A lifting girdle apparatus for enhancing the performance of a harness racing horse includes a lifting girdle affixed to a harness and sulky at two points on each side of the horse with a clip that attaches to the harness, behind approximately the front quarter of the horse, and with a securing strap that runs vertically towards and around the shaft of the sulky. The securing strap is preferably made to be adjustable, for example by constructing the securing strap as a belt and utilizing a belt buckle. The ability to adjust the distance between the attachment clips and the lifting girdle allows for a trainer to configure the lifting girdle device apparatus for different sized horses for producing an optimum setting for horses of almost any size.

The acting executive director of the Delaware Harness Racing Commission has been named to the post permanently. Mark Davis, the Delaware Department of Agriculture’s deputy principal assistant and policy advisor, had been acting director since September 2013 after previously serving as a liaison to the harness racing industry.

Delaware Harness Racing Commission Executive Director, Mark Davis announced today that the Commission has named Brian Manges, Presiding Judge, and two Associate Judges, Norman Short and Brent McLaren, to the judges’ stand.