AHDC donates to the Standardbred Transition Alliance

WILKES-BARRE, Pa.— The American Harness Drivers Club (AHDC), in town for the club’s fall trotting harness racing series on Saturday (Oct. 19), presented a donation at Pocono Downs for the Standardbred Transition Alliance.

AHDC President Anthony Verruso led the presentation of a $2,000 check for the Standardbred Transition Alliance, a 501(c)(3) charity which validates and distributes grants to various organizations that rehabilitate, train and house Standardbred horses. Pocono Downs’s director of racing and race secretary Rick Kane joined Verruso and members of the AHDC to accept the check on behalf of the Standardbred Transition Alliance.

 “I want to thank the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen’s Association for their continued support of our club’s races,” Anthony Verruso said. “We enjoy getting to travel to different tracks and it’s great to have the local horsemen and women be so welcoming to us. And we get to race for good causes; a win-win.”

As amateurs, the drivers in the AHDC do not retain the driver’s share of purse earnings. Those purse earnings are retained to give to charities, ranging from racehorse aftercare to community development to cancer research and more. In 2024, the AHDC has already donated nearly $10,000 to various charities in North America.

by Ray Cotolo, for the AHDC