Hall of Fame Hopefuls Include Justify, Gun Runner

Triple Crown winner Justify, Horse of the Year Gun Runner, and jockey Joel Rosario, who ranks fourth all-time in Breeders' Cup wins, are new finalists on the National Museum of Racing's 2024 Hall of Fame Ballot announced Feb. 27. Nine racehorses, six trainers, and two jockeys account for the 17 finalists on this year's ballot as chosen by the Museum's Hall of Fame Nominating Committee. Returning finalists include racehorses Blind Luck, Game On Dude, Gio Ponti, Havre de Grace, Kona Gold, Lady Eli, and Rags to Riches; trainers Christophe Clement, Kiaran McLaughlin, H. Graham Motion, Doug O'Neill, John Sadler, and John Shirreffs; and jockey Jorge Chavez. Hall of Fame voters may select as many candidates as they believe are worthy of induction. All candidates that receive 50% plus one vote (majority approval) from the voting panel will be elected. Finalists were required to receive support from two-thirds of the 15-member Nominating Committee to qualify for the ballot. Results will be announced April 23, and the new inductees will also 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 Aug. 2 at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., at 10:30 a.m. The ceremony is open to the public and free to attend. Blind Luck 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, she 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 record of 12-7-2 from 22 starts and earnings of $3,279,520. She won 10 graded stakes, including six grade 1s: the 2010 Kentucky Oaks, 2009 Oak Leaf Stakes, 2009 Hollywood Starlet Stakes, 2010 Las Virgenes Stakes, 2010 Alabama Stakes, and 2011 Vanity Handicap. Game On Dude A dark bay/brown gelding bred in Kentucky by Adena Springs, Game On Dude (Awesome Again—Worldly Pleasure, by Devil His Due) won 14 graded stakes, including eight grade 1s. Racing from 2010-14, he compiled a record of 16-7-1 from 34 starts and earnings of $6,498,893. Owned by Joe Torre's Diamond Pride, Lanni Family Trust, Mercedes Stable, and Bernie Schiappa, Game On Dude was trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. Game On Dude is the only horse to win the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) three times (2011, 2013, 2014), setting a stakes record in the 2014 edition by covering 1 1/4 miles in 1:58.17. Gio Ponti A bay colt bred in Kentucky by Kilboy Estate, Gio Ponti (Tale of the Cat—Chipeta Springs, by Alydar) won the Eclipse Award for champion turf male in 2009 and 2010 and the Eclipse for champion older male in 2009. Racing from 2007-11, Gio Ponti posted a career record of 12-10-1 from 29 starts and earned $6,169,800. Owned by Castleton Lyons and trained by Clement, Gio Ponti won 10 graded stakes—seven grade 1s—including consecutive editions of both the Man o' War Stakes (G1T) in 2009 and 2010 and the Shadwell Turf Mile (G1T) in 2010 and 2011. Gun Runner A chestnut colt bred in Kentucky by Besilu Stables, Gun Runner (Candy Ride (ARG)—Quiet Giant, by Giant's Causeway) won the Eclipse Awards for Horse of the Year and champion older male in 2017. Racing from 2015-18, Gun Runner compiled a record of 12-3-2 from 19 starts and earnings of $15,988,500, the second-highest total of any North American-based horse (behind Hall of Famer Arrogate). Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen for owners Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm, Gun Runner completed a championship season in 2017 that included grade 1 wins in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), Woodward Stakes (G1), Whitney Stakes (G1), and Stephen Foster Handicap (G1). Gun Runner made one start in 2018 prior to being retired, winning the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) by 2 1/2 lengths over West Coast. Overall, he won races at seven different tracks. Havre de Grace A bay filly bred in Kentucky by Nancy S. Dillman, Havre de Grace (Saint Liam—Easter Bunnette, 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 throughout her career. In her 2011 Horse of the Year campaign, she earned grade 1 wins in the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1), Woodward (defeating males, including Flat Out), and Beldame Invitational Stakes (G1) (defeating eventual Hall of Famer Royal Delta). Havre de Grace retired with a career record of 9-4-2 from 16 starts and earnings of $2,586,175. Justify A chestnut colt bred in