George Herman Alber was born on February 6, 1905 in his native Marion, Ohio and was a highly respected businessmen and longtime owner/breeder. His top horses included the trotting mare Sara Rodney and Sara Flo.

He was the owner/operator of the Marion Plant Life Fertilizer Services, which he founded in 1937, and upon his death donated more than $32 million to Marion area charities and organizations including the Matinee Club Barn at the Marion County Fairgrounds.

A proud graduate of Ohio State University, he was a varsity football player and obtained a Business Administration degree. When he died, Alber directed that the remainder of his estate would provide scholarships for students to attend Ohio State’s Marion Campus. [More...]

A native of Clarksburg, Ohio, Ater has become one of the most respected horsemen in the state of Ohio during his 40-plus year career. Ater was elected to serve as a director for the Ohio Harness Horsemen's Association in 1991 and the United States Trotting Association in 2008.

From 2010 until 2013, Ater took over the managing duties of the Hawkinsville Training Center in Georgia. Away from the track, Ater has been a Deerfield Township trustee in Ross County for more than 19 years and is a member of the Ohio Farm Bureau.

Over his career, Ater has 1,695 driving wins, winning the driving titles at Lebanon Raceway, Scioto Downs, Northfield Park and Balmoral Park. [More...]

Long before William O’Donnell, Mike Lachance and Tim Tetrick made ‘catch driving’ the norm in harness racing, it was a small, but powerful, five-foot, two-inch native of Delaware, Ohio that would set the bar for the future catch drivers.

Bell was born on July 27, 1902 and won his first race at the Delaware County Fair in Powell, Ohio at the age of 14.

Despite his natural driving ability, Bell gained more press and notoriety as an amateur wrestler. “Farmer Boy” Bell was a welterweight champion who would take on competitors from Ohio and neighboring states.

When his mat career ended, he would go on to start his own public stable and would call Saunders Mills Stable of Toledo as his main client. Bell scored his first and only sub 2:00 mile with the Mills Stable’s Thunderclap in 1952.

In the mid-1950s, Bell served as an assistant trainer to John Simpson. [More...]

Veteran driver/trainer won more than 800 races and $2.1 million in purses during seven decades in the sport. Top horses included Chet Lynn Hayes, Town Leader, and Ocean Mouth. Native Ohioan was a decorated WWII veteran, and one of the original founders of the Ohio Harness Horsemen's Association.

Tom Brinkerhoff, one of Ohio's top trainers/drivers, was enshrined as the 45th member of the Ohio Harness Racing Hall of Fame. During Brinkerhoff's 60-plus year career, he campaigned some of Ohio's best horses, including Osborne Creed; Osborne's Bret; Golly Too, the time Ohio Sires Stake champion; Lark's Luke ($441,240); Doc Mistake ($342,793); and Ruffstuff Baker, the Ohio Triple Crown winner in 1993. Brinkerhoff was elected into the Northfield Park Wall of Fame in 1994 and received the Jerry Kaltenbach Memorial Award as the top Ohio Stake trainer in 1995. [More...]

Carnal was born in 1888 and the Ohio native's career spanned 60 years as a trainer, driver, and breeder of harness horses.

He acquired his early reputation as an accomplished reinsman with pacers, starting at the county fairs. He soon became successful racing horses such as Patchen Boy, Joe Watts and Wilma on the Grand Circuit. One of his most notable early wins was the $25,000 Kalamazoo Derby, then a premier pacing event, with the great mare Prue Grattan. [More...]

A native of Springfield, Ohio, Charters began his career with horses in the 1960s working as a groom at the Madison County, Fairgrounds and Scioto Downs for several seasons. He later worked for trainers Dick Buxton and Delvin Miller. He worked as a race secretary in Macau and at The Meadows in Pennsylvania before becoming Executive Director of the Breeders Crown in 1984. [More...]

Harness racing leaders yesterday mourned the death of Charlie Hill, founder and owner of Scioto Downs.

"How do you replace a Charlie Hill?" asked John Cashman, president of the Red Mile and Castleton Farm in Lexington, Ky. "He was a great participant and came to the track with all of his enthusiasm."

Hill Farms sponsored a 2-year-old pacing stakes at the Red Mile, and each October Hill was there to present the trophies. "If it meant three divisions, Charlie, despite his frail health, would make the trek from his table to present the trophies after every race."

Hank Thomson, co-founder of the Little Brown Jug in Delaware, Ohio, noted that Hill had served on its board of directors since the inception of the Triple Crown race for 3-year-old pacers in 1946.

