HALL OF FAME: TPletch, Pharoah, Hopper's Jack Fisher

[Kasept]

Pletcher, American Pharoah, Fisher named as 2021 inductees to Hall of Fame
Jay Privman

What was expected is now official. In their first year of eligibility, trainer Todd Pletcher and Triple Crown winner American Pharoah on Wednesday were announced by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame as two of its newest inductees, reflective of their outsized impact on the sport.

The class of 2021 also includes trainer Jack Fisher, chosen by a steeplechase review committee that meets every four years.

Pletcher and American Pharoah were two of 10 finalists on a contemporary ballot returned by 150 voters. While those two reaching the threshold – support from 50 percent of the voters plus one – was a slam dunk, it was shocking that not one of the other eight finalists – the horses Blind Luck, Game On Dude, Havre de Grace, Kona Gold, and Rags to Riches; trainers Christophe Clement and Doug O’Neill; and jockey Corey Nakatani -- received enough support to get in. Voters are allowed to vote for as many candidates as they deem worthy; there is no limit or quota. The Hall of Fame does not release vote totals.

Pletcher, American Pharoah, and Fisher will be inducted on Aug. 6 during a ceremony at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where the Hall of Fame is located. They will be joined by the class of 2020 – trainer Mark Casse, jockey Darrel McHargue, two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan, horse of yesteryear Tom Bowling, and Pillars of the Turf Alice Headley Chandler, Keene Daingerfield Jr., and George D. Widener Jr. -- whose induction ceremony last year was canceled owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

The ceremony will be broadcast live on the museum’s website, www.racingmuseum.org, and an announcement regarding public attendance will be made at a later date, the Hall of Fame said in a press release.

Pletcher, 53, holds more records than space allows, beginning with seven Eclipse Awards as champion trainer and $405 million in purses earned by his runners. He has won the Kentucky Derby twice, the Belmont three times, and has 11 wins in Breeders’ Cup races. He has won four Canadian Triple Crown races.

After apprenticing under Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, Pletcher went out on his own following the 1995 Breeders’ Cup. Entering racing of Wednesday, he has won 5,118 races, seventh best all-time. He has led the nation’s trainers in annual purse earnings 10 times. Eleven of his horses – including Hall of Famer Ashado – have won divisional Eclipse Awards. He has won 60 meet training titles, including 17 at Gulfstream Park, 16 at Belmont Park, and 14 at Saratoga.

Pletcher has won 708 graded stakes, 166 of them Grade 1 races, including just last Friday his fourth Kentucky Oaks. Other races he’s won at least four times include the Beldame, Champagne, Coaching Club American Oaks, Florida Derby, Mother Goose, Spinaway, Spinster, and Wood Memorial.

“I’m really humbled to be elected to the Hall of Fame. It’s an incredible honor and something that doesn’t happen without having great support around you,” Pletcher said in a release put out by the Hall of Fame. “I’ve been extremely fortunate to have a great team to work with and my family has been there every step of the way. There have been so many great owners who have trusted me with their horses and those horses have meant everything to me.

“Along with my family and team, I had amazing opportunities to learn from the likes of Wayne and Jeff Lukas and working winters alongside Kiaran McLaughlin, who taught me a lot about horses and also how to work with owners and communication skills. It really was a stroke of good fortune to come up with people like that around me.”

American Pharoah, now age 9, in 2015 became the first Triple Crown winner in the 37 years, and the 12th in history, when he swept the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont. After winning a pair of Grade 1 races at age 2, as well as a divisional Eclipse Award, he won seven times in eight starts at 3, with victories in the Rebel and Arkansas Derby preceding the Triple Crown, and wins in the Haskell and Breeders’ Cup Classic following.



American Pharoah was voted Eclipse Awards in 2015 as both Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male. He won nine times in 11 starts and earned more than $8.6 million during his racing career.

With the exception of his losing debut, he was ridden in every start by Hall of Famer Victor Espinoza. American Pharaoh was trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert.

“He’s certainly among the all-time greats. I don’t think there is any question about that,” Baffert said. “He did everything so effortlessly and with such class. The way he moved, his mechanics were absolutely flawless.

“Winning the Triple Crown with American Pharaoah was the greatest sports moment of my life. It was so emotional and such a terrific thing for racing. He deserves all the accolades he gets.”

American Pharaoh, by Pioneerof the Nile, was bred and owned by the Zayat Stables of Ahmed and Justin Zayat. He currently stands at stud at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky.

Fisher, 57, has led the nation’s steeplechase trainers in annual wins 13 times and in annual purse earnings eight times; five times he has won more than $1 million, a mark no other steeplechase trainer has reached. His best runner has been two-time Eclipse Award-winning steeplechaser Good Night Shirt, who won eight Grade 1 races. Fisher also trained champion steeplechasers Moscato and Scorpiancer.

A former steeplechase jockey, Fisher has trained for more than 30 years and has won 593 steeplechase races. His steeplechase runners have earned more than $17.8 million, second all-time to Hall of Famer Jonathan Sheppard. Just last Saturday, Fisher won the Temple Gwathmey for the sixth time, with Snap Decision. He owns five wins in the Iroquois, four in the A.P. Smithwick, and three in the Lonesome Glory.

Fisher also is known for his association with timber champion Saluter, who won six consecutive editions of the Virginia Gold Cup and four runnings of the Virginia Hunt Cup. Fisher has won the Virginia Gold Cup 12 times as a trainer and nine times as a rider, both records. Fisher rode Saluter to each of his Gold Cup victories.

“I’ve always loved being around horses. It’s been my life,” Fisher said. “I was terrible in school and didn’t want to be there. I loved riding and I love training. I learned a lot from my father,” he said referring to trainer John Fisher, “and from guys like Mikey Smithwick and Tommy Voss,” both those two Hall of Famers.

“Saluter was really the one. My license plate says Saluter on it. He meant everything. I’ve had some wonderful and patient owners and great talent in the barn. To have horses like Good Night Shirt, Scorpiancer, Moscato, and Snap Decision has been incredible beyond words. I’m pretty darn lucky.”

[Kasept]

PLETCHER ACHIEVEMENTS (NYRA Media Guide)

NATIONAL/ECLIPSE CHAMPIONS

Ashado: Top Older Female (2005); Top 3-Year-Old Filly (2004)
English Channel: Top Turf Male (2007)
Fleet Indian: Top Older Female (2006)
Lawyer Ron: Top Older Male (2007)
Left Bank: Top Older Male (2002)
Rags to Riches: Top 3-Year-Old Filly (2007)
Shanghai Bobby: Top 2-Year-Old Male (2012)
Speightstown: Top Sprinter (2004)
Wait a While: Top 3-Year-Old Filly (2006)
Uncle Mo: Top 2-Year-Old Male (2010)
Vino Rosso: Top Older Male (2019)

[Alabama Stakes]

Congratulations to the deserving winners. Puzzling that a jockey with 120 GRADE 1 wins is not Hall of Fame worthy. Another couple hundred grade 2 and grade 3 wins riding against Top riders to his credit also. That’s a lot of wins in big races.