Kentucky by John D. Gunther, Justify (Scat Daddy—Stage Magic, by Ghostzapper) became America's 13th Triple Crown winner and was voted the Eclipse Award winner for Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male in 2018, winning his six career starts in a span of 111 days. Trained by Bob Baffert for China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing, and WinStar Farm, Justify won his first three starts at Santa Anita Park, including the Santa Anita Derby (G1) (note: the result of this race is currently being contested in the court system). He then defeated 2017 champion 2-year-old male Good Magic by 2 1/2 lengths in the Kentucky Derby (G1), beat Bravazo by a half-length in the Preakness Stakes (G1), and swept the Triple Crown with a 1 3/4-length win over Gronkowski in the Belmont Stakes (G1) in his final start. Kona Gold 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. That year, he set the six-furlong track record (1:07.77) at Churchill Downs in his Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) victory. Campaigned by Bruce Headley (who also served as his trainer), Irwin and Andrew Molasky, Michael Singh, et al, Kona Gold raced from 1998-2003 with a record of 14-7-2 from 30 starts and earnings of $2,293,384. He set a track record for 5 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita Park and won a total of 10 graded stakes. Kona Gold made five consecutive appearances in the Breeders' Cup Sprint. Lady Eli A dark bay/brown filly bred in Kentucky by Runnymede Farm and Catesby W. Clay, Lady Eli (Divine Park—Sacre Coeur, by Saint Ballado) won the 2017 Eclipse Award for champion turf female. Trained by Chad Brown for Sheep Pond Partners, Lady Eli won her first six starts, including grade 1 victories in the 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) and 2015 Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T). A battle with laminitis kept her away from the races for more than a year. Upon her return in 2016, Lady Eli finished second in the Ballston Spa Stakes (G2T), then won the Flower Bowl Stakes (G1T) and finished second in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T). She finished second in the Jenny Wiley Stakes (G1T) in her 2017 debut, then won the Gamely Stakes (G1T), Diana Stakes (G1T), and Ballston Spa in succession. Lady Eli won a total of eight graded stakes, including at least one grade 1 in each of her four years on the track. Rags to Riches 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 her 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 start in January 2007, at Santa Anita. That six-length victory was the beginning of a five-race win streak. The next four wins were all grade 1s: the Las Virgenes Stakes, Santa Anita Oaks (G1) (by 5 1/2 lengths), Kentucky Oaks (by 4 1/4 lengths), and the Belmont. In winning the third jewel of the Triple Crown, Rags to Riches defeated two-time Horse of the Year and Hall of Famer Curlin by a head to become the first filly in 102 years to win the event. Rags to Riches remains one of only three fillies to win the Belmont. Christophe Clement Clement, 58, a native of Paris, France, has won 2,438 races (through Feb. 27) with purse earnings of more than $169 million (11th all-time) in a career that began in 1991. He 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 the Jockey Club Gold Cup in 2014 and 2015. Kiaran McLaughlin McLaughlin, 63, a native of Lexington, won 1,809 races with purse earnings of $130,031,267 (including international statistics) from 1995-2021. He ranks 22nd in North American earnings. A winner of 179 graded/group stakes, McLaughlin won three Breeders' Cup races: the 2006 Classic (Invasor), 2007 Filly and Mare Turf (Lahudood (GB)), and the 2016 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) (Tamarkuz). Along with Hall of Famer Invasor, the Horse of the Year and champion older male in 2006, both Lahudood (2007 champion turf female) and Questing (GB) (2012 champion 3-year-old filly) earned Eclipse Awards for McLaughlin. Graham Motion Motion, 59, a native of Cambridge, England, has won 2,710 races through Feb. 27 with purse earnings of more than $151 million (16th 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. His first Breeders' Cup victory was in the 2004 Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) with 10-time stakes winner Better Talk Now at odds of 