Trend of Burke Homebreds has added a touch the industry must be fully aware of.

Dean Towers: Jeff Gural. He just keeps chugging. Whether it’s working on the drug issue, or putting up cash to help with the Tioga barn fire, or TV time for the sport, he’s there.

Debbie Little: Bill Pollock. He dove into the deep end. Only time will tell if his investment will pay off, but one thing that is certain is how much he and his family love the sport. He shows up and shows out. What more can you ask for?

Frank Cotolo: Dave Briggs.

3. TRAINER OF THE YEAR

Frank Cotolo: Brett Pelling.

Dean Towers: Ake Svanstedt. He even had a nice pacer this year.

Melissa Keith: Herb Holland. Despite racing a small stable of primarily overnight horses, 66-year-old Herb Holland had the biggest win of his life this year, capturing the 2023 Metro Pace with Captains Quarters, as well as the Woodbine Mohawk Park Pop-Up Series finals wins with pacer Rockin N Talkin and Heavensdor Hanover, who swept the trotting series. The veteran horseman has trained and driven across North America since the 1970s, and is closing in on additional milestones as the new year approaches, with 397 career training wins from 4304 starts to date and $4,763,148 in purses won.

Bob Heyden: Ake Svanstedt. Amazing what this man has done. He and his wife Sarah dominated the trotting scene in 2023 and this is a no brainer. At 64, he’s doing it in the bike too with a record money-per-start season.

Thomas Hedlund: Alessandro Gocciadoro. His dominance in Europe in 2023 was total. Period.

Debbie Little: Ake Svanstedt. But an honorable mention should go to Ron Burke, who could win this award every year.

Jay Wolf: Ron Burke. Much like LeBron James or Michael Jordan, many will come to expect the Burke Brigade to have a great year. $27.5 million in earnings, 1,200+ wins and a pair of Breeders Crown titles is a great year.

Murray Brown: Ake Svanstedt. Others will doubtless disagree. Relative to the size of his stable, the percentage of stakes winners is overwhelming.

Dave Briggs: Extremely tough one. Ron Burke, Ake Svanstedt and Nancy Takter are all deserving, but I’m going with Linda Toscano. She won the North America Cup and the Jugette and Jug on back-to-back days in Delaware.

4. DRIVER OF THE YEAR

Murray Brown: David Miller. He is in line to break John Campbell’s all-time money winning record, one that I thought would never be broken. It should happen within the next four years.

Bob Heyden: Scott Zeron. Perfect handling in the North America Cup, Jug, Jugette, Hambletonian, and Kentucky Futurity sealed this one.

Dean Towers: Yannick Gingras. Whether you’re going for $1,000 or $1,000,000 he gives the horse a chance. The bettor has no bigger friend than Yannick Gingras, too.

Jay Wolf: Scott Zeron. Winning the North America Cup, Hambletonian, Little Brown Jug, Kentucky Futurity and Breeders Crown would be a good career. Scotty Z did that in 2023.

Melissa Keith: Pascal Berube. Reaching his 3,000th driving win and repeating as Hippodrome 3R Driver of the Year in 2023 were milestones for 51-year-old Pascal Berube, who also finished third by wins for the 2023 Rideau Carleton meet. A mentor to numerous younger drivers, his career was disrupted when the Quebec racetracks shut down completely in 2012, but his .329 UDRS and $694,717 in purses won this year are second only to his 2022 stats.

Dave Briggs: Scott Zeron.

Debbie Little: Scott Zeron. He’s been a runner-up five times before, this year he should finish on top.

Frank Cotolo: Jacob Cutting.

Thomas Hedlund: Scott Zeron. Cool drives. Best when it mattered the most.

5. OWNER(S) OF THE YEAR

Trey Nosrac: Adam Bowden / Diamond Creek. The man had a plan and he stuck to it; Confederate did not fall from the sky.

