Jockey Randy Romero and horses
AZERI
(Jade Hunter),
BEST
PAL (*Habitony) and
POINT
GIVEN (Thunder Gulch) have been elected to the National Museum of Racing’s
Hall of Fame. The Class of 2010 will be inducted on August 13 in a ceremony at
10:30 a.m. (EDT) at the newly renovated Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion.
Romero, Azeri, Best Pal and Point Given were elected in the contemporary
category by the 182 members of the Hall of Fame’s voting panel. The Hall of
Fame’s Historic Review Committee will announce its selections on June 9,
completing the Class of 2010.
Romero, 52, won 4,294 races in a career that began in 1973 and concluded in
1999. He won 16 percent of his races and his mounts earned purses totaling
$75,264,198. He was the regular rider of two of the most spectacular fillies of
his era, Go for Wand and the undefeated Personal Ensign, both of whom Romero
will join in the Hall of Fame.
Romero won Breeders’ Cup races on both Go for Wand and Personal Ensign as
well as a Breeders’ Cup on another distaffer, Sacahuista. Romero won 122 graded
stakes (17 percent) and 342 (18 percent) stakes overall. He won riding titles at
10 tracks, including Belmont, Arlington, Gulfstream, Hialeah, Keeneland, Fair
Grounds and Louisiana Downs. At Keeneland, he won five races in succession and
six on one card, and at Gulfstream he won four stakes on a single program.
In addition to his Breeders’ Cup victories, Romero won the Beldame S. (G1)
three times. Twice he captured the Gulfstream Park H. (G1), Ladies H. (G1) and
Vosburgh (G1). Romero also won the Blue Grass S. twice, the first as a Grade 1
and the second as a Grade 2. He had single victories in the Frizette S. (G1),
Louisiana Derby (G3), Whitney H. (G1), Alabama S. (G1), Mother Goose S. (G1),
Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), Florida Derby (G1), Woodward S. (G1), Champagne S.
(G1) and Coaching Club American Oaks (G1).
Along with Personal Ensign and Go for Wand, Romero’s top mounts included
Creme Fraiche, Personal Flag, Polish Navy, Banshee Breeze, Housebuster, Hansel,
Seeking the Gold, Yankee Affair and Java Gold.
Azeri won 17 of her 24 races, including 11 Grade 1s, and placed second in
four other starts. She debuted with a six-furlong victory at Santa Anita on
November 1, 2001, and won her only other start that year as a three-year-old. At
four, Azeri won eight of her nine starts, including Grade 1 victories in the
Breeders’ Cup Distaff, Santa Margarita Invitational H., Apple Blossom H., Milady
H. and Vanity H. She also won the Lady’s Secret H. (G2) and Clement L. Hirsch H.
(G2) and finished second in the La Canada S. (G2).
At five in 2003, Azeri extended her win streak to 11. She again registered
Grade 1 victories in the Apple Blossom, Milady and Vanity and also repeated in
the Clement Hirsch. Her streak was snapped when she finished third (subsequently
promoted to second) in the Lady’s Secret, a race during which she suffered a
tendon injury. Azeri won her unprecedented third Apple Blossom at age six in
2004 and also added the Go for Wand H. (G1) and Spinster S. (G1) that year.
She was named Horse of the Year in 2002 and champion older female in 2002,
2003 and 2004. Azeri retired as the all-time leader in earnings among females
(since broken by Zenyatta) with $4,079,820. She was trained by Laura de Seroux
and then D. Wayne Lukas during her final year of racing. Azeri was owned by
Allen E. Paulson. Following Paulson’s death in 2000, J. Michael Paulson raced
Azeri for his father’s trust.
Best Pal was a durable, popular and successful gelding who compiled an
18-11-4 mark from 47 career starts. Racing from ages two through eight, he won
17 stakes and had career earnings of $5,668,245.
Based in California, Best Pal is one of only four horses to win a particular
trio of the West Coast’s top rung of races: the Santa Anita H. (G1), Hollywood
Gold Cup (G1) and Charles H. Strub S. (G1).
At two, Best Pal won five stakes, including Grade 1 victories in the Norfolk
and Hollywood Futurity. The following year, in 1991, he was second in the
Kentucky Derby (G1) before returning west to win the Swaps S. (G2) and defeat
older stars Twilight Agenda and Unbridled in the Pacific Classic.
At four, Best Pal won the San Fernando S. (G2), Strub, Santa Anita H. and
Oaklawn H. (G1) in succession. He raced on successfully for three more years and
into a fourth. His victories in those years included the Hollywood Gold Cup, Cal
Cup Classic, Native Diver H. (G3) and San Antonio H. (G2). Best Pal was owned by
Mr. and Mrs. John Mabee and trained by Ian Jory, Gary Jones and Richard
Mandella.
Point Given was named Horse of the Year and champion three-year-old male in
2001. Trained by Bob Baffert, Point Given broke his maiden in his second start
as a two-year-old and also won the Kentucky Cup Juvenile S. (G3) and Hollywood
Futurity during his juvenile season.
At three, Point Given dominated in his two starts at Santa Anita. He took the
San Felipe S. (G2) by 2 1/4 lengths before a 5 1/2-length romp in the Santa
Anita Derby (G1). Point Given was then a troubled fifth in the Kentucky Derby,
which turned out to be the last race of his career that he lost.
Following the Derby, Point Given won the final two jewels of the Triple Crown
with a 2 1/4-length victory in the Preakness S. (G1) and a jaw-dropping 12
1/4-length triumph in the Belmont S. (G1). He then went on to win the Haskell
Invitational (G1) and Travers S. (G1), becoming the first horse to ever win four
consecutive races with $1 million purses.
He also joined Hall of Famers Man o’ War, Whirlaway, Damascus and Native
Dancer as the only horses since 1900 to win the Preakness, Belmont and Travers.
Point Given, who was owned by Prince Ahmed bin Salman, was retired following the
Travers victory because of an injury and concluded his career with a record of
13-9-3-0 and earnings of $3,968,500.
Edward L. Bowen is the chairman of the Hall of Fame Nominating Committee. The
14-member Nominating Committee considered 76 candidates for the contemporary
category before selecting 10 finalists. The four candidates that received the
most votes from the 182 voters in the United States and Canada were elected.
Members of the Nominating Committee are: Bowen, president of the
Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, freelance writer and Museum trustee;
Cot Campbell, president of Dogwood Stable; Steve Crist, publisher and columnist,
Daily Racing Form; Jane Goldstein, turf writer and the retired Santa Anita
Park publicist; Russ Harris, handicapper and turf writer, New York Daily News;
Jay Hovdey, executive columnist, Daily Racing Form; Neil Milbert,
formerly a turf writer at the Chicago Tribune, now a freelance writer;
Leverett Miller, owner-breeder and Museum trustee; William Nack, freelance turf
writer and author; Jay Privman, national correspondent, Daily Racing Form,
and television racing analyst; John Sparkman, bloodstock/sales editor,
Thoroughbred Times; Clark Spencer, turf writer, Miami Herald; Michael
Veitch, turf writer and columnist, The Saratogian; John T. von
Stade, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, National Museum of Racing and Hall of
Fame.
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony is free and open to the public.
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame is located across from the
Saratoga Race Course on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York. Hours are
Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a. m to 4 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.
Hours during the Saratoga Race Meet are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Programs at the
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame are made possible in part with public
funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. Call
518-584-0400 for more information, or log onto
www.racingmuseum.org.