In The Zone RoundUp: The 2013 Dan Patch Awards
She may be young, but a 3-year-old filly trotter was certainly all the buzz at this year’s Dan Patrick Awards Banquet Night of Champions. Held at Dover Downs, Delaware on Sunday, February 24, 2014, The Dan Patch Awards named Bee A Magician as Horse of the Year by the U.S. Harness Writers Association at the annual banquet.
With a record of 17 unbeaten races last season, Bee A Magician beat out two popular pacers for the distinguished honor. And this time, she didn’t even have to break a sweat. The first 3-year-old filly trotter to nab the honor since 1996’s winner Continentalvictory, Bee A Magician scored 94 votes, with Foiled Again and Captaintreacherous garnering only 19 and 16 votes respectively.
Bee a Magician also took home the Trotter of the Year honor by a huge 120-vote margin. Other award winners honored at the banquet include divisional honors for the following :
- Trotter of the Year – Bee A Magician
- 3-Year-Old Filly Trotter – Bee A Magician
- Pacer of the Year – Captaintreacherous
- 3-Year-Old Male Pacer – Captaintreacherous
- 2-Year-Old Male Trotter – Father Patrick
- 2-Year-Old Filly Trotter – Shake It Cerry
- 2-Year-Old Male Pacer – He’s Watching
- 2-Year-Old Filly Pacer – Precocious Beauty
- 3-Year-Old Male Trotter – Royalty for Life
- 3-Year-Old Filly Pacer – I Luv the Nitelife
- Older Male Trotter – Market Share
- Older Female Trotter – Maven
- Older Male Pacer – Foiled Again
- Older Female Pacer – Anndrovette
It was a unanimous decision for the division titles awarded to Bee A Magician, Father Patrick, and Maven. For four of these equine heroes, the Dan Patrick Awards were a familiar stomping ground. Captaintreacherous, Market Share, Foiled Again, and Anndrovette were all repeat winners.
Harness racing’s best and brightest stars were on hand for the annual awards ceremony that included a red carpet photo shoot, as well as main course dinner consisting of lobster surf and turf. The gala event also saw David Miller and Bill Weaver inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame.
The biggest social event of the year for Standardbred racing, the United States Harness Writers Association Dan Patch Awards Dinner celebrates the top trotters and pacers of the industry. Each year, a number of harness racing awards are doled out to the sport’s leading men and women, and their horses.
Who is the Dan Patch behind the Dan Patch Awards? Why, just one of the best horses who’s ever raced. Known as the “greatest harness horse in the history of the two-wheel sulky,” Dan Patch set the record of a 1.55 mile. Born in 1896, the “World’s Champion Harness Horse,” grew into a strong colt in Indiana before being sold to Marion Savage in New York a few years later. At a Minnesota State Fair in 1906, Dan Patch wowed the racing world with a time of 1.55 for the mile, a record that’s been equaled (back in 1938) but never broken.
