Hanover Raceway will present a brand new award this season honouring a local racing legend.
The Bud Fritz Rising Star Award will be handed out for the first time in 2020, and Hanover Raceway GM Steve Fitzsimmons says the award will go to a racer who shows a lot of promise every season going forward that raced at Hanover Raceway in a given year. Fitzsimmons says the award is named after local racing legend Bud Fritz.
"It's inspired by harness racing driver and trainer, the Hall of Famer, Bud Fritz. We wanted to honour Bud in this way. He supported our race track for over 40 years, and his sons continue to race here."
Fritz reached legendary status in the harness racing world as a driver and trainer, in a career that included winning the North America Cup with Apache's Fame, a purse that amounted to 1.8 million dollars. He also had success with horses like A Worthy Lad, who won 30 races in a row, as well as developing Silver Rain, Annie Ivy, Trudy's Omaha and Queen's Arm among many others.
The inaugural Bud Fritz Rising Star Award will be handed out in September, and Fitzsimmons says it will be judged by a group of panelists.
"It's going to be a panel which will include the Fritz family as well as Hanover Raceway staff. It will be presented for the first time on September 19th, which is our final race day of the 2020 season."
Members of the Fritz family will be in attendance to present the first ever Bid Fritz Rising Star Award.
