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National Museum Of Racing And Hall Of Fame Announces Special Summer Exhibits

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame will feature several new and returning special exhibitions this summer for the upcoming Saratoga racing season. All summer exhibitions will debut on Thursday, July 1.

New Exhibitions

Muybridge and Motion: Selections from the Tang Teaching Museum Collection

(On display in the Link Gallery through Jan. 2, 2022)

This exhibition features a series of groundbreaking animal locomotion photographic studies by English photographer Eadweard Muybridge (1830 – 1904) from the Tang Teaching Museum collection and paintings by American artist Henry Stull (1851 – 1913) from the National Museum of Racing collection.

Exhibited together, these works from two separate museum collections illustrate how the technological advancements in photography made by Muybridge forever changed the way motion is depicted and understood, particularly in the field of equine art. Muybridge and Motion is part of All Together Now, a regional collection-sharing project organized by The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation. For the duration of this exhibition, the Museum will offer complimentary admission to any visitor with a Skidmore College ID.

'Chasing Summer: The Art of Steeplechase

(On display in the von Stade Gallery through Sept. 30)

This year's fine art exhibition celebrates the Steeplechase Hall of Fame induction year with 31 works of steeplechasing art by British and American sporting artists from the 19th and 20th centuries. 'Chasing Summer also celebrates the return of 13 works from the collection that were previously on loan and have not been exhibited at the Museum in decades. Artists represented in this exhibition include Henry Alken, Samuel Henry Alken, Ann Collins, W. Smithson Broadhead, Paul Brown, June Harrah, Sir Alfred J. Munnings, Frederic Remington, Henry Stull, Franklin Brooke Voss, Eleanor Iselin Wade, and Charles Morris Young, among others.

New Exhibit Updates and Ongoing Exhibitions

Triple Crown Gallery

The Triple Crown Gallery features text panels and artifacts related to Triple Crown history and an interactive exhibit that allows visitors to learn about the 13 Triple Crown winners through historic race footage and photographs. Renovated in recent years to include America's 12th Triple Crown winner and 2021 Hall of Fame inductee, American Pharoah, additional gallery updates were added in 2019 to honor the most recent Triple Crown winner, Justify. This year marks the 75th anniversary of Assault's Triple Crown sweep of 1946. In honor of this milestone anniversary year, artifacts on loan from King Ranch Archives — including race-worn silks and photographs — will be featured in this gallery through 2022.

Edward P. Evans Gallery

The Edward P. Evans Gallery allows the Museum to showcase more of the treasures from its diverse permanent collection and honor the legacy of Mr. Evans and his passion for the sport of thoroughbred racing. Current featured exhibits include: Selections from the Edward P. Evans Trophy Collection, The Triple Crown, Selections from the James E. “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons Collection, The Legacy of Man o' War, The Grand National, Tiffany & Co. in the National Museum of Racing Collection, and A Salute to Hollywood Park. New for 2021, Fifty Years Ago, an exhibit highlighting the racing achievements of 1971 and showcasing trophies won by Hall of Fame horses Shuvee and Riva Ridge and Eclipse Awards won by Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham and Hall of Fame Pillar of the Turf Paul Mellon.

Women in Racing

(On display in McBean Gallery through Jan. 2, 2022)

Women have been involved in the sport of thoroughbred racing in America for more than 100 years. The pioneers and trailblazers of the past paved the way for future generations of horse lovers and racing enthusiasts, allowing them to continue to break boundaries in a male-dominated sport and industry. Featuring art, photographs, and multimedia from the Museum Collection and on loan, this special exhibition honors the women involved in every aspect of thoroughbred racing.

Some exhibition highlights include: a timeline of firsts celebrating the milestone achievements of the pioneers of the sport, artifacts from the career of pioneering female jockey Wantha Davis, items from Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone's historic Belmont Stakes victory, the inaugural Diana Handicap trophy won by the first licensed female trainer, Mary Hirsch, artifacts and portraits relating to every woman inducted into the Hall of Fame, historic silks, and an interactive exhibit featuring race footage and short films for visitors to explore.

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information about the Museum, including special events and program offerings, please call (518) 584-0400 or visit our website at www.racingmuseum.org.