Dave Briggs: Adam Bowden is obvious and deserving, but even his incredible joy at an outstanding season couldn’t match that of Sylvia Hanover’s owner Tony Infilise of Hudson Valley Standardbreds. So, I’m going with Infilise.

Jay Wolf: Adam Bowden / Diamond Creek. They had a fantastic year.

Debbie Little: Adam Bowden / Diamond Creek. Gotta love it when a plan comes together.

Frank Cotolo: Tony Infilise / Hudson Valley Standardbreds.

Bob Heyden: Adam Bowden / Diamond Creek. Add Breeder of the Year to this also, with Confederate leading the way and Sweet Lou’s bust-out season.

Dean Towers: Adam Bowden / Diamond Creek.

Thomas Hedlund: Courant Stable. Anders Ström and his companions behind the stable name Courant took a shot and aimed for the finest of races when Joviality left the U.S. for Sweden during 2023. And in The Derby for 4-year-olds, Joviality proved best, with a well-deserved victory for a hardworking owner.

6. RISING STAR (HUMAN)

Victoria Howard: Lauren Tritton. This is one tough young lady who does it all: trains, drives and raises a family. She is not afraid to take on the big boys and holds her own. She reminds me of Bea Farber who I think was one of harness racing’s all-time best.

Dave Briggs: Jay Hochstetler.

Jay Wolf: Kenny Livengood. He is the new 24-year-old racecaller and handicapper for MGM Northfield Park. I have been impressed with his skills and enthusiasm.

Melissa Keith: Tyler Jones. The 30-year-old had his best-ever season at Woodbine Mohawk Park, with 72 wins from 1,028 seasonal starts there (as of press time) and 2023 purse winnings of $1,414,844. Currently just outside of the WMP top 10, Jones began driving in 2015/16 and relocated to Canada’s top track after the closure of Pompano Park, enjoying success with Ontario Sires Stakes Gold winner Momentary Control (p, 3, 1:51.0s; $217,069) among others this year.

Dean Towers: Jay Hochstetler.

Bob Heyden: Brett Beckwith. He has overachieved big time. At 20, he’s bringing back memories of Doug McNair at that same age, taking the $600G plus Confederation Cup in 2010 with Aracache Hanover, Ryan Anderson taking the $783G Breeders Crown with Popcorn Penny in 2000 at 20 and Richie Silverman, also at 20, missing a head with Michael Johnathan in the $1,344,000 Wilson of 1985.

Debbie Little: Jay Hochstetler.

7. RACE OF THE YEAR

Dean Towers: The Little Brown Jug final. For the first time in recent memory several horses had a shot, and I found it a real thrill.

Murray Brown: Both races involve T C I. The first is the Mohawk Million which he won after making a break at the start. The second was the race at Lexington where he barely nosed out Karl.

Melissa Keith: The Mistletoe Shalee. No breathers for Sylvia Hanover and driver Bob McClure in a multi-move victory the hard way, spending the whole mile on the outside. Any normal horse would have been done by the half, when My Little Captain and Strong Poison went past, or maybe tired at the top of the stretch; Sylvia went three-wide and held off a fresh Twin B Joe Fresh in near-stakes record 1:48.4m.
Jay Wolf: The Gene Riegle Memorial (Darke County Fair). I am going off the radar with this one. Charlie May wowed the Greenville, OH, crowd with his 1:50 mile in the $35,000 open pace. The crowd was buzzing long after the race ended. It was great to see his connections share their superstar at the grassroots of the sport, a county fair.

Thomas Hedlund: I tried to think of the most special moment from Europe, but couldn’t really find it, so, I’ll say the Kentucky Futurity with Tactical Approach’s finish on the inside in a race where hardly anyone would have placed a bet on him with a quarter to go.

Bob Heyden: Tough one. The Kentucky Futurity edges out the Hambletonian. Same horse in both, Tactical Approach, for Zeron and Nancy Takter. Post 10 is now on the board in Hambletonian lore, and so is the worst ever shuffle overcome in the 507th Triple Crown race, the Kentucky Futurity when Tactical Approach somehow got loose in the final 1/16th and got it done.