28-1. Motion won the 2010 Filly and Mare Turf at odds of 46-1 with Shared Account, was victorious in the Turf for a second time four years later with Main Sequence, and won his fourth Breeders' Cup race with Sharing in the 2019 Juvenile Fillies Turf at 14-1 odds. Doug O'Neill O'Neill, 55, a native of Dearborn, Mich., has won 2,864 races to date with purse earnings of more than $161 million (14th 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. O'Neill won nine graded stakes with Hall of Fame member Lava Man, including three editions of the Hollywood Gold Cup (2005-07), two runnings of the Santa Anita Handicap (2006-07), and one each in the Pacific Classic (2006) and Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap (2006), all grade 1 events. John Sadler Sadler, 67, a native of Long Beach, Calif., has won 2,785 races with purse earnings of more than $149 million (17th all-time) in a career that began in 1978. He has won 188 graded stakes, including the Breeders' Cup Classic with Eclipse Award winner Accelerate in 2018 and Horse of the Year Flightline in 2022. He also trained champion Stellar Wind. Sadler has conditioned 10 horses that have earned $1 million or more: Accelerate, Catapult, Flagstaff, Flightline, Hard Aces, Healthy Addiction, Higher Power, Iotapa, Stellar Wind, and Switch. John Shirreffs Shirreffs, 78, a native of Leavenworth, Kan., has won 575 races, including 107 graded events, with purse earnings of more than $54 million. Although he had a few starters as early as 1976, 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 2007-10. Named Horse of the Year in 2010 and champion older female each year from 2008-10, Zenyatta's grade 1 wins included the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic (G1) in 2008 and the Classic over males the following year. In 2009, Shirreffs also won the Ladies' Classic with Life Is Sweet, becoming the first trainer to win both of these Breeders' Cup races in the same year. Shirreffs won the 2005 Kentucky Derby with Giacomo at odds of 50-1. Jorge Chavez Chavez, 62, a native of Callao, Peru, won 4,526 races with purse earnings of $161,792,580 from 1988-2011. Voted the Eclipse Award for outstanding jockey in 1999, Chavez won the 2001 Kentucky Derby aboard Monarchos and earned a pair of Breeders' Cup victories in his career. He ranked in the top 20 in North American earnings 13 times—including six times in the top 10—and finished in the top 20 in wins eight times. Chavez won 196 graded stakes and topped all jockeys on the New York Racing Association circuit in wins six consecutive years from 1994-99. He won seven riding titles at Aqueduct Racetrack and five at Belmont Park. Chavez rode Eclipse Award winners Artax (1999 BC Sprint) and Beautiful Pleasure (1999 BC Distaff), as well as Affirmed Success, Albert the Great, Behrens, Flower Alley, Lido Palace, Spain, Val's Prince, and Will's Way, among others. Joel Rosario Rosario, 39, a native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, has won 3,586 races with purse earnings of more than $316 million (fourth all-time) in a career that began in 2003. The Eclipse Award winner for outstanding jockey in 2021, Rosario has won 15 Breeders' Cup races (tied for fourth), as well as the Kentucky Derby in 2013 (Orb) and the Belmont Stakes in 2014 (Tonalist) and 2019 (Sir Winston). Rosario has won 408 graded stakes—including 113 grade 1 events—and has ranked in the top 10 in North American earnings 15 times and in wins four times. Rosario has won three riding titles each at Del Mar, Hollywood Park, and Santa Anita, as well as two at Keeneland, where he set a record with 38 wins during the 2013 spring meeting. Rosario also won the 2013 Dubai World Cup, tied the record with six wins on one card at Hollywood Park in 2009, and won the Norfolk Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot twice—in course-record time with No Nay Never in 2013 and with Shang Shang Shang in 2018. To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, trainers must be licensed for 25 years, while jockeys must be licensed for 20 years. Thoroughbreds are required to be retired for five calendar years. Candidates not active within the past 25 years are eligible through the Historic Review process. Chaired by Edward L. Bowen, the Hall of Fame Nominating Committee is comprised 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.