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American Pharoah, Todd Pletcher To Enter Hall Of Fame In First Year Of Eligibility

Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (KY), seven-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher, and 13-time champion steeplechase trainer Jack Fisher comprise the National Museum of Racing's 2021 Hall of Fame class. American Pharoah and Pletcher were elected in the contemporary category in their first year of eligibility and Fisher was chosen by the Museum's Steeplechase Review Committee, which meets once every four years.

The class of 2021 will be enshrined along with the 2020 inductees — trainer Mark Casse, jockey Darrel McHargue, horses Tom Bowling and Wise Dan, and Pillars of the Turf Alice Headley Chandler, J. Keene Daingerfield, Jr., and George D. Widener, Jr. — on Friday, Aug. 6, at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion in Saratoga Springs at 10:30 a.m. The ceremony will be broadcast live on the Museum website at www.racingmuseum.org. An announcement regarding public attendance at the ceremony will be made at a later date.

American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile—Littleprincessemma, by Yankee Gentleman) ended racing's 37-year Triple Crown drought when he swept the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes in 2015. A bay colt bred in Kentucky by owner Zayat Stables, American Pharoah was trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert and ridden by Hall of Famer Victor Espinoza. Beginning his career in California, American Pharoah won the Eclipse Award for Champion 2-Year-Old Male in 2014 thanks to Grade 1 victories in the Del Mar Futurity and FrontRunner Stakes.

As a 3-year-old, American Pharoah won the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes and the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby before becoming America's 12th Triple Crown winner. Following the Triple Crown series, American Pharoah went on to win the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational and the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic, setting a track record of 2:00.07 for 1¼ miles at Keeneland in the Classic. Overall, American Pharoah posted a record of 9-1-0 from 11 starts and earned $8,650,300. He was voted Horse of the Year and Champion 3-Year-Old Male for 2015.

“He's certainly among the all-time greats. I don't think there is any question about that,” Baffert said. “He did everything so effortlessly and with such class. The way he moved, his mechanics were absolutely flawless. He also has such a wonderful personality. Pharoah is really a sweet and kind horse and he loves humans. I went and saw him the other day (at Coolmore's Ashford Stud) and he looks as good as he's ever looked, if not better. Winning the Triple Crown with American Pharoah was the greatest sports moment of my life. It was so emotional and such a terrific thing for racing. He deserves all the accolades he gets.”

Todd Pletcher, 53, a native of Dallas, went out on his own after working as an assistant to Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas from 1989 through 1995. He won his first race in January 1996 with Majestic Number at Gulfstream Park. A graduate of the University of Arizona, Pletcher owns records for career earnings ($405,791,977) and Eclipse Awards (seven) and ranks seventh all time in wins (5,118). He has won the Kentucky Derby with Super Saver (2010) and Always Dreaming (2017) and the Belmont Stakes with Rags to Riches (2007), Palace Malice (2013), and Tapwrit (2017). Pletcher has won 11 Breeders' Cup races, including the 2019 Classic with Vino Rosso. He has led all North American trainers in earnings 10 times.

Pletcher has trained 11 Eclipse Award-winning horses — 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 — and 20 horses that have earned $1.8 million or more. He has won a total of 60 individual meet training titles: 17 at Gulfstream, 16 at Belmont, 14 at Saratoga, six at Aqueduct, five at Keeneland, and two at Monmouth.

According to Equibase data, Pletcher has won 708 graded stakes, including 166 Grade 1s. He is enjoying another standout year so far in 2021 with 81 wins and earnings of $7,686,786 through May 4. He recently won the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks for the fourth time in his career with the undefeated Malathaat. Pletcher has also won four or more editions of the Beldame, Champagne, Coaching Club American Oaks, Florida Derby, Mother Goose, Spinaway, Spinster, and Wood Memorial, among others. He has won four Canadian Triple Crown races.

“I'm really humbled to be elected to the Hall of Fame. It's an incredible honor and something that doesn't happen without having great support around you,” Pletcher said. “I've been extremely fortunate to have a great team to work with and my family has been there every step of the way. There have been so many great owners who have trusted me with their horses and those horses have meant everything to me. Along with my family and team, I had amazing opportunities to learn from the likes of Wayne and Jeff Lukas and working winters alongside Kiaran McLaughlin, who taught me a lot about horses and also how to work with owners and communication skills. It really was a stroke of good fortune to come up with people like that around me.

