Jockeys Calvin Borel, Garrett Gomez and John Velazquez and trainer Jerry
Hollendorfer are first-time finalists for election to the National Museum of
Racing’s Hall of Fame. Joining them on the 2011 Hall of Fame ballot are previous
finalists jockey Alex Solis, trainers Gary Jones and Robert Wheeler and
Thoroughbreds Open Mind, Safely Kept and Sky Beauty.
Hall of Fame voters may select as many candidates as they believe are worthy
of induction to the Hall of Fame. The four candidates with the highest vote
totals will be elected.
The finalists were selected by the Hall of Fame’s 16-member Nominating
Committee from a total of 80 candidates suggested throughout the year by turf
journalists, Thoroughbred industry participants and racing fans. To be eligible,
trainers must have been active for 25 years and jockeys must have been active
for 20 years. Thoroughbreds must have been retired for five years. All
candidates must have been active within the past 25 years. A separate Historic
Review Committee is assigned to consider candidates whose careers were completed
more than 25 years ago.
The results of the voting on contemporary candidates will be announced on May
13. The induction ceremony will be held at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion in
Saratoga Springs, New York, on August 12 at 10:30 a.m. (EDT). The ceremony is
free and open to the public.
Borel has won the Kentucky Derby (G1) in three of the past four years with
Street Sense (2007), Mine That Bird (2009) and Super Saver (2010). His three
victories in the Run for the Roses are surpassed only by Hall of Famers Eddie
Arcaro and Bill Hartack with five each and Hall of Famer Bill Shoemaker, who has
four Derby wins.
Borel, one of only two riders with more than 1,000 wins at Churchill Downs
(Hall of Famer Pat Day is the other), won the Preakness S. (Grade 1), Woodward
S. (Grade 1), Haskell Invitational (Grade 1), Mother Goose S. (Grade 1),
Kentucky Oaks (Grade 1) and other stakes with 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel
Alexandra. Among Borel’s other major victories are the Travers S. (Grade 1),
Alabama S. (Grade 1), Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (Grade 1), Sword Dancer
Invitational (Grade 1) and Stephen Foster H. (Grade 1). Through 2010, Borel had
4,815 career wins and purse earnings of $113,444,328. He also won the George
Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 2010.
Gomez won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in 2007 and 2008 and led
all North American riders in earnings from 2006 through 2009. He won a record 76
stakes races in 2007 and has 12 Breeders’ Cup wins to his credit, including the
2010 Classic (Grade 1) with champion Blame. Gomez posted eight Grade 1 wins in
2010 and 11 in 2009.
Among Gomez’s major victories are the Pacific Classic (Grade 1), Travers,
Santa Anita Derby (Grade 1), Whitney H. (Grade 1), Stephen Foster, Kentucky Oaks
and Jockey Club Gold Cup (Grade 1). Through 2010, Gomez had 3,435 career wins
and purse earnings of $193,907,844.
Velazquez won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in 2004 and 2005 and
led all North American riders in earnings during those years. He led all New
York jockeys in wins from 2001 through 2004 and set a record with 65 wins at
Saratoga in 2004. Velazquez has won 21 riding titles at New York Racing
Association tracks and has eight Breeders’ Cup wins. He won 12 Grade 1 races in
2010 and posted 43 Grade 1 wins from 2006 through 2010.
Velazquez won the Belmont S. (Grade 1) in 2007 with Rags to Riches and his
other major victories include the Travers, Alabama, Champagne S. (Grade 1),
Sanford S. (Grade 2), Personal Ensign S. (Grade 1), Whitney, King’s Bishop S.
(Grade 1), Hollywood Derby (Grade 1) and Kentucky Oaks. Through 2010, Velazquez
had won 4,483 races and ranked fourth all time in purse earnings with
$241,248,072.
Hollendorfer has been the dominant trainer in Northern California since the
mid-1980s. He won the training championship at every major Bay Area meeting from
1986 through 2008, recording 37 straight titles at Bay Meadows and 32
consecutive crowns at Golden Gate Fields. In 2010, Hollendorfer won five Grade 1
races: the Kentucky Oaks, Alabama and Las Virgenes (Grade 1) with champion Blind
Luck; the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (Grade 1) with Dakota Phone; and the Gamely S.
(Grade 1) with Tuscan Evening.
Hollendorfer ranked fourth in earnings in 2010 with $9,307,328 and third in
wins with 286. He was fifth in earnings in 2009 ($7,309,169) and seventh in 2008
($8,637,578). He was also third in wins in both 2009 (273) and 2008 (282).
