Justify, Gun Runner Among 2024 Hall of Fame Finalists

Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy) and 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg})–both in their first year of eligibility–head a list of nine racehorses, six trainers and two jockeys who were named as finalists on this year's Hall of Fame ballot by the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame Nominating Committee Tuesday morning.

Also on the ballot are: 2010 champion 3-year-old filly Blind Luck (Pollard's Vision), eight-time Grade I winner Game on Dude (Awesome Again), three-time Eclipse champion Gio Ponti (Tale of the Cat), 2011 Horse of the Year Havre de Grace (Saint Liam), 2000 champion sprinter Kona Gold (Java Gold), 2017 champion turf female Lady Eli (Divine Park), and Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy), one of only three fillies to win the GI Belmont S. and champion 3-year-old filly of 2007.

Trainers on the ballot are Christophe Clement, Kiaran McLaughlin, Graham Motion, Doug O'Neill, John Sadler and John Shirreffs.

The 58-year-old Clement trained three-time Eclipse Award winner Gio Ponti, as well as 2014 GI Belmont S. winner Tonalist.

McLaughlin, 63, won three Breeders' Cup races: the 2006 Classic (Invasor), 2007 Filly and Mare Turf (Lahudood), and the 2016 Dirt Mile (Tamarkuz) and trained three Eclipse champions: Invasor, Lahudood and Questing.

Motion, 59, won the GI Kentucky Derby and G1 Dubai World Cup with champion Animal Kingdom, trained two-time Eclipse Award winner Main Sequence, and has won four Breeders' Cup races.

O'Neill, 55, won the Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S. in 2012 with I'll Have Another and added a second Derby in 2016 with Nyquist. O'Neill has trained five Eclipse Award winners: I'll Have Another, Maryfield, Nyquist, Stevie Wonderboy, and Thor's Echo. He has won five Breeders' Cup races.

Sadler, 67, won the GI Breeders' Cup Classic with Eclipse Award winner Accelerate in 2018 and with Horse of the Year Flightline in 2022. He also trained champion Stellar Wind.

Shirreffs, 78, is perhaps best known as the conditioner of Hall of Famer Zenyatta. He also trained 2005 Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo and Breeders' Cup winner Life is Sweet.

Jockeys Jorge Chavez and Joel Rosario are also finalists for this year's Hall of Fame class.

The 62-year-old Chavez earned the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in 1999. He won the 2001 Kentucky Derby aboard Monarchos and earned a pair of Breeders' Cup victories in his career.

The 39-year-old Rosario, in his first year of eligibility, has won 3,586 races with purse earnings of more than $316 million (fourth all time) in a career that begin in 2003. The Eclipse Award winner for Outstanding Jockey in 2021, Rosario has won 15 Breeders' Cup races (tied for fourth all time), as well as the Kentucky Derby in 2013 (Orb) and the Belmont S. in 2014 (Tonalist) and 2019 (Sir Winston).

To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, trainers must be licensed for 25 years, while jockeys must be licensed for 20 years. Thoroughbreds are required to be retired for five calendar years.

Hall of Fame voters may select as many candidates as they believe are worthy of induction to the Hall of Fame. All candidates that receive 50% plus one vote (majority approval) from the voting panel will be elected to the Hall of Fame. All of the finalists were required to receive support from two-thirds of the 15-member Nominating Committee to qualify for the ballot.

Ballots will be mailed to the Hall of Fame voting panel this week. The results of the voting on the contemporary candidates will be announced Apr. 23. That announcement will also include this year's selections by the Museum's Historic Review and Pillars of the Turf committees.

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place Aug. 2 at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., at 10:30 a.m. The ceremony is open to the public and free to attend.

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2023 Hall of Fame Finalists Announced

North America's richest horse Arrogate (Unbridled's Song) is among the nine equine finalists for the 2023 National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame class. Additionally, six trainers and one jockey account for the 16 total individuals who will make up the ballot, which will be chosen by the Museum's Hall of Fame Nominating Committee.