"Charlie was a pretty powerful man in our sport," Thomson said. [More...]

Trainer/ Driver Terry Holton has long been regarded as one of the top horsemen in the Midwest, and he was formally acknowledged as such with his 2005 induction into the Ohio Harness Racing Hall of Fame. Holton, a native of Newark, Ohio, has driven the winners of more than 1,700 races and has earnings of more than $4.7 million. He got his first exposure in harness racing in 1953, and after graduating high school in 1960, Holton went on to win his first race.

He has won numerous driving and training titles at Scioto Downs and is a longtime Ohio Harness Horseman's Association director. [More...]

Donald ‘Skip’ Hoovler, a longtime Standardbred owner known for his relentless dedication to the sport, has been elected as the 51st member of the Ohio Harness Racing Hall of Fame by a vote of the members of the Ohio Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association.

He became involved in harness racing in 1968, and races mostly homebreds in the Ohio stakes program. Among his top horses were Medoland Sam ($231,120), Medoland Big Sam ($309,423), Medoland Miracle ($289,633), Northmedo Tam ($128,722) and Northmedo Mission ($322,178).

Hoovler’s greatest accomplishment in harness racing has come away from racetracks and breeding sheds. He has given selflessly of his time for the betterment of the sport in the Buckeye State. [More...]

Buckeye native is arguably the sport's foremost race caller. With more than 40 years behind the microphone, Huston has called races in 15 different states, six countries and on three continents. Long known as the voice of The Meadows, the man of many rings is no-doubt best known for his memorable calls of every Little Brown Jug since 1967.

Samuel Huttenbauer was a native of Cincinnati, Ohio and after he graduated from Harvard University, he joined the wholesale meat business, E. Huttenbauer & Son, that had been in his family since it was founded in the late 1880s.

Huttenbauer served in the Army Quartermaster Corps during World War I. He returned to the family business after his honorable discharge.

As a young man Huttenbauer rode hunters, saddle horses and played polo. [More...]

Driver Don Irvine, Jr. has stood the test of time.

The Mt. Gilead, Ohio native exploded on the scene in the 1970’s, dominating the driving ranks at Northfield Park and was greeted like a rock star on the Buckeye State’s county fair circuit. [More...]

A native of Kentucky, Jones has spent his career managing Standardbred breeding farms. After serving in World War II, Jones assisted his father in managing Mac-Dot Farm, a breeding and training facility outside of Columbus in the late 1940s. He moved to Pickwick Farm near Bucyrus in 1951 where he played a major role in developing the use of artificial insemination in Standardbred racehorses. [More...]

Born on April 28, 1896 in New Holland, Ohio, McKinley Kirk was a successful farmer, livestock dealer, salesman, and banker and one of the sport's all-time leading drivers. He bought his first horse when he was forty-four and began his driving career in 1944 at the age of forty-eight.

During his driving career, Kirk prepared and drove four world champions - Hodgen, Floating Dream, Pleasant Surprise, and Flaming Arrow. He owned or shared in the ownership of all the horses he drove. [More...]

Jerry Knappenberger of Newark, Ohio began his 50-year harness racing career as an assistant trainer for fellow Hall of Famer Terry Holton. In 1998, Knappenberger took over as General Manager of the Ohio Harness Horsemen's Association, a position he held for 17 years. Kappenberger, worked tirelessly for the introduction of Video Lottery Terminals in the state of Ohio. [More...]

Byron D. Kuth, prominent breeder and owner, was selected as the 2010 Ohio Hall of Fame Immortal.

Kuth was best known as the owner of Merrie Annabelle, the first juvenile trotting filly to win in 2:00. Shortly after that miraculous effort at Lexington, Kentucky, the roan filly was injured and later died from her injuries. [More...]

Don Logan McKirgan was born on October 17, 1940, in Mt. Gilead, Ohio.

Early in his career, McKirgan worked for Delvin Miller, and much of his future skills from the Hall of Famer. Known as "Ohio's Trotmaster," McKirgan has enjoyed success with both gaits, and Ohio Sires Stake Championships with Desire in 1977, Shana Hall in 1982, Dottie Dart in 1986, Windswept Song in 1988 and Adochi in 1992. [More...]

Virgil Morgan, Jr. is not just one of the greatest trainers in the Buckeye State, he is one of the greatest trainers in the Midwest and in North America.

Virgil was introduced to the sport of harness racing through his uncle, Emory Lewis, and his father, Virgil Morgan, Sr. He bought his first horse at the age of 17 and later started working for trainer Randy Owens before striking out on his own in the late 1980s.

