2021 Hall of Fame Eligible Nominees

Kasept · #1 02-24-2021, 10:17 AM

Horses: American Pharoah (1st year/eligibility), Blind Luck, Game On Dude, Havre de Grace, Kona Gold, Rags to Riches;

Trainers: Christophe Clement, Doug O'Neill, Todd Pletcher (1st year/eligibility);

Jockey: Corey Nakatani

Alabama Stakes · #2 02-24-2021, 10:38 AM

I don’t have a problem with any of those.

knickslions2 · #3 02-24-2021, 10:44 AM

Nakatani was money on turf and one of my favorites to bet on no matter what the odds were

goodcopy · #4 02-24-2021, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by knickslions2

Nakatani was money on turf and one of my favorites to bet on no matter what the odds were

Nakatani was as strong as Pincay, better golfer and always rode through the wire no matter what his position was in the stretch,
Luv him

blackthroatedwind · #5 02-24-2021, 10:48 AM

Nominating Rags to Riches is particularly unfortunate. It's like giving a participation trophy to someone who barely ever participated. It's the Hall of Fame not the Hall of Horses I Really Liked.

Blind Luck is FAR more deserving, as is Kona Gold.

King Glorious · #6 02-24-2021, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Nominating Rags to Riches is particularly unfortunate. It's like giving a participation trophy to someone who barely ever participated. It's the Hall of Fame not the Hall of Horses I Really Liked.

Blind Luck is FAR more deserving, as is Kona Gold.

Knew it would happen at some point. I agree with you although I'd not put Blind Luck or Kona Gold in either.

RolloTomasi · #7 02-24-2021, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by King Glorious

I'd not put Kona Gold in.

I presume you were in a coma between November 1999 and July 2001?

Did you ever get better?

Dahoss · #8 02-24-2021, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

I presume you were in a coma between November 1999 and July 2001?

Did you ever get better?

Yeah that’s a head scratcher.

30 starts, 14 wins and 7 seconds. Was 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the BC Sprint, multiple graded stakes wins including two grade 1’s. He travelled and from January of 1999 to November of 2001, he finished either 1st or 2nd in all his races.

If he ran today people would be calling him the best sprinter ever.

King Glorious · #9 02-25-2021, 02:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

I presume you were in a coma between November 1999 and July 2001?

Did you ever get better?

I was a huge fan of his. Obviously, being as big a fan as I am of Java Gold, I always partial to Kona Gold. Loved him as a runner. I'm not saying that he's not deserving based on the standards of what's already in there. He and Blind Luck both are. For me, the standards would be higher and many that are in there wouldn't be. He was really good for several seasons but to me, only great in one. I wish he could have beaten Artax in that 1999 Sprint. But an under .500 record and only three grade one wins puts you in the hall of very good, not the hall of fame for me.

RolloTomasi · #10 02-25-2021, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by King Glorious

But an under .500 record and only three grade one wins puts you in the hall of very good, not the hall of fame for me.

If you gauge top sprinters by the number of Grade 1s they win then you are already on faulty ground.

Even in this age of a billion available stakes races in service of the all might BC, what is there, like 4 or 5 open Grade 1 sprints on the calendar nationwide?

Want to hazard a guess how many Grade 1s Safely Kept, Housebuster, and Groovy won in their careers?