The other finalists are Blind Luck (Pollard's Vision), California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit), Game On Dude (Awesome Again), Havre de Grace (Saint Liam), Kona Gold (Java Gold), Lady Eli (Divine Park), Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy), and Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro); trainers Christophe Clement, Kiaran McLaughlin, Graham Motion, Doug O'Neill, John Sadler, and John Shirreffs; and jockey Corey Nakatani.

Hall of Fame voters may select as many or as few candidates as they believe are worthy of induction to the Hall of Fame. All candidates that receive 50 percent plus one vote (majority approval) from the voting panel will be elected to the Hall of Fame. All of the finalists were required to receive support from two-thirds of the 15-member Nominating Committee to qualify for the ballot. Ballots will be mailed to the Hall of Fame voting panel this week and the results of the voting on the contemporary candidates will be announced on Tuesday, Apr. 25. That announcement will also include this year's selections by the Museum's Historic Review and Pillars of the Turf committees.

To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, trainers must be licensed for 25 years, while jockeys must be licensed for 20 years. Thoroughbreds are required to be retired for five calendar years. All candidates must have been active within the past 25 years. The 20- and 25-year requirements for jockeys and trainers, respectively, may be waived at the discretion of the Museum's Executive Committee. Candidates not active within the past 25 years are eligible through the Historic Review process.

The late Arrogate, whose bankroll of $17,422,600 ranks him as North America's wealthiest racehorse of all time, won the Eclipse Award for 3-Year-Old Male in 2016 and holds the North American record for highest career earnings with $17,422,600. Overall the gray Juddmonte Farms homebred won four Grade/Group I races in the care of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. He was unraced as a 2-year-old and broke his maiden in his second career start in 2016 and in his first stakes appearance set a track record of 1:59.36 when winning the GI Travers S. by 13 1/2 lengths, the only time in Saratoga history a horse has gone 10 furlongs on the dirt in less than two minutes. He also won the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita and set a Gulfstream Park dirt record of 1:46.83 in the 1/8-mile GI Pegasus World Cup in his 4-year-old debut. He then captured the GI Dubai World Cup to become the all-time earnings leader. Arrogate was retired with a record of 7-1-1 from 11 starts. This is his first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame.

Blind Luck won the Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old filly in 2010. Trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer and co-owned by Hollendorfer in partnership with Mark DeDomenico LLC, John Carver, and Peter Abruzzo, Blind Luck earned $3,279,520 from a career line of of 22-12-7-2 and earnings racing from 2009 through 2011. She won a total of 10 graded stakes, including six Grade Is: the Kentucky Oaks, Oak Leaf S., Hollywood Starlet S., Las Virgenes S., Alabama S., and Vanity H.

Havre de Grace won the Eclipse Awards for Horse of the Year and champion older female in 2011. She was trained Anthony Dutrow at ages 2 and 3 and by Larry Jones thereafter. She was campaigned by Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farms throughout her career. She was second to champion and fellow finalist Blind Luck in the GII Delaware Oaks and Alabama S. in 2010 and earned her first graded stakes victory later that year in the GII Cotillion. In her 2011 Horse of the Year campaign, she beat Blind Luck in the GIII Azeri and went on to win Grade Is in the Apple Blossom, Woodward against the boys and Beldame. She made one start as a 5-year-old in 2012 to win the listed New Orleans Ladies' S. and was retired with a career record of 16-9-4-2 and earnings of $2,586,175.

Kona Gold | Sarah K. Andrew

Kona Gold won the Eclipse Award as champion sprinter in 2000 and set a six-furlong track record at Churchill Downs when he won the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. Campaigned by the partnership of trainer Bruce Headley, Irwin and Andrew Molasky, Michael Singh, et al, Kona Gold raced from 1998 through 2003 with a record of 30-14-7-2 and earnings of $2,293,384. He set a track record for 5 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita and won a total of 10 graded stakes, including the Grade I San Carlos H. He retired in 2003 and served as Headley's stable pony for a few years before being sent to the Kentucky Horse Park's Hall of Champions until he died in 2009.

