The 2016 portion of Dover Downs 48th harness racing meet ended with a flurry of individual winning driver performances. Vic Kirby led the standing from day 1, but Tim Tetrick and Yannick Gingras enjoyed a big December. George Dennis got hot during the last week racking up 3 wins on Monday, adding 4 more on Tuesday.Going into the start of 2017 portion of the meet, Kirby and Tim Tetrick are tied for the top pf the standings, with 56 wins each. Yannick Gingras is third with 48 wins. Defending champion Corey Callahan is fourth with 41 winners and Allan Davis holds down fifth place with 37 wins.

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Among trainers, Jim King has a comfortable lead haltering 38 winners. Joe Hundertpfund has moved into second-place with 20 wins. Josh Green is third with 19, Leigh Raymer, fourth, with 18 and Wayne Givens is fifth with 17 winners.

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With the New Year at hand, the first two months of 2017 feature a number of awards for the previous season. The Delaware Standardbred Owners Association (DSOA) kicks off presenting it Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet on Friday, Jan. 13. The meeting begins at 10:30 a.m. at Dover Holiday Inn. The Awards Dinner is at Modern Maturity Center with cocktail hour at 5:45 p.m. Following dinner at 7 p.m. Heather Vitale will host the awards ceremonies. Mike Hines and the Look then entertain with music and dancing starting at 9 p.m.

Tickets are $40.00 per person, purchased at DSOA Office at Dover Downs or at 830 Walker Square, Dover. Inquiries at 302-678-3058.

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Canada presets its Black Tie 2016 O'Brien Awards on Saturday, Jan. 28 in Mississauga, Ont. With the theme "250th anniversary of horse racing in Canada."

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The highlight of the Winter banquet circuit comes on Sunday, Feb. 26 at Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas, Nevada. With the U.S. Harness Writers Association (USHWA) Night of Champions honoring the 2016 Dan Patch Awards winners. For more information, check www.ushwa.org .

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George Teague will be honored with several prestigious awards at Las Vegas. He has been named Harness Horsemen International (HHI)'s "Dominic Frinzi Person of the Year." In addition to conditioning 1,631 winners of $35-million to date, Teague has been honored for graciously allowing the public to meet and greet his great pacer, 2015 Horse of the Year, Wiggle It Jiggleit, several times during 2016 to help promote harness racing. On USHWA Sunday, Teague will be the first person honored for a second time as its "Good Guy" award winner and Team Teague will receive the sport's second highest honor, The Stan Bergstein Proximity Award.

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Nominations are now being accepted for the 2016 Caretaker of the Year Award, sponsored by Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park in conjunction with USHWA honoring the sport's unsung heroes, its caretakers. Dover Downs leads in the number of grooms at the track who have won this award in the past. To nominate for this award with a number of benefits, contact USHWA president Tim Bojarski at a159star@gmail.com with a minimum 200 words, stating the special qualities of the caretaker being nominated.

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Many of the sports best-known drivers are taking vacations during the next few weeks. Yannick Gingras returns after taking a week off. Tim Tetrick will be vacationing for at least January and February. David Miller is taking an extended time off and would not return until just before Spring.

Marv Bachrad