Yesterday, was the induction ceremony at the Hall of Fame. Inducted as living members were Tom Crouch, Alan Leavitt and Tim Rooney. Kudos to all three for their well deserved inductions.
Alan Leavitt, who with his Meg Jewitt Leavitt own Walnut Hall Ltd, a prominent breeding facility. Meg Jewitt Leavitt is an outspoken proponent of saving unwanted horses who previously made some industry people upset regarding her speech concerning horse slaughter when she won the President's award in 2007 from the United States Harness Writers Association. As owner of Walnut Hall Ltd, the Leavitts make sure that all mares whose breeding careers came to an end become pensioners of the farm and they introduced a medical protocol at their farm to allow twenty rescued mares to become nurse mares for orphan foals.
As a member of the KHRC, Alan Leavitt summed up the reason for implementing new whipping rules. "I've been in harness racing for 50 years and over that time I've watched abusive whipping become a cancer on our business. And until we get rid of it, it's going to be impossible to increase our fan base and we're not going to be able to attract new owners. People don't want to see it."
We are fortunate to have Alan Leavitt in harness racing and the industry did right in honoring him. Hopefully, he will be able to continue with his forward thinking contributions to the industry.
As a side note, congratulations to the family of Lew Williams on his induction as an immortal to the Hall of Fame. Lew Williams, the first African American to be elected to the Hall of Fame (make room for George Teague) was a trailblazer in the sport being the leading driver at Northfield Park in his earlier days and becoming one of the top drivers at the Meadowlands and other tracks while introducing a new driving style. Unfortunately, his career came to a halt while he fought substance abuse issues. While waiting to make his return to racing, Lew died in a farming accident in 1989. It is nice to see that the sport Lew loved was able to recognize him for his contributions.
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