Rags to Riches won the Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old filly in 2007, a campaign highlighted by an historic victory in the GI Belmont S. She was trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher for owners Michael B. Tabor and Derrick Smith and broke her maiden in her second career start at Santa Anita to begin a five-race win streak, including four Grade 1s–Las Virgenes S., Santa Anita Oaks, Kentucky Oaks and the Belmont, where she defeated two-time Horse of the Year Curlin. She retired with a record of 7-5-1-0 and earnings of $1,342,528.

California Chrome won Eclipse Awards for Horse of the Year in 2014 and 2016, as well as champion 3-Year-Old Male in 2014 and champion Older Male in 2016. Trained by Art Sherman for Perry Martin and Steve Coburn, and later Taylor Made Farm, California Chrome won a total of 10 graded/group stakes including the Kentucky Derby, Preakness S., Santa Anita Derby, and Hollywood Derby in his first Horse of the Year campaign in 2014. In 2016, he surpassed Hall of Famer Curlin for the North American earnings record, which was subsequently broken by Arrogate. Overall, California Chrome won at seven different tracks retired with a career line of 27-16-4-1, $14,752,650. is his first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame and after a few years at stud in Kentucky, stands at Arrow Stud in Japan.

Game on Dude | Horsephotos

Game On Dude won 14 graded stakes over his five-year career from 2010 to 2014, including eight Grade Is., he compiled a record. He was owned by the partnership of Joe Torre's Diamond Pride LLC, Lanni Family Trust, Mercedes Stable LLC, and Bernie Schiappa and trained by Baffert. He is the only horse to win the Santa Anita H. three times (2011, 2013, 2014), setting a stakes record in the 2014 edition by covering 1 1/4 miles in 1:58.17. Game On Dude also won the GI Hollywood Gold Cup and GII San Antonio S. twice each, as well as single editions of the GI Pacific Classic, GII Californian S., GII Charles Town Classic, GIII Lone Star Derby, and GIII Native Diver S. In 2013, Game On Dude swept the three signature Grade 1 races for older horses in California–the Santa Anita H., Hollywood Gold Cup, and Pacific Classic — becoming only the second horse to win those three events in a single year, joining Hall of Famer Lava Man. He retired with a career line of 34- 16-7-1 and earnings of $6,498,893. He is currently a resident at Old Friends in Kentucky.

Lady Eli, who was trained by Eclipse Award winner Chad Brown, won the 2017 Eclipse Award for Champion Turf Female. She won her first six starts, including Grade I victories in the 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and 2015 Belmont Oaks. And after suriving a year-long battle with she returned in 2016 to win the GI Flower Bowl and finish second in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. She retired with a record of 14-10-3-0 from 14 starts with earnings of $2,959,800. This is her first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame.

Songbird | Coady Photography

Songbird won Eclipse Awards for champion 2-Year-Old Filly in 2015 and champion 3-Year-Old Filly in 2016. Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer for Fox Hill Farms, Songbird won the first 11 races of her career, including Grade I victories in the Del Mar Debutante, Chandelier, Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, Santa Anita Oaks, Coaching Club American Oaks, Alabama, and Cotillion. As a 4-year-old she also won consecutive Grade Is in the Ogden Phipps and Delaware H. Overall, Songbird posted a record of 13-2-0 from 15 starts and earned $4,692,000. This is her first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame.

Clement, 57, has won 2,334 races to date with purse earnings of more than $159 million in a career that began in 1991. The French-born Clement trained three-time Eclipse Award winner Gio Ponti, as well as 2014 GI Belmont S. winner Tonalist. Clement has won 262 graded stakes and his first Breeders' Cup race in 2021 when Pizza Bianca captured the GI Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Motion, 58, is making his second appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot, has won 2,638 races to date with purse earnings of more than $143 million in a career that began in 1993. He won the Kentucky Derby and G1 Dubai World Cup with champion Animal Kingdom, trained two-time Eclipse Award winner Main Sequence and has won four Breeders' Cup races. Main Sequence accounted for one of those Breeders' Cup wins, as did Better Talk Now, Shared Account and her daughter Sharing. A native of Cambridge, England, Motion has won 192 graded stakes. He has trained 11 horses that have earned $1 million or more, including Miss Temple City, who defeated males in both the Shadwell Turf Mile and Maker's 46 Mile. Motion has won training titles at Keeneland and Pimlico and ranks fourth all time with 37 stakes wins at Keeneland.

