California Chrome is 1 of 8 Hall of Famers inducted Friday

Steve Coburn was not afraid to express a controversial opinion when California Chrome was at the height of the Triple Crown trail in 2014. The same Steve Coburn was moved to tears when he spoke on behalf of his horse who was inducted Friday into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

“After he won the Santa Anita Derby (G1), I said mark my words,” Coburn said. “This horse is going to go down in history, and today’s the day. Period.”

California Chrome proved Coburn right by winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 2014 and earning horse-of-the-year acclaim that season and again in 2016. Those achievements helped make Chrome one of the eight new members of the NMRHOF who were honored in a ceremony at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Arrogate and Songbird also were inducted Friday. Like Chrome, they were elected in their first year of eligibility.

The rest of the class of 2023 included jockeys Corey Nakatani and Fernando Toro and pillars of the turf Stella Thayer, John Hanes II and Leonard Jerome.

Coburn owned California Chrome first with Perry Martin and later with Taylor Made Farm. A four-time Eclipse Award winner, the popular son of Lucky Pulpit attracted a legion of fans known as Chromies. They stuck with him and trainer Art Sherman through an injury-plagued 2015 and saw him come back in 2016 to win Grade 1 races like the Dubai World Cup and Pacific Classic.

“I don’t know how to express the love that people gave this horse,” Coburn said. “The Chromies are here. They’ve come in from all over the place. Thank you, fans. Thank you.”

Arrogate was the champion 3-year-old male in 2016 when he was on his way to earning $17,422,600, a career record for horses who have had at least one start in the U.S. or Canada. Owned by Juddmonte, he excelled before the death of the stable’s patriarch Prince Khalid of Saudi Arabia in 2021.

“It’s very sad that Prince Khalid himself, unfortunately, has passed away,” said Dr. John Chandler, president of Juddmonte Farms. “He would have liked to have been here and appreciated and liked the recognition that his horse has.”

Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Arrogate was the first big star on dirt for a Juddmonte operation that was steeped in turf success. The son of Unbridled’s Song won seven consecutive races that included a stakes record in the 2016 Travers as well as other Grade 1 victories in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the Pegasus World Cup Invitational and the Dubai World Cup.

A daughter of Medaglia d’Oro, Songbird won 13 of her 15 races racing for Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. A two-time Eclipse Award winner, she was a nine-time Grade 1 victor for Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farm.

“Songbird brought joy and love to thousands of racing fans, and she was the clear bright spot through some difficult health issues for owner Rick Porter,” said Betsy Porter, the widow of the mare’s owner. “Fox Hill Farm is blessed to have raced many exceptional horses, but Songbird stood out, even amongst the exceptional.”

Nakatani, 52, rode 10 Breeders’ Cup winners in a career that united him with Hall of Fame horses Lava Man and Serena’s Song as well as Eclipse Award winners Shared Belief, My Miss Aurelia and Sweet Catomine.

He told a story about growing up in Southern California, where he once disobeyed a youth-football coach.

“That was the first time I was told not to do something, and I was like I better just go do it,” Nakatani said. “That’s my career in a nutshell. When they tell you the odds are against you, the guys I was riding against, Gary Stevens, Chris McCarron, Laffit Pincay, all these Hall of Fame riders, I was very fortunate to have an opportunity to ride with them and take a lot of learning from all of them.”

Now 82, Toro was twice a champion rider in his native Chile. After moving to Southern California, he won 3,555 races in the U.S. and Canada with earnings of $56,299,765. When he retired he was the sixth winningest rider at Del Mar, eighth at Hollywood Park and eighth at Santa Anita. Toward the end of his career Toro rode Hall of Famer Royal Heroine to victory in the first Breeders’ Cup Mile in 1984.

Thayer, 82, the president of Tampa Bay Downs, has been a racehorse owner and a former president of the NMRHOF. Her father Chester Ferguson was among the partners who bought what was then Florida Downs. Thayer bought the track in 1986 and renamed it.

“I did not grow up in Thoroughbred racing, but every day when I came home, I popped on my pony and took off among the palmettos and pinewoods, which was very much all that Tampa was at that time,” Thayer said. “I developed a huge love for horses, especially later for the Thoroughbred with its stamina, courage, athleticism, speed and kindness.”

Hanes was a banker who was instrumental in the creation of the New York Racing Association, serving as its president, chairman and a trustee between 1954 and 1973.

Jerome made his fortune on Wall Street in the 19th century before he became a guiding prod in the building of New York racecourses, including Saratoga.