Debbie Little: The Mohawk Million. When T C I went offstride, I’m sure some people were ripping tickets, but great horses have a way of making you sorry you doubted them. One of the most incredible races I have ever seen.

Dave Briggs: Ponda Warrior winning the Dan Patch. A close second is T C I’s comeback in the Mohawk Million.

Frank Cotolo: Breeders Crown 3YO Colt Pace (Confederate).

8. WHAT CONCERNS YOU THE MOST ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE SPORT OR GIVES YOU THE GREATEST OPTIMISM?

Jay Wolf: Stakes scheduling [concerns me most]. We have fewer and fewer horses, so I would hope tracks wouldn’t schedule stakes and sire stakes on top of each other.

The next crop of performers [gives me optimism]. We had some terrific freshman performances and potential rivalries established. I hope they all come back and perform well in 2024 and we get to enjoy these great athletes for years to come.

Trey Nosrac: Artificial intelligence and sports gambling should scare the pants off everyone. The people in the sport and the magic of the horse continue to be islands that are great to visit.

Thomas Hedlund: The big concern is about the general indulgent management of the sport’s doping issue, worldwide. Come on now, play this game together, with equal rules in all states and in all countries, so the sport itself, with all actives, can show up with proudness at the arenas, knowing that we all want the same thing; fair races where the horses are not only the tools of profit making.

Murray Brown: We have lost multiple generations of youth. I would guess that 90 plus per cent of young people have no idea what harness racing is.

Melissa Keith: Fiddling while Rome burns. Established racetracks and farms dwindling in number, with survivors under sustained threats from urban sprawl and ownership changes (from racing-minded to those with token, mandated interest). Excessive focus on nostalgia and podcasts while much of the sport’s essential infrastructure faces an uncertain future.

Dean Towers: We don’t have enough bettors and the sport seems to yawn at that far too often. On the plus side, rent-seeking through governments (like the KYSS program) continues to fuel the breeding side, and right now there seems little sign of abatement.

Bob Heyden: The blatant territorial nature of our business [concerns me the most]. Forty-seven years ago, the advent of The Meadowlands, successfully sought to bring everyone together. That lesson is now ancient history.

Young drivers’ impact [gives me optimism]. The sport had a distinct aging quality to its top drivers 15-25 years ago. That has changed. A couple of full handfuls of young guys are setting up to be prominent in the next couple of decades.

Debbie Little: It’s too easy to focus on the negative, so I’ll take the road less traveled. I’m optimistic because there is more good than bad in our sport. Owners with a dollar and a dream, trainers spinning straw into gold, drivers finding a way to win against impossible odds and caretakers whose lives are their horses. Youth, both on and off the track, nurtured by seasoned vets pass on the love. That looks like a promising future to me.

Dave Briggs: I have many concerns:

• Little of substance being done to address the use of performance enhancing drugs.

• Little of substance being done to address the loss of betting customers.

• Post time drag. It’s killing any shred of hope we have for a future.

• Lack of unity and universality between racing regions.

• Animal rights activists turning their attention to horse racing.

• Lack of true unifying leadership.

• Lack of marketing.

I have many reasons for optimism:

• Purses are at an all-time high.

• Yearling sales are still generally very strong.

• The people of harness racing. There is no greater group of hard-working, salt-of-the-earth, beloved characters than the people in this sport.

• The horses. What a fantastic breed we have the pleasure to work with. Talented, adaptable, athletic, hardy and generally cooperative. Also, an owner can actually exercise his or her own horse. Try that with a thoroughbred.

• Against all odds and prognostications of doom, somehow, someway, this sport has long out-lived its doubters. Harness racing seems as hardy as the horse breed on which it is based.

• The rise in sports betting hopefully will include a rise in interest in betting on horses based on the theory that a rising tide floats all boats.