O'Neill, 54, has won 2,6762 races to date with purse earnings of more than $153 million in a career that began in 1988. He won the Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness in 2012 with I'll Have Another and a second Derby in 2016 with Nyquist. O'Neill has trained five Eclipse Award winners–I'll Have Another, Maryfield, Nyquist, Stevie Wonderboy, and Thor's Echo–and has won five Breeders' Cup races. A native of Dearborn, Mich., O'Neill won nine graded stakes with Hall of Fame member Lava Man. O'Neill has won five training titles at Del Mar, where in 2015 he became the first trainer to win five races on a card there. He has also won four training titles at Santa Anita, including a record 56-win meet in the winter of 2006-2007, and ranks third all time there with 971 wins.

Shirreffs, 77, has won 565 races, including 107 graded events, with purse earnings of $51.9 million. He is best known for training Hall of Famer Zenyatta, a four-time Eclipse Award winner with 19 consecutive victories, i3cluding 13 Grade Is. Shirreffs won the 2005 Kentucky Derby with Giacomo at odds of 50-1.

Kiaran McLaughlin | Horsephotos

McLaughlin, 62, who is making his first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot, won 1,809 races with purse earnings of $130,031,267 (including international statistics) from 1995 through 2021. He ranks 20th all time in North American earnings and has saddled 179 graded/group stakes winners, inclduding, three in the Breeders' Cup races–2006 Classic (Invasor), 2007 Filly and Mare Turf (Lahudood), and the 2016 Dirt Mile (Tamarkuz). He won the 2006 Belmont S. with Jazil.

Sadler, 66, who is appearing on the ballot for the first time, has won 2,728 races with purse earnings of more than $145 million (15th all time) in a career that began in 1978. He has won 188 graded stakes, including the Breeders' Cup Classic with Eclipse Award winner Accelerate in 2018 and Horse of the Year Flightline in 2022. He also trained champion Stellar Wind and has conditioned 10 horses that have earned $1 million or more–Accelerate, Flightline, Stellar Wind, Switch, Higher Power, Catapult, Flagstaff, Hard Aces, Healthy Addiction, and Iotapa. Sadler ranks No. 2 all time at Del Mar in both wins (532) and stakes wins (85). At Santa Anita, he ranks second all time in wins (1,046) and seventh in stakes wins (82).

Nakatani, 52, won 3,909 races with purse earnings of $234,554,534 million in a career that spanned from 1988 to 2018. He ranks 14th all time in career earnings and won 341 graded stakes. Nakatani won 10 Breeders' Cup races (one of only 10 riders to do so), including four editions of the Sprint. He won three riding titles at Del Mar, two at Santa Anita and one at Hollywood Park, as well as four Oak Tree meetings. Nakatani won a record 19 stakes during the 2006-2007 Santa Anita meet, breaking the track's previous single-meet record held by Hall of Famer Laffit Pincay, Jr. He ranks eighth all time in stakes wins at Santa Anita with 134 and ninth in overall wins at there with 1,075. He also stands second all-time at Del Mar with 108 stakes wins and sixth in overall wins with 705.

Chaired by Edward L. Bowen, the Hall of Fame Nominating Committee is comprised of Bowen, Caton Bredar, Steven Crist, Tom Durkin, Bob Ehalt, Tracy Gantz, Teresa Genaro, Jane Goldstein, Steve Haskin, Jay Hovdey, Alicia Hughes, Tom Law, Jay Privman, Michael Veitch, and Charlotte Weber.

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Friday, Aug. 4, at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., at 10:30 a.m. The ceremony is open to the public and free to attend.

