National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame

Readers' Up!, a free program designed to expand learning opportunities and bring the experience of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame into a classroom setting, has been launched by the museum. The program will offer free copies of equine-related literature to schools throughout the U.S. for use in their English Language Arts curriculum. Stewart's Shops is sponsoring the program. Representatives of the Museum will visit participating schools in person or virtually with items and artifacts relating to the books the students are provided. The program sets out...

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame will open two new exhibitions to the public July 14, coinciding with opening day of the Saratoga. Betting on America: The Immigrant Experience and the Hall of Fame will debut in the McBean Gallery, while Jim Raftery: A Turfotos Retrospective (from the collection of Barbara D. Livingston) opens in the von Stade Gallery. Betting on America: The Immigrant Experience and the Hall of Fame is an in-depth look the lives and impact on the sport of the Hall of Fame inductees...

Flavien Prat is in the right place at the right time in Southern California. Young and gifted, he dominates the circuit in a way no jockey has in years. He picked up his 60th win of the meet Saturday, 25 more than runner-up Juan Hernandez. He won three stakes on the card, giving him 15 for the meet. And he rides for just about all the top barns on the circuit, most notably Bob Baffert. It's far, far from broke, but Prat is intent on fixing it. On Saturday, he...

In celebration of the life and memory of celebrity David Cassidy, the 5th Annual David Cassidy: A Triple Crown Life Event will be held at Putnum Place in Saratoga Springs, NY Aug. 16. Hosted by the David Cassidy Memorial Legacy Group (DCMLG), the fundraiser aims to promote racing and to support Thoroughbred aftercare organizations, this year including the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, NYRA Cares, Take The Lead, Take2 and Columbia Greene Humane Society. Debuting in 2021, the David Cassidy Remember Me Awards...

John T. Von Stade, the longest serving president of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame from 1989-2005, passed away Nov. 25 at his home in Lutherville, Maryland. He was 83 years of age. Born June 28, 1938, in Old Westbury, New York, von Stade graduated from St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and Harvard University, pursuing a passion for music while participating in and managing the choir at St. Paul's and the glee club at Harvard. After attending the Aspen School of Music and a stint...

Public Sector (GB) (Kingman {GB}), no worse than second in three attempts this season, has been installed as the 2-1 morning-line favorite in Friday's GII National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame S. at Saratoga. An impressive debut winner over the Saratoga lawn last summer, the GII Pilgrim S. runner-up followed a win in a Belmont optional claimer June 4 with a rallying second-place finish after soft fractions--beaten just a head--to wire-to-wire winner Original (Quality Road) in the Manila S. July 4. Public Sector's trainer Chad Brown won this race...

The National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which will honor both the 2020 and 2021 classes after being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic last year, will be open to the public. The ceremony, which will be held at Fasig-Tipton in Saratoga, is slated for Friday, Aug. 6, at 10:30 a.m. There is no cost to attend. In addition, the ceremony will also be live streamed on the museum's website. "The museum would like to thank Fasig-Tipton for their long-time support and use of their beautiful facility for...

American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile), who became racing's first Triple Crown winner in 37 years in 2015, and trainers Todd Pletcher and Jack Fisher are the 2021 inductees into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame. American Pharoah and Pletcher were elected in the contemporary category and each in their first year of eligibility. Fisher was chosen by the Museum's Steeplechase Review Committee, which convenes once every four years. Bred and raced by Zayat Stables, American Pharoah was a $300,000 buyback at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale and broke...