Dr. Harry M. Zweig, a New York native, was born in 1914. In 1938 he graduated from the Ohio State Veterinary College and returned to his hometown of Nassau , NY , to start a veterinary practice. In 1961 Zweig founded Middlebrook Farm in Nassau , NY , where he bred and raised Standardbreds eligible to compete in New York-sired racing events.

Due to his experience as a breeder, Zweig understood that there was a limited incentive to breed Standardbreds due to the large expense it entailed while offering only a small chance for a return on the investment. His passion for the industry and the sport drove him to change that. In 1965 Zweig was an

instrumental figure in the passing of New York State ’s Laverne Law, which tapped into the state’s lucrative gambling tax revenues to bring money back into the Standardbred industry. This law provided the foundation for the first state-bred racing program, the New York Sire Stakes. This initiative’s incredible success, due to its innovative revenue-sharing model, caught the interest of the harness racing community across the US and around the world by introducing new motivation to breed Standardbreds. Over the next few years many other states and countries borrowed largely from New York ’s program to develop their own state-bred racing initiatives.

Aside from running his veterinary practice for over thirty-eight years, Zweig also served as a member of the advisory board of Cornell Veterinary College, as a president of the Harness Horse Breeders of New York State, Inc. for eleven years and as a director of the USTA for nine years.

Dr. Harry M. Zweig passed away on April 28, 1977 . He was sixty-three years old. His contributions to harness racing are honored by the Dr. Harry Zweig Memorial Trot, previously known as the Empire State Trot, and the Harry M. Zweig Memorial Fund for Equine Research.

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