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Beholder Among 11 Hall of Fame Finalists for 2022

Four-time Eclipse winner Beholder (Henny Hughes) is among six racehorses, four trainers and one jockey that make up the 11 finalists for the National Museum of Racing's 2022 Hall of Fame ballot, as chosen by the Museum's Hall of Fame Nominating Committee. The finalists are racehorses Beholder (first year of eligibility), Blind Luck (Pollard's Vision), Havre de Grace (Saint Liam), Kona Gold (Java Gold), Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy), and Tepin (Bernstein) (first year of eligibility); trainers Christophe Clement, Graham Motion, Doug O'Neill and John Shirreffs; and jockey Corey Nakatani.

Hall of Fame voters may select as many or as few candidates as they believe are worthy of induction to the Hall of Fame. All candidates that receive 50% plus one vote (majority approval) from the voting panel will be elected to the Hall of Fame. All of the finalists were required to receive support from two-thirds of the 15-member Nominating Committee to qualify for the ballot.

Ballots will be mailed to the Hall of Fame voting panel this week. The results of the voting on the contemporary candidates will be announced Wednesday, May 11. That announcement will also include this year's selections by the Museum's Historic Review and Pillars of the Turf committees. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place Friday, Aug. 5, at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., at 10:30 a.m. The ceremony is open to the public and free to attend.

Chaired by Edward L. Bowen, the Hall of Fame Nominating Committee is comprised of Bowen, Caton Bredar, Steven Crist, Tom Durkin, Bob Ehalt, Tracy Gantz, Teresa Genaro, Jane Goldstein, Steve Haskin, Jay Hovdey, Alicia Hughes, Tom Law, Jay Privman, Michael Veitch, and Charlotte Weber.

To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, trainers must be licensed for 25 years, while jockeys must be licensed for 20 years. Thoroughbreds are required to be retired for five calendar years. All candidates must have been active within the past 25 years. The 20- and 25-year requirements for jockeys and trainers, respectively, may be waived at the discretion of the Museum's Executive Committee. Candidates not active within the past 25 years are eligible through the Historic Review process.

Bred by Clarkland Farm, Beholder won four Eclipse Awards during her career and is one of only two horses to win three Breeders' Cup races (along with Hall of Famer Goldikova): the 2012 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and the 2013 and 2016 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. Campaigned by Spendthrift Farm and trained by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella, she won a total of 13 graded stakes, including 11 Grade Is. In 2015, she defeated males in the GI Pacific Classic to become the first female to win that race. Beholder defeated champion Songbird by a nose in a thrilling edition of the Distaff in 2016 to conclude her career with a record of 26-18-6-0 and earnings of $6,156,000. She won Grade I races each year from ages two through six.

Blind Luck won the Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old filly in 2010. Trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer and owned by Hollendorfer in partnership with Mark DeDomenico LLC, John Carver, and Peter Abruzzo, Blind Luck posted a career record of 22-12-7-2 and earnings of $3,279,520 from 2009 through 2011. She won a total of 10 graded stakes in her career, including six Grade Is: the Kentucky Oaks, Oak Leaf S., Hollywood Starlet S., Las Virgenes S., Alabama S., and Vanity H.

Havre de Grace won the Eclipse Awards for Horse of the Year and champion older female in 2011. Trained by Anthony Dutrow at ages 2 and 3 and by Larry Jones thereafter, Havre de Grace was campaigned by Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farms throughout her career. After finishing second to champion Blind Luck in thrilling editions of the GII Delaware Oaks and Alabama in 2010, Havre de Grace earned her first graded stakes victory later that year in the GII Cotillion. In her 2011 Horse of the Year campaign, she beat Blind Luck in the GIII Azeri and went on to win Grade Is in the Apple Blossom, Woodward and Beldame. Havre de Grace made one start as a 5-year-old in 2012, winning the listed New Orleans Ladies' S. before being retired with a career record of 16-9-4-2 and earnings of $2,586,175.

Kona Gold won the Eclipse Award for champion sprinter in 2000, when he set a six-furlong track record at Churchill Downs in his GI Breeders' Cup Sprint victory. Campaigned by trainer Bruce Headley, Irwin and Andrew Molasky, Michael Singh, et al, Kona Gold raced from 1998 through 2003 with a record of 30-14-7-2 and earnings of $2,293,384. He set a track record for 5 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita and won a total of 10 graded stakes, including the Grade I San Carlos H.

