6 horses, 4 trainers, 1 jockey are finalists for racing Hall of Fame
Six racehorses, four trainers and one jockey account for the 11 finalists that will compose 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, Havre de Grace, Kona Gold, Rags to Riches and Tepin (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 percent plus one vote 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 on Wednesday, May 11. That announcement also will 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 on Friday, Aug. 5, at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., at 10:30 a.m. EDT. The ceremony is open to the public and free to attend.
To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, trainers must be licensed for 25 years and 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 last 25 years are eligible through the Historic Review process.
A bay filly bred in Kentucky by Clarkland Farm, Beholder (Henny Hughes—Leslie’s Lady, by Tricky Creek) 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). Campaigned by Spendthrift Farm and trained by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella, Beholder won Eclipse Awards as a 2-year-old in 2012 and at age 3 the following year. She was named champion older dirt female in 2015 and 2016. Beholder won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in 2012 and the Distaff in 2013 and 2016. She won 13 graded stakes, including 11 Grade 1s. She won Grade 1 races each year from ages 2 through 6, compiling a record of 26: 18-6-0.
A chestnut filly 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 1 winner at ages 2 and 3, Blind Luck also was a Grade 1 winner at 4. Trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer and owned by Hollendorfer in partnership with Mark DeDomenico, 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 10 graded stakes in her career, including six Grade 1s.
A bay filly bred in Kentucky by Nancy S. Dillman, Havre de Grace (Saint Liam—Easter Brunette, by Carson City) 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. In her 2011 Horse of the Year campaign, she beat Blind Luck in the Azeri (G3) and went on to win Grade 1s 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’ Stakes before being retired with a career record of 16: 9-4-2 and earnings of $2,586,175.
A bay gelding 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 Breeders’ Cup Sprint victory. Campaigned by Bruce Headley (who also served as his trainer), 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 10 graded stakes, including the San Carlos Handicap (G1), all while ridden by Hall of Famer Alex Solis. Kona Gold made five consecutive appearances in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1).
A chestnut filly bred in Kentucky by Skara Glen Stables, 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 historic victory in the Belmont Stakes. Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher and Michael McCarthy for owners Michael B. Tabor and Derrick Smith, Rags to Riches broke her maiden in her second career start on Jan. 7, 2007, followed by wins in four Grade 1s. In the Belmont, Rags to Riches defeated two-time Horse of the Year and Hall of Famer Curlin to become one of only three fillies to win the Belmont. She retired after her 3-year-old season because of a right front leg injury, with a record of 7: 5-1-0 and earnings of $1,342,528.
A bay filly bred in Kentucky by Machmer Hall, Tepin (Bernstein—Life Happened, by Stravinsky) won the Eclipse Award for champion female turf horse in both and 2016. She won the Breeders’ Cup Mile to cap off her 2015 season. That year, Tepin began an eight-race win streak, all in graded or group races, including three wins vs. males in three countries that stretched into 2016. Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse for owner Robert Masterson, Tepin won 11 graded/group stakes, including six Grade/Group 1s. Overall, she posted a record of 23: 13-5-1 and earned $4,437,918.
Clement, 56, has won 2,212 races to date, with purse earnings of more than $149 million (11th all time) in a career that began in 1991. Clement trained three-time Eclipse Award winner Gio Ponti, winner of four straight Grade 1s on the turf in 2009, as well as 2014 Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist, who also won consecutive runnings of the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) in 2014 and 2015. Clement has won 256 graded stakes, including multiple editions of Grade 1 races.
A native of Paris, France, Clement began his career in the U.S. by winning with the first horse he saddled, Spectaculaire, on Oct. 20, 1991, at Belmont. He has since trained 19 horses that have earned $1 million or more. Other Grade 1 winners trained by Clement include Discreet Marq, Forbidden Apple, Mauralanka, Relaxed Gesture, Rutherienne, Voodoo Dancer, and Winchester, among others. Clement won his first Breeders’ Cup race in 2021 when Pizza Bianca captured the 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 (15th all time) in a career that began in 1993. He won the Kentucky Derby and Dubai World Cup (G1) with champion Animal Kingdom, trained two-time Eclipse Award winner Main Sequence, and has won four Breeders’ Cup races: the 2004 Turf with Better Talk Now at odds of 28-1, the 2010 Filly and Mare Turf at odds of 46-1 with Shared Account, the Turf four years later with Main Sequence, and with Sharing in the 2019 Juvenile Fillies Turf at 14-1 odds.
A native of Cambridge, England, Motion has won 181 graded stakes, including multiple editions at the Grade 1 level. Since 2000, Motion has ranked in the top 15 among North American trainers in earnings 10 times. 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 (G1) and Maker’s 46 Mile (G1).
O’Neill, 53, has won 2,648 races to date with purse earnings of more than $146 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.
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 and four at Santa Anita, including a record 56-win meet in the winter of 2006-07. He has trained 12 horses that have earned $1 million or more. O’Neill has multiple victories in Grade 1 races. Overall, O’Neill has won 134 graded stakes.
Shirreffs, 76, has won 550 races, including 102 graded events, with purse earnings of $51.9 million. Although he had a few starters as early as 1978, Shirreffs did not start training full time until 1994. Best known as the conditioner of Hall of Famer Zenyatta, Shirreffs conditioned the four-time Eclipse Award winner to 19 consecutive victories, including 13 Grade 1s, from 2007 through 2010. Named Horse of the Year in 2010 and champion older female each year from 2008 through 2010, Zenyatta’s Grade 1 wins included the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic in 2008 and the Classic the following year. In 2009, Shirreffs also won the Ladies’ Classic with Life Is Sweet, becoming the first trainer to win both Classics in the same year. Shirreffs won the 2005 Kentucky Derby with Giacomo at odds of 50-1.
A native of Leavenworth, Kan., Shirreffs, has won multiple Grade 1 races and has trained seven horses that have earned more than $1 million: Zenyatta, Giacomo, Tiago, Life Is Sweet, Manistique, Hollywood Story, and Gormley.
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, 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. His major victories at the Grade 1 level included multiple editions of the Beverly D., Del Mar Oaks, Eddie Read, Hollywood Derby, Hollywood Gold Cup, Hollywood Starlet, Kentucky Oaks, Santa Anita Oaks, Santa Anita Handicap, and Santa Margarita, among others. He also won the Group 1 Golden Shaheen in Dubai.
A native of Covina, Calif., Nakatani won five Grade 1 races with Hall of Famer Lava Man. Nakatani won a record 19 stakes during the 2006-07 Santa Anita meet, breaking the track’s previous single-meet record held by Hall of Famer Laffit Pincay Jr. Nakatani ranks eighth all time in stakes wins at Santa Anita (behind seven Hall of Famers) with 134 and ninth in overall wins at there with 1,075.
Chaired by Edward L. Bowen, the Hall of Fame nominating committee is composed 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.