His horses have won more than 7,700 races and $78 million in earnings. [More...]

Anthony “Tony” Morgan was born in Troy, Ohio in June of 1958 and is the son of veteran driver and Michigan Hall of Famer, Eddie Morgan, Jr. and grandson of the late Ed and Winnie Morgan.

Tony began his career at the tender age of 13 when he drove in an amateur race at his hometown track, the Miami County Fairgrounds in Troy.

His first of his nearly 18,000 career wins came on May 13, 1973, when he piloted Peachakona to a win in a matinee race at Celina, Ohio.

Spent most of his teenage years racing on the Ohio fair circuit, then headed to Kentucky when he received his “A” license at age 18.

Tony emerged in the early ’90s as one of the top drivers on the Chicago racing circuit and for three consecutive campaigns (1995-97), he was the leading dash-winning driver in North America. He won the Jugette with the pacing mare, Magic Shopper, in 1995 for trainer Brett Shultz and owners Charles and Julie Nash.

In 1996, his total of 853 wins broke the all-time single-season record set by Walter Case Jr.

Tony was the Illinois Harness Horsemen's Association President from 1998 to 2004. [More...]

Dr. John Mossbarger is a veterinarian and president of Midland Acres, Inc., a family-owned breeding farm in Bloomingburg, Ohio, and home to many top stallions over the years.

Dr. Mossbarger graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.S. [More...]

Donald E. Mossbarger, DVM, received a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from The Ohio State University in 1945 and shortly thereafter began his large animal veterinary practice and founded Midland Acres, one of Ohio's leading breeding farms and premier Standardbred nurseries, located in Bloomingburg.

Midland Acres was originally established to supplement Dr. Mossbarger’s veterinary practice. [More...]

Trainer/Driver Sam "Chip" Noble III was born in Xenia, Ohio, and broke into racing at Lebanon Raceway at the tender age of 17. Known over the years for his fantastic percentage figures, Noble won driving titles at Latonia and Lebanon before turning his attention to bigger circuits. Chosen to represent the United States in the biennial World Driving Championship in 2001 and 2003. [More...]

Mentor businessman Jerome Osborne, born in 1922, has been a strong and steadfast supporter of Ohio harness racing since the mid-1960s. He's enjoyed success at the highest levels with such stars as Majestic Osborne, Osborne's Bret, Sharky Osborne, Justabit Of Magic, Empress Osborne, Obsborne's Gypsy, and Osborne Creed, a star pacer in the early 1970s.

Dave Rankin is a native of Bremen, Ohio, and grew up in a racing family. He was the son of the well known Ohio horseman Scott Rankin. He drove in his first race on hius 16th birthday, and it was a rude awakening to the sulky sport as he was involved in a wreck with Harry Richardson. [More...]

Operator of Northern Farms, Painesville, Ohio. Owner and breeder revered for his work with the Lake County Fairgrounds. Past President Ohio Harness Horsemen's Association, Harness Horseman International, and the Lake County Agricultural Society as well as a director of United States Trotting Association. [More...]

Richard "Dick" Stillings of Mount Vernon, Ohio has driven 5,751 career winners with more than $41.7 million in purse earnings. Stillings began his career as a groom for Hall of Fame trainer Dick Buxton. After a three-year stint in the U.S. [More...]

Ivan Sugg had the dream year of his four-decade training career in 2003 when he won the Pacing Triple Crown with No Pan Intended, just the tenth horse in history to do so. Sugg, a native of Deshler, Ohio, was also voted Trainer of the Year that year. The affable trainer followed his father into the business, and the trend has continued, with Sugg's sons Kurt and Duke also active in the sport.

Sugg Passes Harness Racing Down by Tyson Agler NWS Sports Writer - July 26, 2018

At a young age, Ivan Sugg was exposed to harness racing. [More...]

A resident of Vienna Ohio has been selected as the 43rd member of the Ohio Harness Racing Hall of Fame.

Wollam began his illustrious career in 1965 working for Forrest Short. Since then, Wollam has tallied 1,784 trips to the winners as a trainer and 1,139 in the sulky. He also has 12 Ohio Sires Stakes Championships with such standouts as Full Count, Count Me in, Doink N Doni, Contessa Leigh, and Neely's Messenger.

Wollam also campaigned Striking Sabra who collected $217,492 on the racetrack and was responsible for progeny that earned more than $67.8 million. [More...]