Fair Island Farm Caretaker of the Year announced

Akron, NY — The United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) is proud to announce that Sonja Booth has been named the 2024 Fair Island Farm Caretaker of the Year.

A native of Finland, Booth has shared her passion for harness racing in North America for more than two decades, spending many of those years working with veteran trainer Noel Daley, and her passion for her horses and the sport has been recognized by everyone who has known her over that time.

The award, which is annually sponsored by Art Zubrod and Leah Cheverie’s Fair Island Farm in conjunction with USHWA, will be presented to Booth at the Dan Patch Awards banquet, presented by Caesars Entertainment, which will be held at Rosen Centre on International Drive in Orlando, Fla., on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. In addition to transportation costs to Orlando, Booth will also receive two complimentary dinner tickets, a two-night stay at Rosen Centre, as well as a cash prize of $2,500.

Booth used to run a turnout operation for many years from her own farm. It mainly consisted of racehorses that needed time off or were sidelined due to injury, along with her own broodmares and a few for clients. She cared for as many as 50 horses at her farm at any given time.

Booth then started to work for Daley, where she groomed the Dan Patch 2-year-old trotting colt of the year Volume Eight. The following year she groomed Captain Albano, who was the Dan Patch 2-year-old male pacer of the year. In 2024, she continued to groom Captain Albano as well as 3-year-old trotter Sig Sauer, both of whom are leading contenders for divisional Dan Patch honors.

“I knew I was nominated but I had no idea I would have won,” said Booth. “I’m really, really excited about this. The last two years I cared for top 2-year-olds that won divisional awards and I didn’t make it to either of those banquets. Now, this year I will be there, and I just hope the two I looked after get some awards as well.”

One of the nomination letters sent in naming Booth came from trainer Daley and members of his stable and stated: “Sonja’s hard-working ethics and warm spirit could be seen at racetracks across the country in 2024 as she cared for two Grand Circuit level champions, 3-year-old pacing colt Captain Albano and 3-year-old trotting colt Sig Sauer. She rolled with the punches of a demanding schedule and delivered the best care and attention to two ‘sires on the rise’ as they each marched their way to bankroll more than a million dollars in purse earnings.”

An eight-member USHWA panel selected Booth the winner of the Fair Island Caretaker of the Year Award. A total of 19 caretakers were nominated for the award.

Dinner tickets can be ordered here and room reservations at Rosen Centre here for the star-studded Dan Patch Awards weekend. Additional information is available at the USHWA website. Sponsorship opportunities for the event can be procured from sponsorship chairman Shawn Wiles at swiles@rwcatskills.com. Information regarding congratulatory advertisements in the souvenir journal will be available shortly.

The United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) is pleased to present the schedule for the announcing of the Dan Patch Award winners for 2024, which will take place in the days around Christmas.

On Tuesday, Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, the 12 divisional racehorse Dan Patch champions will be announced during the “pre-game” program for a noon card on the Harrah’s Philadelphia signal (Harrah’s Philly is one of the tracks operated by Dan Patch Awards Banquet presenters Caesars Entertainment).

Fans should be watching by 11 a.m. (EST) for the presentation, which will feature the champion racehorses of 2024 – with the note that Trotter of the Year, Pacer of the Year, and Horse of the Year will first be announced LIVE during the Dan Patch Awards Banquet on Sunday, Feb. 23. This presentation will also be shown live on the YouTube page of the United States Trotting Association (USTA).

The non-racehorse Dan Patch Awards – which will include the Stan Bergstein Proximity Award, the most prestigious award voted on solely by USHWA – will be announced on the Thursday (Dec. 26) and Friday (Dec. 27) following Christmas. There will be a morning and an afternoon press release each day to the media, to cover the 13 award winners to be honored. Plans are for the Proximity winner to be announced Thursday morning, with the others “grouped,” possibly based on a commonality of ownership, stable, breeding, or racing track or jurisdiction.

The United States Harness Writers Association is the leading group of communicators about the Standardbred horse. USHWA conducts the official annual balloting for the sport’s most prestigious honors: induction to the Hall of Fame and Communicators Hall of Fame, along with the selection of the Horse of the Year, Trotter and Pacer of the Year, and the leading divisional horses of each season. Each year USHWA hosts the Dan Patch Awards Banquet, honoring the best and brightest performers in North American harness racing. This banquet is the Association’s principal source of funding, and with generous financial support from the harness racing and breeding industry, USHWA is able to host the banquet at a world-class facility in a world-class manner.

by Tim Bojarski, for the United States Harness Writers Association