“Training horses is all I ever wanted to do. I remember being 11 or 12 and telling my mom I wanted to train and she said it was wonderful. From that point on with her endorsement I never thought of doing anything else.”

Jack Fisher, 57, a native of Unionville, Pa., won his first race as a trainer in 1988 at Middleburg, Va., with Call Louis and has been a consistently dominant force atop the National Steeplechase Association standings for the past 20 years. Fisher topped all steeplechase trainers in wins for the first time in 2003 and has led the list an additional 12 times since. In 2004, he led the earnings list for the first of eight times to date. Fisher has ranked in the top five in both NSA wins and earnings each of the past 20 years. Through May 4, Fisher has won 593 career steeplechase races and ranks second all time in purse earnings with more than $17.8 million (behind only Hall of Famer Jonathan Sheppard).

Fisher is the only trainer in steeplechase history to surpass $1 million in purse earnings in a year, something he has accomplished five times. He trained two-time Eclipse Award winner and Hall of Fame member Good Night Shirt, one of only three horses to earn $1 million in steeplechase racing (along with Hall of Famers Lonesome Glory and McDynamo). Good Night Shirt won a total of 10 graded stakes, including eight Grade 1 events, and twice set the single-season NSA earnings record. Fisher also trained Eclipse Award winners Scorpiancer (2017) and Moscato (2020). He has trained an additional 18 horses that have won NSA division championships: timber champions Bubble Economy, Call Louis, Charlie's Dewan, Doc Cebu, Gus's Boy, Saluter, and Two's Company; novice champions All Together, Paradise's Boss, Moscato, and Snap Decision; filly and mare champions Footlights and Ivy Mills; and 3-year-old champions Hope For Us All, Ice It, Machete Road, Schoodic, and South Of Java.

Fisher has won the Temple Gwathmey six times (including 2021 with Snap Decision), five editions of the Iroquois, four runnings of the A. P. Smithwick, three renewals of the Lonesome Glory, and both the Colonial Cup and Grand National twice. With timber champion Saluter, Fisher won six consecutive editions of the Virginia Gold Cup and four runnings of the Virginia Hunt Cup. Fisher has won the Virginia Gold Cup 12 times as a trainer and nine times as a rider — both records. Fisher rode Saluter to each of his Gold Cup victories. According to Equibase, Fisher won 57 races as a jockey with earnings of $953,243, including $394,189 as Saluter's pilot.

“I've always loved being around horses. It's been my life,” Fisher said. “I was terrible in school and didn't want to be there. I loved riding and I love training. I learned a lot from my father (trainer John Fisher) and from guys like (Hall of Fame trainers) Mikey Smithwick and Tommy Voss. They were examples to me of the work it takes to be successful and also how they built a good team. You can't do it alone.
“I'll never forget horses like Call Louis and Woody Boy Would and Saluter that made my career at the beginning. They got the ball rolling for me. Saluter was really the one. My license plate says Saluter on it. He meant everything. I've had some wonderful and patient owners and great talent in the barn. To have horses like Good Night Shirt, Scorpiancer, Moscato, and Snap Decision has been incredible beyond words. I'm pretty darn lucky.”

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Peb Bellocq, Bill Leggett Selected To National Museum Of Racing’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll Of Honor

Renowned Eclipse Award-winning cartoonist Pierre “Peb” Bellocq and the late Eclipse Award-winning writer William Leggett have been selected to the National Museum of Racing's Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor.

Bellocq, 94, was born in France in 1926. At age 19, the French racing journal France Courses gave him national exposure by publishing one of his cartoons of a jockey. Bellocq signed the drawing as “Peb,” a signature that became his lifelong moniker.

By 1954, Bellocq's work had achieved international acclaim and he was contracted by Laurel Park owner John D. Schapiro to do drawings for the prestigious Washington, D.C. International Stakes. Bellocq decided to relocate to the United States and in 1955 accepted an offer to work as the staff cartoonist for the Morning Telegraph and its sister paper, the Daily Racing Form, a job he held until December 2008. Early in this career, Bellocq also produced political cartoons for the Philadelphia Enquirer while simultaneously working for the Form. Bellocq eventually transitioned his primary focus to thoroughbred racing.

