On a rainy Friday morning in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., racing stakeholders and fans took time to honor past bright spots in the sport's history as the annual induction ceremony for the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame was conducted at Fasig-Tipton's Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion.
Jockey Corey Nakatani and three champion horses – Arrogate, California Chrome and Songbird – were contemporary Hall of Fame inductees, the three horses elected in their first year of eligibility. Retired jockey Fernando Toro was selected for induction by the Historic Review Committee. John W. Hanes II, Leonard. W. Jerome, and Stella Thayer were named Pillars of the Turf.
Nakatani was inducted after a career that included 10 Breeders' Cup triumphs and 341 stakes victories from 3,909 career wins from 1988-2018. He is best known for riding Lava Man and Serena's Song, as well as My Miss Aurelia, Shared Belief, Sweet Catomine and others.
For Nakatani, the induction was the latest chapter in a lifetime of overcoming the odds. He recalled playing football as a child and being significantly smaller than the other players. In one game a coach instructed him to avoid an opposing player and Nakatani instead plowed him down despite the size difference.
“That was the first time I was told not to do something and decided I'd better go do it,” he said. “That was my career in a nutshell.”
Nakatani reflected on the riders he competed with in Southern California – those jockeys were rivals, but also people he learned from as he honed his skills.
“It's a lifelong dream that you think of being that good, making it to the Hall of Fame, and prove people wrong,” he said. “Horse racing is very humbling. When you get a chance to win, there's no better feeling than that.”
Toro, a native of Santiago, Chile, won major races in his home country before coming to the U.S. in 1966. He piloted five Hall of Fame horses to victory in stakes, and won 3,555 races in North America from 1966-1990, including 80 graded stakes.
Toro, who lives in California, was not able to attend the ceremony in person, but will be presented his Hall of Fame jacket and plaque in a ceremony at Del Mar racetrack on Aug. 19.
Dr. John Chandler, who accepted the honor on behalf of Arrogate owner Juddmonte Farm, said the brilliant gray was part of a pivot for the organization, which had mostly been known for their turf runners. The organization's origin was in England, but Hall of Fame trainer Robert Frankel had also brought them success on the grass in the States. When Frankel died in 2009, the farm went in search of another trainer and the record of California dirt specialist Bob Baffert caught their attention.
Chandler recalled that this prompted Juddmonte to seek out better dirt racing prospects and Arrogate was one of the results from that search. Juddmonte purchased the son of Unbridled's Song as a yearling for $560,000 in 2014, and he would go on to win four Grade/Group 1 races, including the 2016 Breeders' Cup Classic and 2017 Dubai World Cup. The Eclipse Award winner as champion 3-year-old male also delivered the fastest time for 10 furlongs at Saratoga with his 13 ½-length win in the 2016 Travers clocked in 1:59.36. He retired to stud at Juddmonte's Kentucky farm with lifetime earnings of $17,422,600, making him the richest horse in North American history. Sadly, Arrogate died at age 7, cutting short a promising stallion career.
Victoria Keith, longtime vice president for Fox Hill Farm, recalled inductee Songbird as lacking the prickly temperament so often attributed to top-speed mares, remembering her instead as incredibly sweet around the barn. The audience gathered at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion gasped aloud when the photo finish of her epic battle with 2022 Hall of Fame inductee and four-time champion Beholder in the 2016 Breeders' Cup Distaff was shown on the big screen.
Rick Porter, who operated Fox Hill Farm, battled cancer throughout Songbird's career. He died in 2021.
Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer and piloted by Mike Smith, Songbird was never worse than second with a career that included 13 wins from 15 starts, 11 of which were consecutive victories. She won her first 11 races by a combined 60 ¼ lengths, and picked up nine Grade 1 victories and two Eclipse Awards in her three seasons on the track.
Many of those in attendance Friday had come to see the induction of fan favorite California Chrome, trained throughout his career by Art Sherman. The popular chestnut is known for his 2014 Kentucky Derby and Preakness victories, which were followed by wins in the Dubai World Cup and Pacific Classic. He won seven Grade 1 races and garnered four Eclipse Awards – including two Horse of the Year titles – in a career that saw him win at seven different racetracks, collecting $14,752,650 in purse money, and breaking Curlin's previous earnings record (which would later be surpassed by Arrogate).
California Chrome co-owner Steve Coburn was on hand for the ceremony, along with many of the people who had handled the colt in his time on the racetrack. Coburn took the time to individually name and acknowledge the exercise riders, grooms, veterinarians, and breeding farm staff who had helped California Chrome in his path to victory. He also took a moment to thank Chrome's fans.
“I don't know how to express the love that people gave this horse,” he said. 'The Chromies are here, they came in from all over.”
He also had a moment of thanks for Love the Chase, the $30,000 2-year-old filly purchase who would eventually foal his most successful runner. California Chrome was bred and owned by Coburn and Perry Martin. Taylor Made Farm joined in the ownership group later in his career.
“Without her, we wouldn't have Chrome, and for Chrome to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, it's indescribable,” Coburn said of Love the Chase. “Just like when he won the Kentucky Derby. This is a good way to say the story has come to an end.”
New inductees into the Pillars of the Turf category were John W. Hanes II, who spearheaded the foundation of the New York Racing Association and bred 19 stakes winners; Leonard W. Jerome, one of the creators of Jerome Park, Sheepshead Bay, and Morris Park; and Stella Thayer, longtime president and co-owner of Tampa Bay Downs and the first woman to be elected president of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
Also honored was Eclipse Award-winning writer and racing historian Edward L. Bowen, a longtime trustee for the museum who was given the first-ever Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Award, inaugurated to periodically recognize those who have made significant contributions to the museum.
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