Old News - January 2007
Rucker Buys Magee Colors then Donates Them Back (23-Jan)
Hall of Famer Dave Magee donated a pair of winter colors to the Wisconsin Harness Horse Association (WHHA) for an auction held at their annual meeting on January 20.With “Dave Magee HoF ‘00” signed on the pocket, the bidding war for the colors was lively. In the end, Dr. Ken Rucker (Wisconsin Standardbreds) of Mondovi, Wis. prevailed with a $750 winning bid. Dr. Rucker then graciously donated the colors back to the WHHA to put in their Hall of Fame display.Dave Magee was inducted into the Wisconsin Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2001, one year after being inducted into the National Hall of Fame.
With the inclusion of Dave Magee’s colors, the WHHA had their best fundraising event ever. The WHHA Board of Directors would like to thank everyone who participated in making this auction a success.
Hammer Offers Training Tips in Wisconsin (23-Jan)
There was a nice write-up about Roger Hammer coming to our annual meeting on the USTA website. Click here to read the story.
Annual Meeting (22-Jan)
Pictures from the 2006 annual meeting (held Jan. 20, 2007) are now online. You can access them by clicking here or going to the annual meeting page.
Dave Magee Donates Colors to Auction (19-Jan)
Hall of Famer Dave Magee has been a loyal supporter of harness racing in his home state of Wisconsin for years. This year, he is donating a set of signed colors to the Wisconsin Harness Horse Association (WHHA) auction. Held on January 20th, 2007 at the Howard Johnson in Madison, Wisc. the auction is the major fundraiser for the year.
If you are unable to attend the auction in person, you can call Susan Schroeder at (414) 379-2494 or (608) 772-5600 by 6:00pm on Saturday to announce your interest in participating during the live auction. A WHHA board member will then call you when the live auction has started.
Wisconsin has no pari-mutual horse racing and the Association receives no state funding, therefore the horsemen look for donations to their silent and live auction to fund their summer racing program. In 2006, the WHHA and county fairs put on 15 days of racing, bringing horsemen in from Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan.
Speaker Profile: Chuck Bright (19-Jan)
Chuck Bright, a 60-year-old Oregon, Illinois native, has for years been revered amongst Chicagoland trainers for his expertise as a blacksmith. He began a career as a farrier when he was just 21-years-old. Chuck practiced his trade for 17 years out of his shop at the Elkhorn County Fair Grounds in Wisconsin, and then maintained clients at Maywood, Balmoral and the now-defunct Sportsman’s Park for 21 years before joining the Odds On team.
"After shoeing horses for 30 years it is nice to shoe for a big stable," Chuck said. "It’s an opportunity to shoe some really well-bred horses, and in a lot of cases the well-bred horses are just easier to shoe. Their breeding comes through."
Courtesy www.oddsonracing.com
Annual Meeting Itinerary (2-Jan)
The complete itinerary for the WHHA Annual Meeting & Banquet is now posted here.
