Fame is More Than Fleeting for the Best of the Best

In 1955, the first class of the Racing Hall of Fame at the newly established National Museum of Racing was comprised of 12 jockeys, nine horses, and six trainers. Exactly three of them were alive at the time, all jockeys, including Earl Harold Sande, who was 56 and decades past the era in which he'd been immortalized in verse by Damon Runyon as that "handy guy... bootin' them babies in." In 1956, 11 more horses were added, the most recent in action being Roseben, who won 52 races into 1909, and Fair Play, who sired Man o' War. They were joined by three trainers, all long gone, and six jockeys. Among the jockeys was John Reiff, an interesting choice, since he did his winning in Europe in the early 20th century and the news he made seemed to be equal parts high achievement and low scandals. Oh well, who are we to judge. The committee in power added 10 more horses in 1957 as they continued to fill the walls of the young National Museum of Racing with old-timey portraits. However, when it came to inducting jockeys and trainers, they tapped the breaks hard. The only two-legged inductee that year was Ted Atkinson, who was 40 and still in action, having connected with a nice 2-year-old the previous spring named Bold Ruler in the Youthful Stakes. (Soon after his induction, Atkinson turned up on the "Ed Sullivan Show" along with fellow sports stars Bob Cousy, Otto Graham, Cary Middlecoff, and Gil McDougald. The headline act that evening was Cab "Hi-Do-Ho" Calloway, who would have been at Saratoga the previous afternoon.) The star chamber convened again in 1958 to induct a down payment on a couple of racing Mount Rushmores. The trainers honored were Ben Jones, James Fitzsimmons, and Hirsch Jacobs, while the jockeys elevated were Eddie Arcaro, John Longden, and a kid from Texas who'd just turned 27. Bill Shoemaker was in only his ninth full season. Guess they figured he was in for the long haul, and he might as well carry the Hall of Fame mantle along for the ride. In what can be interpreted as a wry sense of historical humor, in 1958 the Hall of Fame folks welcomed both Seabiscuit and War Admiral into their exclusive club. Apparently, though, both iconic Thoroughbreds trained themselves. Tom Smith, who worked wonders with Seabiscuit, did not join his most famous horse in the Hall until 2001. George Conway, the man behind War Admiral, was finally inducted this year. The Aug. 1 induction ceremony of 2025 also welcomed three more horses into the fellowship: Hermis was a very good horse over five seasons at the dawn of the 20th century, although his name is more familiar as the nom de plume of a series of handicappers working for Daily Racing Form. On Saturday, Hermis (aka David Aragona) is swinging for the fences in the Whitney Stakes (G1) by picking Post Time on top over Fierceness, Sierra Leone, and White Abarrio. Decathlon was a two-time American sprint champion of the 1950s who ended his career winning handicaps under 132, 133, and 135 pounds. Alfred Nuckols Jr., son of co-breeder Alfred "Hoss" Nuckols, took considerably longer to accept Decathlon's honor than Decathlon did to win any of his 25 races. But that's OK. He was a monster of a sprinter, and a member of a flame-throwing tribe that was for years ignored by the Hall of Fame. Then there's Smarty Jones. Everybody knows Smarty Jones. If Smarty Jones were running today, he'd be a bigger social media star than Griffin Johnson. Pat Chapman, his owner and breeder, led the large Smarty delegation, with included trainer John Servis and jockey Stewart Elliott. The horse himself was not in the house, sad to say, having a previously scheduled date in a pasture at Rodney and Sharon Eckenrode's Equistar Training and Breeding near Annville, Pa. At 24, Smarty Jones becomes one of 19 living Thoroughbreds who can call themselves Hall of Famers. They are, quite literally, found all over the map, from California Chrome and Azeri in Japan to Invasor (ARG) in Uruguay. The oldest among them is Serena's Song, who at 33 is the grand dame of Denali Stud near Paris, Ky. The youngest is Justify, a lad of 10, who didn't really work that hard as a racehorse but is making up for it at stud, servicing mares at Coolmore America on both Northern and Southern Hemisphere time. The producers of the Hall of Fame show—including Museum communications director Brien Bouyea—try to honor those members still roaming among us with introductions during the ceremony. For this year's 75th anniversary celebration, organizers went to extra lengths to bring as many as possible to the party. Fans were rewarded with the presence of more than half of the 50 living trainers and jockeys who earned the right to wear the blue blazer with the Hall of Fame crest. Bill Boland was born two years after Bill Shoemaker. That makes him 92, which did not stop him from being present at Friday's ceremony. Laffit Pincay Jr., as usual, got the longest round of applause, which is fitting, since he has been in the Hall since 1975. And he is Laffit Pincay. Jerry Bailey, Eddie Maple, Edgar Prado, Pat Day, Angel Cordero Jr., and (take my word for it) Julie Krone look like they could still ride. But they all look frail beside Ramon Dominguez, who six days earlier had won some medieval torture called the Last Man Standing Lake Placid, in which he ran more than 112 miles over mountain trails in 27 hours. The runner-up dropped out at 26 hours and 108 miles. Go Ramon. Gary Stevens, from the class of 1997, was invited to be at the ceremony but had to pass. As his fellow Famers were being introduced Friday, he was juggling zoom calls managing the entries for the three jockeys he currently represents riding at Midwestern outposts: Nik Juarez, Declan Cannon, and apprentice Amanda Poston. "They were kind enough to reach out and invite me for the anniversary celebration," Stevens said. "But it's tough to get away right now. Very intense. I've called every agent I ever had and apologized." Stevens was there in spirit through the warm acceptance of Pat Chapman, who paraphrased the jockey's reaction to the performance of Smarty Jones in his 11 1/2-length trashing of the 2004 Preakness Stakes (G1). Stevens was riding runner-up Rock Hard Ten, who went on to win races like the 2004 Malibu Stakes (G1) and 2005 Santa Anita Handicap (G1). "I was following Smarty Jones to the top of the stretch, and I was loaded," Stevens said. "I thought I could take him any time I wanted. Rock Hard Ten dropped his head and fired big, but Smarty Jones just left us. It took a great horse to do what he did that day." Now he has the Hall of Fame plaque to prove it.