Hall of Fame

As a fan of horse racing and someone that holds the Hall of Fame in esteem as the highest honor in our sport, I would like to implore the Hall and their Board of Trustees to take a hard look at both the nominating process for applicants to the Hall of Fame, and at the system through which the horses and people are elected. For the past few years, we have had a number of very good nominees on the equine and human side, and to not even know how...

Seven new members have been elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, headed by Smarty Jones, a finalist for the first time and featured on these pages this week. Additionally, Kentucky-breds Decathlon and Hermis and trainer George H. Conway have been chosen by the 1900-1959 Historic Review Committee; and Edward L. Bowen, Arthur B. Hancock III, and Richard Ten Broeck have been elected by the Pillars of the Turf Committee. In the contemporary category, Pennsylvania-bred Smarty Jones was the lone candidate to appear on the majority...

Later this week, the 2025 class of inductees for the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame will be announced. Among the eight racehorses included as finalists on the ballot is 2004 dual Classic winner Smarty Jones (Elusive Quality). All eight of the horses have marvelous credentials--obviously, or they wouldn't be on the ballot--but if there was a Hall of Fame for the intangible, Smarty Jones would be a shoo-in at the top of the class. "I think there was this trickle-down effect in what he did that will never...

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame has opened submissions for the annual juried photography exhibition Photo Finish, the organization announced via press release Monday morning. Professional and amateur photographers are encouraged to submit artistic and unique perspectives with up to two photos allowed per person. The pictures must relate to Thoroughbred racing in America, including but not limited to: racing and training scenes, the backstretch, life on the farm, and fan emotions. An application form is available at the museum's visitor center desk and may be downloaded...

Touchuponastar (Star Guitar) could have won the Sunday stakes named for his sire practically by just showing up, but instead, connections took the path of greater resistance and allowed him to take his chance against the likes of Eclipse Award and GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) in Saturday's GII New Orleans Classic Stakes. Owned by former NFL quarterback Jake Delhomme's Set-Hut LLC, the Louisiana-bred played catch me if you can in front of a partisan crowd in the Big Easy and catch him...

2nd-Tampa Bay Downs, $32,000, Msw, 3-22, 3yo, 1m 40y, 1:40.34, ft, 1 1/4 lengths. LORDSHIP (c, 3, Gun Runner--Flag Day, by Giant's Causeway), the 7-5 favorite in this unveiling, cost himself position at the break with an awkward beginning and was relegated to near last of the six-horse field. Able to save ground into the backstretch, he rated in fifth past the half in :46.70 before advancing with an outside bid around the far turn. Kept wide for the drive, the Triple Crown nominee closed nicely down the stretch to...

Led by leading scorer Drayden Van Dyke, a team of Santa Anita jockeys defeated the Holy Angels Middle School basketball team Thursday night to break a lengthy losing streak in the 55th annual charity game. With coach Luis Jauregui at the helm and former jockey Darrell Haire serving as assistant, the jockeys came out on top with a score of 28-22. The team consisted of Van Dyke, Kent Desormeaux, Edwin Maldonado, Armando Ayuso, Abel Lezcano, Ricky Gonzalez, Diego Herrara, Geovanni Franco, Kevin Orozco and Sofia Barandela. Prior to the game,...

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame is partnering with seven regional farms and Rood & Riddle for tours to be held from April through October. The Museum's tour series will kick off Saturday, April 12, at Sugar Plum Farm. Other available tours include Mill Creek Farm (May 10), Greentree Stables (June 14), McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds (July 12), North Country Farm (Aug. 17), Old Tavern Farm (Sept. 13) and Song Hill Thoroughbreds (Oct. 11). Additionally, there will be three opportunities to visit the Saratoga location of Rood...

Last year's Champion 3-year-old male and 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) will return to Fair Grounds to make his 4-year-old bow in the 100th running of the GII New Orleans Classic on Saturday. Tabbed as the 7-5 morning line favorite, Sierra Leone will face nine other opponents including the highly-regarded winner of the GIII Mineshaft Stakes at Fair Grounds Feb. 15, Hall of Fame (Gun Runner). As reported by TDN's Senior Contributing Editor Alan Carasso, Sierra Leone's trainer Chad Brown had made plans for the colt to make...

Smarty Jones, the Pennsylvania-bred horse that captured the hearts of sports and horse fans across the world during his race for the Triple Crown in 2004, is the subject of a new 37-minute documentary titled 'Ride of a Lifetime: The Smarty Jones Story'. Following Smarty Jones being named a finalist for the National Museum of Racing's 2025 Hall of Fame last week, the documentary can be streamed for free exclusively on a newly-launched website. Filmed last year to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of Smarty Jones' Triple Crown run, the story...

Jim Benes, Cheryl McIntyre, and Rich Nilsen have been voted by their peers for induction into the NTRA National Horseplayers Championship Hall of Fame, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) announced Tuesday. These decorated handicappers represent the 11th class of NHC Hall of Fame inductees and will be recognized during the NHC Champions Dinner held Sunday, March 16 following the conclusion of the 26th NTRA National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) at the Horseshoe Las Vegas. "This is a huge honor," said Benes. "The Hall of Fame didn't exist when I started...

In the wake of Smarty Jones's first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot, announced Thursday, the Pennsylania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, Bob Hutt, issued a statement indicating how meaningful the nomination was to the organizations around the state. Roy and Patricia Chapman's champion three-year-old of 2004 won his first eight races, including the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, before falling a length short in the Belmont Stakes, where a record 120,000 people turned out to see him bid for the Triple Crown. He was retired after that race. "On behalf...