Hollendorfer won a career-high 308 races in 2004 to finish third in the trainer
standings. He has been in the top 10 in wins for 24 consecutive years (1987
through 2010) and has been in the top 10 in earnings 12 times. Through 2010,
Hollendorfer ranked fourth in all-time victories (5,863) and eighth all-time in
earnings ($119,141,280) among North American trainers.
Solis, the 1997 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award winner, has won three
Breeders’ Cup races, including the 2003 Classic with Pleasantly Perfect. He has
also won the Preakness and multiple editions of the Santa Anita Derby and
Florida Derby (Grade 1). Other major victories for Solis include the Hollywood
Derby, Malibu S. (Grade 1), Del Mar Futurity (Grade 1), Pacific Classic, Wood
Memorial S. (Grade 1), Santa Anita H. (Grade 1) and Dubai World Cup (UAE-Grade
1). Through 2010, Solis had won 4,828 races and had purse earnings of
$221,907,872.
Jones, who trained from 1974 through 1996, saddled the winners of 1,465 races
from 7,900 starts (18.5 percent). He won 102 graded stakes and 233 overall
stakes with purse earnings of $52,672,611. Jones won 15 meeting titles on the
Southern California circuit. He twice won the Santa Anita H. and was the
conditioner of 1986 champion older male Turkoman. In 1991, Jones won the Pacific
Classic and the Swaps S. (Grade 2) with future Hall of Famer Best Pal, as well
as the Yellow Ribbon S. (Grade 1) and two other stakes with Kostroma. Best Pal’s
four stakes wins in 1992 included the Charles H. Strub S. (Grade 1), Santa Anita
H. and Oaklawn H. (Grade 1), while Kostrama added the Beverly D. S. (Grade 1),
Santa Barbara H. (Grade 1), Wilshire H. (Grade 2) and Dahlia H. (Grade 2). In
1993, Best Pal’s victory in the Hollywood Gold Cup (Grade 1) was among the
trainer’s 23 stakes wins for the year.
Wheeler, whose career spanned from 1938 through 1992, won 1,336 races and
trained for prominent owners such as C.V. Whitney, J. Rukin Jelks, Greentree
Stable and Nelson Bunker Hunt. He conditioned 56 stakes-winning horses,
including 1982 champion older female Track Robbery. The majority of his career
predates the grading of races, but from 1976 on he won 18 of the 69 (26 percent)
graded stakes his horses ran in and 44 of his 175 (25 percent) overall stakes
attempts.
In 1959 and 1960, Wheeler’s West Coast-based division included Tompion,
winner of the Santa Anita Derby, Blue Grass S. and Malibu, and the distaff pair
of Bug Brush and Silver Spoon. Bug Brush won six stakes at four and set a world
record for 1 1/8 miles the day she beat males Hillsdale and Terrang in the San
Antonio S. Silver Spoon won 10 stakes in two years, including the trainer’s
first of consecutive runnings of the Santa Anita Derby, in which she defeated
Preakness winner Royal Orbit. He also sent out five winners of the Hollywood
Juvenile Championship, which prior to the Breeders’ Cup era was one of the
nation’s richest races for two-year-olds. From 1959 through 1969, Wheeler was on
the leaders list of the top 30 North American trainers seven times in terms of
earnings.
Open Mind was the champion two-year-old filly of 1988 when she won the
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (Grade 1). She won 12 of her 19 career starts,
including the New York Filly Triple Crown (the Acorn S. [Grade 1], Mother Goose
and Coaching Club American Oaks [Grade 1]) as well as the Kentucky Oaks and
Alabama at age three. Open Mind posted a 10-race win streak, which included
seven Grade 1 events. She repeated as divisional champion as a three-year-old
and finished her career with nine graded wins among her 11 stakes victories.
Safely Kept raced four years, winning 24 of her 31 starts and accumulated
earnings of $2,194,206. She won four of her five starts as a two-year-old in
1988 and then took eight of her nine races at age three to earn the Eclipse
Award as champion sprinter. At four, Safely Kept went eight-for-10 and
culminated her campaign with a triumph in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1). She
concluded her career with five wins in seven starts as a five-year-old,
including her third victory in the Genuine Risk S. (Grade 2), Maryland Million
Distaff and Garden State Breeders’ Cup H. (Grade 3).
Sky Beauty won 15 of her 21 starts and had purse earnings of $1,336,000 in
her four-year career. She posted a five-race win streak at age three, which
included the New York Filly Triple Crown and the Alabama. At age four, Sky
Beauty posted another five-race win streak, including a 10 1/2-length romp in
the Go for Wand S. (Grade 1). She had a brief campaign at five, adding her
second victory in the Vagrancy H. (Grade 3). Nine of Sky Beauty’s 15 wins were
in Grade 1 races.