“My father was a jump jockey in the south of France and my grandfather was a trainer. His father was a breeder. I was among horses right from the start,” Bellocq said.

Along with his work for the Form, Bellocq has been commissioned by numerous racetracks to produce vibrant murals capturing the flavor of the sport. His large-scale cartoon collages became fixtures at tracks such as Churchill Downs, Del Mar, Arlington, Oaklawn, Aqueduct, and The Meadowlands.

Bellocq has also produced several books; his first, published in 1957, consisted of 150 cartoons and was titled “Peb's Equine Comedy.” Bellocq also illustrated the 1969 Joe Hirsch book “A Treasury of Questions and Answers from the Morning Telegraph and Daily Racing Form.” In 2004, he created drawings for author Ed Hotaling's book on Hall of Fame jockey Jimmy Winkfield, whom Bellocq had known personally when the rider was living and racing in his hometown of Maisons-Laffitte.

Bellocq has received numerous awards for his work, which has been exhibited extensively. In 1980, he received an Eclipse Award for his contributions to racing and he was presented The Jockey Club Medal in 2016. Bellocq also received the National Cartoonists Society 1991 Sports Cartoon Award and their 1999 Newspaper Illustration Award. In 1998, the Daniel Wildenstein Art Gallery in New York held an exhibition of Bellocq's work titled The Racing World in Sketch and Caricature. From July 2004 through December 2005, the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame put on a special exhibition of his works titled Peb: The Art of Humor, which celebrated his 50th anniversary of horse racing artwork in the United States.

Leggett, who was born in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in 1931, became one of racing's most celebrated and respected writers during his 30-year career at Sports Illustrated. After graduating from Saratoga Springs High School, Leggett earned a degree from Seton Hall University. He then had a brief stint in the Army before being hired by Sports Illustrated as a researcher and football writer.
It didn't take long for Leggett to get expanded assignments, as his role increased to also include covering baseball, college and professional basketball, and both thoroughbred and harness racing. Leggett also covered the Olympics, including the U.S. hockey team's 1960 upset of the Soviet Union. He was eventually named Turf Editor for Sports Illustrated.

Leggett, who spent time as president of both the National Turf Writers Association and the New York Turf Writers Association, won an Eclipse Award for his racing writing in 1979. After retiring from Sports Illustrated in 1986, Leggett continued his coverage of the sport as the New York correspondent for Thoroughbred Times and as a columnist for The Saratogian's racing supplement, The Pink Sheet.

“He had a tremendous knowledge of thoroughbred racing,” said the late Whitney Tower, who worked with Leggett at Sports Illustrated for nearly 20 years. “He was an exceptional man, a great talent, and he contributed a lot to the success of Sports Illustrated. He knew his way around. The trainers respected him. He was very popular.”

In 1993, Leggett was one of the eight inaugural members of the Saratoga Springs Sports Hall of Fame. He died in 1996 in New York City at the age of 64.

Previous selections to the Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor are Steven Crist (2010), Bill Nack (2010), Red Smith (2010), Charles Hatton (2010), Dr. Russ Harris (2011), Joe Palmer (2011), Jay Hovdey (2012), Whitney Tower (2012), Andrew Beyer (2013), Kent Hollingsworth (2013), George F. T. Ryall (2013), Jennie Rees (2014), Jim Murray (2014), Steve Haskin (2015), Raleigh Burroughs (2015), Maryjean Wall (2016), Jim McKay (2016), Michael Veitch (2017), Jack Whitaker (2017), Barney Nagler (2017), Joe Burnham (2018), Tom Hammond (2018), Charlsie Cantey (2019), and Billy Reed (2019).

The National Museum of Racing's Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor was established in 2010 to recognize individuals whose careers have been dedicated to, or substantially involved in, writing about thoroughbred racing (non-fiction), and who distinguished themselves as journalists. The criteria has since been expanded to allow the inclusion of other forms of media.

