Palone, Jones nominated for placement on Hall of Fame ballot

Dave Palone, perennial driving king at The Meadows and the winningest driver of the 1990s as well as the last 20 years, and Hal Jones, whose introduction of artificial insemination to harness racing profoundly changed the techniques and theories of the sport, were chosen Sunday for final ballot spots in this summer’s election for the Harness Racing Living Hall of Fame.

As stated, the picking of Palone and Jones does NOT automatically put them in the Hall of Fame; they MUST receive sufficient votes during the Living Hall of Fame election this summer by members of the U.S. Harness Writers Association (USHWA) to be given harness racing’s ultimate honor. Palone will be voted on by the entire USHWA membership and all Living Hall of Famers, while Jones will be voted on in the senior category by USHWA's board of directors.

Palone has won the national title for most driving wins in 1999, 2000, and 2004, and he has been the Harness Tracks of America’s Driver of the Year five times. But sheer quantity is not the only facet of Palone’s game, even at The Meadows, where he has won dozens of stakes races and is the driver of choice for Grand Circuit trainers sending in their stars. Dave won pacing’s premiere event, the Little Brown Jug, in 2005 with P-Forty Seven, and last year won his first Breeders Crown with In Focus in an upset over Deweycheatumnhowe.

Jones was in a tight-staffed situation at Ohio’s Pickwick Farms when he came up with the idea of going away from breeding by natural cover, “collecting” from stallions, and impregnating the mares in that fashion. The “artificial insemination” avenue revolutionized harness racing breeding, enabling stud books to be increased and enabling popular breeding lines to appear in more horses. Jones worked at a number of farms as superintendent/manager until starting his own successful Cameo Hills Farm in New York.

In the summer election, Palone and Jones will be joined as ballot candidates by Murray Brown of Hanover Shoe Farms and Jim Moran of Vernon Downs, who are being considered for inclusion in the Communicators' Hall of Fame.

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