Rags to Riches won the Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old filly in 2007, a campaign highlighted by an historic victory in the GI Belmont S. Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher for owners Michael B. Tabor and Derrick Smith, Rags to Riches broke her maiden in her second career start on Jan. 7, 2007, at Santa Anita. That six-length victory was the beginning of a five-race win streak. The next four wins were all Grade Is: the Las Virgenes S. and Santa Anita Oaks, the Kentucky Oaks and the Belmont, where she defeated two-time Horse of the Year Curlin. She retired with a record of 7-5-1-0 and earnings of $1,342,528.     Tepin won the Eclipse Award for champion female turf horse in both 2015 and 2016. She won the GI Breeders' Cup Mile in 2015 as well. That year, Tepin began an eight-race win streak that included three wins against males in three different countries and stretched into 2016. During the streak, Tepin became the first horse based outside of Europe to win the G1 Queen Anne S. at Royal Ascot and set a stakes record in the GI Jenny Wiley at Keeneland. Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse for owner Robert Masterson, Tepin won a total of 11 graded/group stakes, including six Grade/Group 1s. Overall, she posted a record of 23-13-5-1 and earned $4,437,918.

A native of France, Clement, 56, has won 2,212 races to date with purse earnings of more than $149 million in a career that began in 1991. Clement trained three-time Eclipse Award winner Gio Ponti, as well as 2014 GI Belmont S. winner Tonalist. Clement has won 256 graded stakes. Clement won his first Breeders' Cup race in 2021 when Pizza Bianca captured the GI Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Motion, 57, who is making his first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot, has won 2,568 races to date with purse earnings of more than $136 million in a career that began in 1993. He won the Kentucky Derby and G1 Dubai World Cup with champion Animal Kingdom, trained two-time Eclipse Award winner Main Sequence and has won four Breeders' Cup races. Main Sequence accounted for one of those Breeders' Cup wins, as did Better Talk Now, Shared Account and her daughter Sharing. A native of Cambridge, England, Motion has won 181 graded stakes.

O'Neill, 53, has won 2,648 races to date with purse earnings of more than $146 million in a career that began in 1988. He won the Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness in 2012 with I'll Have Another and a second Derby in 2016 with Nyquist. O'Neill has trained five Eclipse Award winners–I'll Have Another, Maryfield, Nyquist, Stevie Wonderboy, and Thor's Echo–and has won five Breeders' Cup races. A native of Dearborn, Mich., O'Neill won nine graded stakes with Hall of Fame member Lava Man. O'Neill has won five training titles at Del Mar, where in 2015 he became the first trainer to win five races on a card there. He has also won four training titles at Santa Anita, including a record 56-win meet in the winter of 2006-2007, and ranks third all time there with 971 wins.

Shirreffs, 76, has won 550 races, including 102 graded events, with purse earnings of $51.9 million. He is best known for training Hall of Famer Zenyatta, a four-time Eclipse Award winner with 19 consecutive victories, including 13 Grade Is. Shirreffs won the 2005 Kentucky Derby with Giacomo at odds of 50-1.

Nakatani, 51, won 3,909 races with purse earnings of $234,554,534 million in a career that spanned from 1988 to 2018. He ranks 13th all time in career earnings and won 341 graded stakes. Nakatani won 10 Breeders' Cup races (one of only 10 riders to do so), including four editions of the Sprint. He won three riding titles at Del Mar, two at Santa Anita and one at Hollywood Park, as well as four Oak Tree meetings. Nakatani won a record 19 stakes during the 2006-2007 Santa Anita meet, breaking the track's previous single-meet record held by Hall of Famer Laffit Pincay, Jr. He ranks eighth all time in stakes wins at Santa Anita with 134 and ninth in overall wins at there with 1,075. He also stands second all time at Del Mar with 108 stakes wins and sixth in overall wins with 705.

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Pletcher, American Pharoah Head ’21 Hall of Fame Finalists

Six racehorses, three trainers and one jockey account for the 10 finalists that will compose the National Museum of Racing's 2021 Hall of Fame ballot, as chosen by the museum's Hall of Fame nominating committee. The finalists are racehorses American Pharoah (first year of eligibility), Blind Luck, Game On Dude, Havre de Grace, Kona Gold and Rags to Riches; trainers Christophe Clement, Doug O'Neill and Todd Pletcher (first year of eligibility); and jockey Corey Nakatani.

