In the first time in Dan Patch Awards history, the Horse of the Year was neither the Trotter or Pacer of the Year. JK She'salady becomes the first two year old filly pacer to be named Horse of the Year, defeating Sweet Lou who was named the Pacer of the Year and Shake it Cerry who was selected as Trotter of the Year.
The voters had to select from one of their choices of Pacer or Trotter of the Year which permitted this victory. Sweet Lou beat out JK She'salady by one vote for Pacer of the Year, but lost the Horse of the Year because more of Sweet Lou's supporters defected in favor of their Trotter of the Year selection.
The SOA and standarbred horsemen from the other associations were handed a defeat by the highest court in New York who by a vote of 6-0 determined the NYSGC may mandate Out of Competition Testing. Since the rule was modified since originally issued in an attempt to address horsemen's concerns, the court didn't rule on the specifics of the old 2009 and new 2014 rules but they ruled the NYSGC has the right to propagate such a rule. Hence, barring anything absurd, I find it hard to believe the 2014 rule will be knocked down, despite the fact the SOA has instituted a new lawsuit regarding the rule.
However, it was noted in the decision that the thoroughbred horsemen also had an out of competition rule passed but they never challenged it. While the standardbred horsemen have the right to challenge their version of the rule, does one have to wonder why some people have a problem with harness integrity?
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