"Hall/Fame" Santos; Charm; Veitch

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

I agree with you.

I think we need more horses going in and less people.

Even a good case could be made for a horse like Best Pal, who was tremendously popular out West.

* He was a Multiple Grade 1 winner at age 2.

* Won the Pacific Classic as a 3-year-old after a 2nd place finish in the KY Derby earlier in the year.

* Won three Grade 1's at age four---including the highest Beyer figure ever published for a Santa Anita Handicap winner.

* Won the Hollywood Gold Cup at age 5...and actually ran 2nd in a Grade 1 race on turf.

* Was a multiple stakes winner at age 6...including a 2nd place finish in the Pacific Classic.

* Won the Grade 2 San Antonio at age 7, including a 2nd place finish in the Santa Anita Handicap.

Racked up over $5.6 million in earnings, all in America, throughout the 1990's.

He is probably worthy. I really thought that all of the modern horses should be in

[The Indomitable DrugS]

The one who I thought was probably the least worthy was Silverbulletday.

While she totally cleaned out and dominated her own division....the fact that she never was able to score a Graded Stakes win against older fillies and mares...and had quite a few cracks at her elders...should probably be enough to keep her out.

[Swale84]

Moms Command
Looking at her pp's, there were some nice betting scores early in her career.
44-1, 19-1 and 17-1

[ELA]

Please allow the editorial lattitude, with help from the Hall of Fame Museum --

Jose Santos, 46, the rider of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Funny Cide, was born in Chile and recorded his first victory there in 1976.

He arrived in the United States on January 3, 1984 and quickly established himself as a prominent rider. He was the nation’s leading rider in earnings for four consecutive years, from 1986 to 1989, and was the Eclipse Award-winning jockey in 1988 when he set a record for purse earnings of $14,856,214. Through December 31, 2006, Equibase statistics show Santos had 4,076 victories in North America with purse earnings of $186,936,820.

In addition to Funny Cide, he has been the regular rider or frequent rider of champions Manila, Meadow Star, Criminal Type, Chief Bearhart, Fleet Indian, Fly So Free and Rubiano. “It’s a great honor just to be nominated and to be elected to the Hall of Fame is even bigger,” Santos said. “I know the history of the Hall of Fame in the United States, that it is all of the best. To be joining them, I don’t have words to express myself.” Santos is recovering from injuries he sustained in a spill at Aqueduct in February and is considering a return to riding.

In North America through December 31, 2006, Santos had won 331 graded stakes and a total of 608 stakes. Santos has won the Jockey Club Gold Cup three times, the United Nations Handicap four times; he has three wins in the Personal Ensign, the Spinaway, the Pegasus, the Carter Handicap and the Withers, and two wins in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, the Arlington Million, Coaching Club American Oaks, Cigar Mile, Caesar’s International, Florida Derby, Flower Bowl, Futurity, Hawthorne Gold Cup, Haskell, Jerome, Man o’ War, Matron, Metropolitan, Turf Classic and Whitney. Santos has won a total of seven Breeders’ Cup races. In 2006, he won six stakes with Fleet Indian.

In addition, as pointed out -- Jose Santos is one of only five jocks in the history of the game to lead the nation in earnings for four straight years.

He is a member of that club with Laffit Pincay, Willie Shoemaker, Braulio Baeza, and Jerry Bailey.

The rules, requirements, etc. on eligibility is a topic within itself. Comparing who should or should not have gotten in is natural. Liking one and not the other is also natural.

However, when looking at one's career and speaking to whether or not one is deserving of this great honor, of course it is important to look at merit, performance, accomplishments, recrods, stats, etc. We all know and understand that. Be that as it may, it is far more important to understand -- that while taking those things into consideration -- that we also understand the importance that one's career needs to be looked at in totality, as an entire career, across a spectrum of accomplishments and acheivements.

Even before I came to know Jose, and before he became a client, I was a fan of his, of course from afar. However, since then, I have come to know Jose Santos -- the man, as well as Jose Santos the jockey. In this type of discussion, pros and cons, of course we all know that we all have our flaws and faults. We all have our good days and bad. Fortunately, for many of us, we are not in an industry where we are under the microscope of the public eye. We are not subject to the scrutiny and watchful eye of the masses and the public. And that's OK, it's part of the game for those that are.

It has not only been an honor and privilege to have come to know Jose Santos -- but far more important, to also consider and call him a friend.

Congratulations to all of the inductees!!!

Eric

[Cajungator26]

Congrats to the champ!