In this week’s HarnessRacing Weekend Preview, Nick Salvi is back with “The Florida Files,” and his observations from a visit to the South Florida Trotting Center earlier this week. There’s also more “Breeding Banter,” with news from Blue Chip Farm and Midland Acres.

HarnessRacing Weekend Preview is FREE and this week’s edition also includes previews of series finals at the Meadowlands and Woodbine this weekend, plus the complete field for Sunday’s 1 million euro Prix d’Amerique in Paris. The 18-horse field includes quite a few horses with American blood in their... more...

The 14th annual edition of the USTA Standardbred Driving School will be held in the Goshen, N.Y., area from May 30-June 3.

“We are very excited to be able to conduct this year’s school in the New York area which will make the school more accessible for people who live in the East,” said Chip Hastings, the school’s founding director. “In addition to the new venue, the school has been extended to five days and will offer more hands-on instruction with horses than in year’s past.”

Classroom instruction will be held at the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame with... more...

Fred Segal, president of the Florida chapter of the US Harness Writers Association, has announced the award winners for the 2011 season. They will be honored at the association’s 21st annual Hall Of Fame Awards Dinner on Sunday, Feb. 19, at the Fort Lauderdale Marriott North Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Elected to the chapter’s Hall of Fame, which recognizes special individuals who have been outstanding leaders within the industry for more than 10 years and who have contributed to the betterment of the Standardbred Industry, are... more...

For over 30 years, Dr. Mike Wilson has been doing what he loves. He's worked tirelessly and passionately to produce some of the finest Standardbred race horses in Canada and for the first time ever, Wilson, a long-time breeder, is nominated for Canada’s Breeder of the Year honor at the O’Brien Awards, slated for Saturday evening at the Delta Meadowvale Hotel in Mississauga, Ont.

Wilson’s Warrawee Farms is located in Rockwood, Ontario, boasting 103 acres of land and home to 17 broodmares. His two headline broodmares are Mystic Mistress, the dam of Mystician ($1,573,942) and Great Memories, the mother of Warrawee Needy ($535,000), who is... more...

A casino being built in downtown Cincinnati partially collapsed Friday morning, injuring as many as 20 people, nine seriously. None of the injuries are considered life threatening at the casino, which is being developed by Dan Gilbert's Rock Gaming in partnership with Caesars Entertainment.

The collapse came in a large part of the building, and, according to Cincinnati.com, Cincinnati fire chief Dick Braun said concrete was being poured on the second floor when the floor gave way. A beam fell on the floor, sending it and the workers on it crashing to the ground.

Rain was falling when the collapse occurred at approximately 8 a.m., and... more...

A one-hour educational tele-seminar aimed at helping small breeders select a stallion for their mare will be held Wednesday, Feb. 1, from 3 p.m. until 4 p.m., eastern for any interested USTA members.

The seminar, open to any current USTA member, will be limited to the first 60 people to register. The agenda will feature insights from two of the sport’s most successful and prolific breeding farms, Dr. Bridgette Jablonsky from Hanover Shoe Farms and a representative from Winbak Farm. David Carr, the USTA’s information and research manager, will also discuss statistical tools available to provide data to aid in mating decision making.

There... more...

The first two of the Winter Series finals were held Thursday night at the Meadowlands and the pair of contests could not have been raced in more different fashion. While the $38,000 White Ruffles final for 4-year-old pacing mares was start-to-finish action that resulted in a 77-1 winner in Fella's Ella, the $58,500 Super Bowl for 4-year-old trotters saw second-choice Dontevenknowmyname overcome a first-over trip to best favorite My Man.

In the White Ruffles, there was three-wide action in the first turn and six-wide action in the last turn. After longshots Angelo's Dream and Mandolin Hanover, who had started from post eight and nine, respectively, slugged it out through first-half fractions of :28.2 and :56.3, it... more...

Lou Pena, the leading trainer at the Meadowlands in 2010 and 2011, has reportedly dropped his lawsuit that he had filed as a result of not being allowed to race his horses at the track this year. A story on NorthJersey.com by John Brennan stated Pena had filed a "notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice" on Wednesday, and the suit was dismissed in U.S. District court on Thursday.

Pena had earlier requested a preliminary injunction and immediate lifting of the ban but that was denied. The latest report indicated that "without prejudice" means the court accepted Pena's request and that no opinion would be rendered. The story stated that it wasn't clear if Pena decided he couldn't win the case or if he and new... more...