Often referred to as the dean of thoroughbred racing writers, Hirsch won both the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Writing and the Lord Derby Award in London from the Horserace Writers and Reporters Association of Great Britain. He also received the Eclipse Award of Merit (1993), the Big Sport of Turfdom Award (1983), The Jockey Club Medal (1989), and was designated as the honored guest at the 1994 Thoroughbred Club of America's testimonial dinner. The annual Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational at Belmont Park is named in his honor. Hirsch was also a former chairman of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Nominating Committee. He died in 2009.

The Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor Committee is comprised of Edward L. Bowen (chairman), author of more than 20 books on thoroughbred racing; Bob Curran, retired Jockey Club vice president of corporate communications; Ken Grayson, National Museum of Racing trustee; Jane Goldstein, retired turf publicist; Steve Haskin, Secretariat.com; G. D. Hieronymus, retired Keeneland Director of Broadcast Services; and Dan Smith, senior media coordinator of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.

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Champions Of Racing: National Museum Of Racing And Hall Of Fame Opens New Exhibit

Coinciding with the 2020 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course, a new interactive exhibit will debut at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame to showcase the history of the Breeders' Cup and the Eclipse Awards — two annual thoroughbred racing events that celebrate the best competitors of the sport.

Museum visitors can explore a searchable race footage archive containing replays of every Breeders' Cup race since the inaugural championship weekend was held at Hollywood Park in 1984 and view a historical listing of Eclipse Award winners by category on two interactive touchscreens in the Museum lobby. The National Museum of Racing acknowledges the support of Breeders' Cup Ltd. and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association in the creation of this interactive exhibit.

Online Children's Programming Series begins Nov. 11

The Museum will launch its new online Children's Programming Series on Wednesday, Nov. 11. This eight-week series, developed for ages 8-9, will explore the life stages of a thoroughbred racehorse.

Each weekly program will use videos and photos to teach about the different developmental stages in a thoroughbred's life, and each will have a related craft or activity to complete. These 15-minute long videos will be uploaded to the Museum's YouTube channel every Wednesday through Dec. 30th. The Museum's YouTube channel can be found here:

https://youtube.com/c/NationalMuseumofRacingandHallofFameSaratogaSprings

For additional information, contact Lindsay Doyle at ldoyle@racingmuseum.net or by phone at (518) 584-0400 ext. 118.

Women in Racing exhibit extension

The Museum will be extending the McBean Gallery special exhibition, Women in Racing, through to Dec. 31, 2021. Featuring art and artifacts from the Museum Collection and on loan, this exhibition celebrates the women involved in every aspect of thoroughbred racing in America. Some exhibition highlights include: a timeline of firsts highlighting the milestone achievements of the pioneers of the sport, Frances Genter's pillbox hat worn during Unbridled's Kentucky Derby victory, items from Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone's historic Belmont Stakes victory, the inaugural Diana Handicap trophy won by the first licensed female trainer Mary Hirsch, and an interactive exhibit featuring race footage and short films for visitors to explore.

Holiday Membership special

Give the gift of Museum benefits year-round! Gift Memberships at the Museum are 15 percent off for the months of November and December. Call (518) 584-0400 ext. 109 to purchase a gift membership today.

Black Friday Gift Shop Specials

Find the perfect gift at a great price at the Museum Gift Shop on Black Friday Weekend! The general public receives 15 percent off and Museum Members receive 20 percent off in the Museum Gift Shop on Friday, Nov. 27 through Sunday, Nov. 29. You can also call the Museum gift shop to place your order over the phone (518) 584-0400 ext. 123.

#Giving Tuesday

Help us reach our goal! The Museum will participate in #GivingTuesday, a global day of generosity and philanthropy, on Tuesday, Dec. 1. The Museum is seeking 459 gifts (of any amount) on Dec. 1 in honor of each Hall of Fame inductee. Commemorate your favorite horse, jockey, trainer, or Pillar of the Turf and make a difference at the Museum! Funds raised will support the ongoing Hall of Fame Education Experience Campaign.

Current Museum hours

The Museum will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through April 30, 2021. The new signature film, What it Takes: Journey to the Hall of Fame, will be shown at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. daily. The Museum will be closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. Tickets can be purchased online at www.racingmuseum.org.

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