"Hall/Fame" Santos; Charm; Veitch
 

Hall of Fame inductees announced...

Jockeys: Jose Santos and John Sellers..

Trainers: Henry Forrest, Frank McCabe and John Veitch..

Horses: Mom's Command, Silver Charm and Swoon's Son..

Silver Charm!!!!!!!!

Good picks on the horses, at least the two I've heard of before.

so glad that mom's command is finally getting in!!
congrats to all of them!!

Swoon's Son won 30 of 51 career starts and made over 970K back in the 1950's.

I've never seen any film of his races.

from tbheritage:

Swoon's Son b.c. 1953
(The Doge - Swoon)
Sound and solid, winner under all conditions, he was U.S. Champion Handicap Horse of 1957 and Champion Sprinter in both 1957 and 1958 . Won 30 of his 50 plus races (10 times second) in 4 seasons of racing, major wins included Arlington Futurity, American Derby, Equipoise Mile (twice), Wright Memorial Stakes (twice), Balmoral Turf Handicap. At stud, he got Chris Evert (leading filly of 1974), Swoon's Song (stakes winner and dam of Swingtime, among other stakes winners), and 20 other stakes winners from 330 foals.

in doing searching for swoon's son, i found this--is this right?????


To the man on the street, the most important race to win is the Kentucky Derby. Sports writers who don't know which end of the horse has teeth all become experts on the first Saturday in May, just as they become gymnastics experts every 4th years during the Olympics.

To the racing professional, there are more important races. One is the Belmont Stakes, because the 12-furlong distance is a quarter-mile longer than the Derby and requires that much more stamina (which is always a prime selling point in a stallion). Also, far more Belmont winners than Derby winners become divisional champions.

The Belmont used to be known as the "Test of a Champion" and was regarded as a stallion making race. This was a long time ago. Now, it's the 12 furlongs of anonymity.

Used to be that a top class horse would be asked to run 12f on dirt several times in his career. Now, unless they go to grass, none of the Belmont runners will ever see 12f again.

as for the inductees, Congrats to all. I'm especially pleased to see Veitch get it.

edit. im wrong again

What does everyone think about Santos getting in?

He's won quite a few big races, so I guess he deserves it, but there's plenty of riders out there I'd prefer to him.

He can thank Funny Cide - without him, he part of the long list ain't gettin' in anytime soon...

i guess i'd need to see who's not, but should be....haven't a clue who has been 'on the bubble'...

He was one of only five jocks to lead the nation in earnings for four straight years.

Pincay, Shoemaker, Baeza, and Bailey are the other four to accomplish that.

Winning the Kentucky Derby with a very good ride on Funny Cide and winning the Breeders Cup Classic with a great ride on Volponi made him pretty close to a cinch to get in one year soon.

Well.....not always. Funny Cide, who ran third in the '03 Belmont, just competed in a 12f dirt race within the last couple of weeks.

I think Tiago has a definate future in grass marathons.

I'm pretty sure that Silver Charm will be the first OBS April 2yo sale grad to make the Hall of Fame.

There's been other Derby winners to come from that sale (at least Lil E Tee) and other Dubai World Cup winners from that sale (Roses In May) but, I highly doubt any other Hall of Famers came from out of there.

It's basically Ocala's 3rd string 2yo in training sale....pretty much a big ole fire sale.

Johnny Sellers
 

Johnny Sellers, 69, was born in Los Angeles and was raised in Oklahoma. He rode from 1955 through 1977. The peak of his career was the decade of the 1960s when he finished in the top ten nationally in purse money won five times in a span of six years. He led the nation in victories, 328, and was second in purses in 1961, the year he rode Hall of Fame Carry Back to victories in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.

Sellers won many of the major stakes in the United States, including the Belmont, Alabama, Travers, Blue Grass, Kentucky Oaks, Florida Derby, Garden State, United Nations Handicap, San Juan Capistrano, San Luis Obispo, San Felipe, Sunset, Hollywood Derby, Carter, Del Mar Invitational and the Whitney. Sellers was moved by the news of his election to the Hall of Fame.

“I have tears in my eyes right now,” he said. “That’s for real.”

Sellers recalled being nominated in the Contemporary Jockey category in 1987. “That was the year Walter Blum won, and he deservedly should have,” Sellers said. “That was as close as I got. It was very neat, just even to be nominated, but this is incredible.” Sellers is a bloodstock agent and lives in Hallandale, Fla.

Henry Forrest
 

Henry Forrest was a native of Covington, Ky., and trained from 1937 until his death in 1975 at the age of 69. He saw every Kentucky Derby from 1921 until his death and trained the Derby and Preakness winners Kauai King in 1966 and Forward Pass in 1968.

During his career, Forrest trained for both Calumet Farm and Claiborne Farm. He finished in the top 10 nationally in races won in a season eight times and twice was in the top 10 nationally in purse money won. At the time of his death, he held the career record for victories at Keeneland, 153, and Churchill Downs, 271.

Forward Pass finished second in the Derby, but was declared the winner when Peter Fuller’s colt, Dancer’s Image, was disqualified for testing positive for a banned substance. In the Preakness, Forward Pass won by six lengths over a 10-horse field that included Dancer’s Image. He was second in the Belmont and the Travers. The colt also won the Florida Derby, the American Derby, the Hibiscus, the Everglades and the Blue Grass and was voted the champion 3-year-old in two polls.

"This is absolutely wonderful,” said Forrest’s daughter, Jennie Watkins. “His life was dedicated to racing. He was in the horse business his entire career and achieved what is the ultimate goal: to train a Kentucky Derby winner, and not one but two. It was his life. I think this is such a tribute to him and his memory this many years later to have such a wonderful thing happen.”

Frank McCabe
 

McCabe was a distinguished trainer in a career that spanned the later part of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century. He was born in Patterson, N.J. in 1859 and became an assistant to trainer James Rowe, who was a member of the first Hall of Fame class in 1955. When Rowe ended his relationship with the Dwyer brothers, who were prominent owners at the time, in 1884, McCabe became their trainer. He trained Hall of Famer Hanover, winner of the Brooklyn Handicap, Belmont Stakes, Withers and United States Hotel. McCabe trained three consecutive Belmont winners: Inspector B. 1886; Hanover, 1887; Sir Dixon, 1888.

During that same period, McCabe trained Tremont, who was unbeaten in 13 starts as a 2-year-old in 1886, and was considered a champion. McCabe’s other Hall of Fame horses were Kingston, a 1955 inductee, who won 89 of 138 starts, including 30 stakes and retired as America’s leading money winner at $140,195; and Miss Woodford, who was also handled by Rowe. Miss Woodford, elected to the Hall of Fame in 1967, won the Ladies Stakes, Alabama, Monmouth Oaks and Pimlico Stakes. She was the first horse bred and raced in America to earn more than $100,000.

McCabe, who died in 1924, also won the Travers with Inspector B., Sir Dixon and Sir John.