Ballots will be mailed the first week in March and results of the voting will be announced May 5. That announcement will also include this year's selections by the Museum's Steeplechase Review Committee, which meets once every four years.

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony–which will honor both the 2020 and 2021 inductees—is tentatively scheduled for Friday, Aug. 6, at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., at 10:30 a.m. ET. Because of the ongoing COVID pandemic, many details relating to the induction ceremony are still to be determined.

Bred in Kentucky by owner Zayat Stables, American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile–Littleprincessemma, by Yankee Gentleman), became racing's first Triple Crown winner in 37 years when he swept the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Preakness S. and GI Belmont S. in 2015 en route to Eclipse Awards for Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male. Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Victor Espinoza, the bay previously won the Eclipse Award for champion 2-year-old male in 2014. At three, he also won the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Overall, the bay posted a record of nine wins from 11 starts and earnings $8,650,300.

Bred in Kentucky by Fairlawn Farm, Blind Luck (Pollard's Vision–Lucky One, by Best of Luck) won the Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old filly in 2010. A multiple Grade I winner at ages two through four, Blind Luck was trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer and owned by Hollendorfer in partnership with Mark DeDomenico LLC, John Carver, and Peter Abruzzo. Blind Luck, who retired with 12 wins and earnings of $3,279,520, won 10 graded stakes, including six Grade Is–Kentucky Oaks, Oak Leaf S., Hollywood Starlet S., Las Virgenes S., Alabama S. and Vanity H.

Game On Dude (Awesome Again–Worldly Pleasure, by Devil His Due), bred in Kentucky by Adena Springs, won 14 graded stakes, including eight Grade Is. Owned by Joe Torre's Diamond Pride LLC, Lanni Family Trust, Mercedes Stable LLC, and Bernie Schiappa, the gelding was trained by Baffert. He is the only horse to win the GI Santa Anita H. three times (2011, 2013, 2014). In 2013, Game On Dude swept the three signature Grade I races for older horses in California–Santa Anita H., Hollywood Gold Cup and Pacific Classic–becoming only the second horse to win those three events in a single year. He compiled a record of 16 wins from 34 starts and earnings of $6,498,893.

Havre de Grace (Saint Liam–Easter Brunette, by Carson City) won the Eclipse Awards for Horse of the Year and champion older mare in 2011. Bred in Kentucky by Nancy S. Dillman, the bay was trained by Anthony Dutrow at ages 2 and 3 and later by Larry Jones. Campaigned by Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farms throughout her career, she beat Blind Luck in the 2011 GIII Azeri S. before wins in the GI Apple Blossom S., GI Woodward S. and GI BeldameS. Havre de Grace retired with nine wins and earnings of $2,586,175.

Bred in Kentucky by Carlos Perez, Kona Gold (Java Gold– Double Sunrise, by Slew o' Gold) won the Eclipse Award for Champion Sprinter in 2000, when he set a six-furlong track record at Churchill Downs in his GI Breeders' Cup Sprint victory. Campaigned by Bruce Headley (who also served as his trainer), Irwin and Andrew Molasky, Michael Singh et al, the gelding raced from 1998 through 2003 with a record of 14-7-2 from 30 starts and earnings of $2,293,384. He won a total of 10 graded stakes, including the GI San Carlos H., all while ridden by Hall of Famer Alex Solis.

Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy–Better Than Honour, by Deputy Minister) won the Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old filly in 2007, a campaign highlighted by a victory in the GI Belmont S. Trained by Pletcher for owners Michael B. Tabor and Derrick Smith, the chestnut filly recorded four Grade I wins–Las Virgenes S. and GI Santa Anita Oaks, GI Kentucky Oaks and GI Belmont S., defeating two-time Horse of the Year and Hall of Famer Curlin. Rags to Riches remains one of only three fillies to win the Belmont. Bred in Kentucky by Skara Glen Stables, she retired with a record of five wins from seven starts and earnings of $1,342,528.

