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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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Casse, Kimura on Top of Woodbine Standings

Kazushi Kimura earned his third consecutive riding title at Woodbine with 161 victories during the 2023 meeting which concluded Sunday, while Mark Casse was the track's leading trainer for the 15th time.

“I am very grateful to all the trainers and owners who gave me an opportunity to ride so many great horses this year,” Kimura said. “I'd like to thank the grooms, exercise riders, hot walkers, gate crew, outriders, and everyone who makes our sport so great. And I would like to thank all the horses, the stars of our sport and the best athletes you will find.”

The 2019 Eclipse Award winner as North America's outstanding apprentice, Kimura also won the equivalent Sovereign Award in both 2018 and 2019. He was also the 2021 and 2022 Sovereign recipient as Canada's outstanding rider.

Casse recorded 113 wins at Woodbine in 2023 and his 24 stakes victories included the King's Plate, as well as the GI E.P. Taylor S., GII Nassau S. and GII Royal North S.

Bruno Schickedanz, last year's Sovereign winner as Canada's top owner, was Woodbine's leading owner for the 10th straight year with 58 wins.

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Junior Alvarado Wins 2023 Mike Venezia Award

Veteran jockey Junior Alvarado has been named the winner of the 2023 Mike Venezia Memorial Award. Alvarado, based this summer at Saratoga Race Course and the regular rider of GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Cody's Wish, was chosen by a committee comprised of members of the Venezia family, representatives of the Jockeys' Guild and retired Eclipse Award-winning jockey Richard Migliore. Alvarado will be recognized in a winner's circle ceremony at Saratoga Saturday.

“The Venezia Memorial Award is about representing the sport we love so much in the best way possible,” said Alvarado. “I am thankful and proud to be chosen as this year's winner and I look forward to celebrating with my family and thanking the Venezia family here at Saratoga Race Course.”

The Mike Venezia Memorial Award is presented annually by the New York Racing Association to a jockey who displays the extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship that personified Venezia, who died as the result of injuries suffered in a spill in 1988. Venezia, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., won more than 2,300 races during his 25-year career.

“Junior is a true professional at what he does, both as a top jockey and as a role model,” said Terry Meyocks, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Jockeys' Guild. “The winners of the Venezia Award are ambassadors for Thoroughbred racing; they're champions on and off the track. We welcome Junior to the ranks of those who have previously been honored with the Venezia Award.”

A native of Barquisimeto, Venezuela and the son of jockey Rafael Alvarado, Junior Alvarado, 37, rode his first winner in 2005 at La Rinconada Hippodrome in Caracas before moving to the U.S. in 2007 when he rode his first winner at Gulfstream Park. After earning the 2009 riding title at Arlington Park, Alvarado moved to New York in 2010 and he has been a mainstay on the circuit ever since, winning the 2014 GI Whitney S. on Moreno and racking up more than 1,400 wins and more than $106 million in earnings at the NYRA tracks. For his career, Alvarado has more than 2,000 wins and more than $126.9 million in earnings.

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Champion Nest Primed for Seasonal Debut in Shuvee

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – There will be no easing back into competition for champion Nest (Curlin). Certainly not on a Sunday in July at Saratoga Race Course.

In the first start of her 4-year-old season–which was delayed by illness–in the GII Shuvee S., Nest is likely to face Clairiere (Curlin), the leader of the older female dirt division, and GI La Troienne winner Played Hard (Into Mischief).

“It's not the position we set out to be on at the beginning of this year, but it's kind of where we are,” Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said. “We've given up some recency to some really good horses, so hopefully she runs well and it brings her forward.”

Nest, co-owned by Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House, really strengthened her case for the 3-year-old filly championship last summer at Saratoga with emphatic victories over Secret Oath (Arrogate) in the GI Coaching Club American Oaks and the GI Alabama S. Secret Oath won the GI Kentucky Oaks by two lengths over Nest, the 2-1 favorite. In the showdowns at Saratoga after Triple Crown tests against males–Secret Oath was fourth in the GI Preakness S., Nest was second in the GI Belmont S.–Nest left no doubt about who deserved to be at the top of the table. She won the CCA Oaks by 12 1/4 lengths and the 1 1/4-miles Alabama by 4 1/4.

In her first test against older horses, Nest crushed the field in the GII Beldame S. by 9 1/4 lengths. She was the 7-5 favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, but ended up fourth, some 3 1/4 lengths behind stablemate Malathaat (Curlin), who nipped Blue Stripe (Equal Stripes {Arg}) and Clairiere. Malathaat clinched the older filly Eclipse Award with that performance. Pletcher said Nest had a less-than-ideal trip in the Distaff at Keeneland.

As scheduled, Nest was given the next few months off to recover from her eight-race, five-victory season. It turned out to be a much longer break than planned. Pletcher said that three hours after she made the cross-Florida trip from the farm in Ocala to his stable at Palm Beach Downs, she spiked a fever. She got in a three-furlong work Apr. 15, had another upper respiratory issue and did not breeze again until May 13 at Belmont Park.

“We missed a month,” Pletcher said. “She got a pretty good lung infection that took us a while to get under control. Our original plan was for maybe running the [Apr. 21 GIII] Doubledogdare at Keeneland or the [May 5 GI] La Troienne at Churchill as a prep for the [June 10 GI] Ogden Phipps. It took us too long to get ready, so here we are.”

Pletcher said he considered bringing Nest back in the GIII Molly Pitcher Saturday at Monmouth Park, but opted to ship her to Saratoga and walk her across Union Ave. to run in the Shuvee.

She worked nine times at Belmont Park before completing her preparation Sunday morning with a half-mile breeze in :50 in company over the Oklahoma training track.

After what was a routine pre-race work, Pletcher said the most impressive part of Nest's breeze happened after the timing ended in front of the clocker's stand.

“The gallop out,” he said. “She seems to keep going.”

Clairiere has been a top-notch homebred performer for Stonestreet Stables and Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. She has won eight of 19 starts and earned $3.1 million. Last year she handled Malathaat in the Shuvee, but was never a factor while finishing last of five in the GI Personal Ensign S. This year, she was second to Secret Oath in the GII Azeri S. and has won the GI Apple Blossom H. and Ogden Phipps. Played Hard was third in the Phipps, her 10th straight top-three finish since October 2021.

Considering the probables listed by NYRA, the Shuvee is likely to go off with a small, high-quality field. Pletcher said it figures to be a tough test.

“We expect big things from her always,” he said. “It's a lot to ask of her, but she ran well in her debut at a mile and a sixteenth and she's basically run well pretty much every start of her career. Hopefully we've got her fit enough to perform well and this is the first step towards bigger goals.”

Pletcher said he has not noticed any significant changes in Nest this season.

“She was so good last year that it's hard to see,” he said. “I think the main thing is she's filled out a bit, maybe carrying a little more condition than she was last year.”

What Nest has shown Pletcher in training is the running style that made her so effective during her championship season.

“It's what makes most of the good ones good, kind of a high cruising speed and the ability to carry it over a distance of ground,” he said. “As you saw last year, she has that ability on the dirt to accelerate, really quicken, the last part of a race. A lot of times, horses just have to keep grinding away but as we saw in the Coaching Club and the Alabama last year, she can cruise and then quicken.”

A few minutes after the workout Sunday, Pletcher said that gear-changing move was on display.

“If you saw the end of the gallop-out there,” he said, “she was all of a sudden 10 lengths in front of the other horse.”

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