Pletcher, 53, has won 5,072 races (eighth all-time) with record North American purse earnings of $400,647,175 in a career that began in 1996. A winner of a record seven Eclipse Awards for outstanding trainer, Pletcher has won the Kentucky Derby with Super Saver (2010) and Always Dreaming (2017) and the Belmont S. with Rags to Riches (2007), Palace Malice (2013) and Tapwrit (2017). Pletcher ranks fourth all-time at the Breeders' Cup in earnings ($21,508,030) and fifth in wins (11) and has won 699 graded stakes. Pletcher, who has led all North American trainers in earnings 10 times, has trained 11 Eclipse Award-winners, including Hall of Famer Ashado, English Channel, Fleet Indian, Lawyer Ron, Left Bank, Rags to Riches, Shanghai Bobby, Speightstown, Wait a While, Uncle Mo and Vino Rosso. Pletcher has won 16 leading trainer titles at Belmont, 14 at Saratoga and six at Aqueduct. He has also won 16 titles at Gulfstream, five at Keeneland and two at Monmouth.

Clement, 55, has won 2,094 races to date with purse earnings of more than $139 million (12th all time) in a career that began in 1991. Clement trained three-time Eclipse Award winner Gio Ponti, winner of four straight Grade Is on the turf in 2009, as well as 2014 Belmont winner Tonalist, who also won consecutive renewals of the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup in 2014 and 2015. Clement has won 248 graded stakes, including multiple editions of the Beverly D., Del Mar Oaks, Diana, Manhattan, Man o' War, Shadwell Turf Mile and Sword Dancer, among others.

O'Neill, 52, has won 2,552 races to date with purse earnings of more than $138 million (13th all-time) in a career that began in 1988. He won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 2012 with I'll Have Another and a second Derby in 2016 with Nyquist. O'Neill has trained five Eclipse Award winners–I'll Have Another, Maryfield, Nyquist, Stevie Wonderboy and Thor's Echo–and has won five Breeders' Cup races. Trainer of Hall of Fame member Lava Man, he won five training titles at Del Mar and four titles at Santa Anita, including a record 56-win meet in the winter of 2006-2007, and ranks eighth all time there with 619 wins. Overall, O'Neill has won 132 graded stakes.

Nakatani, 50, won 3,909 races with purse earnings of $234,554,534 million in a career that spanned from 1988 to 2018. He ranks 13th all-time in career earnings and won 341 graded stakes. Nakatani won 10 Breeders' Cup races (one of only 10 riders to do so), including four editions of the Sprint. He won three riding titles at Del Mar, two at Santa Anita and one at Hollywood Park, as well as four Oak Tree meetings. The regular pilot of Lava Man, he ranks eighth all time in stakes wins at Santa Anita (behind seven Hall of Famers) with 134 and ninth in overall wins at Santa Anita with 1,075. He also stands second all time at Del Mar with 108 stakes wins (behind only Hall of Famer Chris McCarron and sixth in overall wins with 705.

Hall of Fame voters may select as many or as few candidates as they believe are worthy of induction to the Hall of Fame. All candidates that receive 50% plus one vote (majority approval) from the voting panel will be elected to the Hall of Fame. All of the finalists were required to receive support from two-thirds of the 15-member Nominating Committee to qualify for the ballot.

Chaired by Edward L. Bowen, the Hall of Fame nominating committee is composed of Bowen, Steven Crist, Tom Durkin, Bob Ehalt, Tracy Gantz, Teresa Genaro, Jane Goldstein, Steve Haskin, Jay Hovdey, Tom Law, Neil Milbert, Jay Privman, John Sparkman, Michael Veitch and Charlotte Weber.

To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, trainers must be licensed for 25 years, while jockeys must be licensed for 20 years. Thoroughbreds are required to be retired for five calendar years. All candidates must have been active in the past 25 years. The 20- and 25-year requirements for jockeys and trainers, respectively, may be waived at the discretion of the museum's executive committee. Candidates not active within the past 25 years are eligible through the Historic Review process.

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