Six standouts — three horses, two jockeys and one trainer — were inducted
into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame during a ceremony Monday
morning at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Distinguished equine surgeon Dr. Dean Richardson, who led the team that treated
Barbaro, was the guest speaker.
Edgar Prado, who rode Barbaro to victory in the 2006 Kentucky Derby (G1), and
trainer Carl Nafzger, who developed champions Unbridled, Banshee Breeze and
Street Sense, were on-hand to receive their plaques during the 90-minute
induction. Two-time Derby winner Ismael “Milo” Valenzuela, regular rider of
Kelso, was unable to travel from California and was inducted in a special
ceremony at Santa Anita on June 22.
Three horses — Inside Information, Manila and Ancient Title — were also
inducted.
Inside Information, Manila, Prado and Nafzger were elected in the
contemporary categories by the 184 members of the Hall of Fame’s voting panel.
Valenzuela and Ancient Title were selected for induction by the Historic Review
Committee, which considers candidates who have not been active in the sport for
more than 25 years.
Prado and Nafzger were elected the first year that their names appeared on
the ballot. They had been eligible in previous years, but had not received
enough votes in the nominating committee selection process to become finalists
and appear on the ballot. Manila was elected in his 11th time on the ballot. It
was Inside Information’s fourth time on the ballot.
Nafzger, 67, was a top rodeo competitor in the 1960s before turning to
training horses. He handled Quarter Horses for a few years before switching to
Thoroughbreds. His first Thoroughbred winner was the two-year-old filly Pretty
Li’l Bessie in 1971 at Santa Fe Downs. Later that season, he saddled his first
stakes winner, Speedy Karen, in the Fiesta Derby H. at Santa Fe Downs.
In 1990, Unbridled became the second of two horses to win the Kentucky Derby
and the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) in the same year. Banshee Breeze was the
three-year-old filly champion of 1998. She won five Grade 1 races in her career.
Street Sense is the only horse to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and the
Kentucky Derby. The colt, owned by James Tafel, won the 2006 Juvenile at
Churchill Downs. Seven months later, he won the 2007 Derby over the same track.
For 40 years, Nafzger and his wife, Wanda, have operated a relatively small
stable. Their highest number of starters in a year was 449 in 1988. Through
December 31, 2007, available computer records show he has 1,068 victories from
8,041 starts and purse earnings of $50,203,640. Since 1976, he has won 68 graded
stakes and 140 total stakes. He saddled at least one stakes winner every year
from 1980 through 2007.
Prado, 41, led the nation in victories for three consecutive years, from 1997
to 1999 while based in Maryland. Since relocating to New York in the summer of
1999 he has been among the leaders in purse money won and has added dozens of
graded stakes wins — including the Kentucky Derby and two Belmont S. (G1) — to
his resume. He won the Eclipse Award as the champion jockey of 2006.
Among the champions Prado has ridden are Horse of the Year Saint Liam,
Folklore, Smuggler, Lemon Drop Kid and Kitten’s Joy.
Valenzuela, 73, a resident of Arcadia, California, rode from 1951 through
1980. He finished in the top 10 in purse money won in a season nine consecutive
years, from 1956 to 1964. His highest finish was third in 1963 with $1,922,339.
During his career, he rode 2,545 winners from 21,203 mounts to earn purse money
of $20,122,760.
In 1958, he won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness with Tim Tam. Ten years
later, he completed the Derby-Preakness double with Forward Pass. He was a
regular rider of Hall of Famer Kelso and they won 22 stakes together.
Inside Information won 14 of 17 races in three seasons of competition for
owner-breeder Ogden Mills Phipps. The Private Account filly, a 1991 foal, closed
out her career for Phipps and trainer Shug McGaughey with three Grade 1
victories. In the final start of her career, the 1995 Breeders’ Cup Distaff
(G1), she beat stablemate Heavenly Prize by 13 lengths, a Breeders’ Cup record.
That performance at Belmont Park helped secure the Eclipse Award as the champion
older filly of 1995.
Inside Information is a member of the Phipps family’s broodmare band at
Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky.
Manila, one of the most successful grass horses in American racing history,
made his first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot in 1992. He was a finalist
10 other times before finally being elected. The son of Lyphard, now standing at
stud in Turkey, won 12 of 18 career starts and earned $2,692,799 for trainer
Leroy Jolley.
Owner Bradley “Mike” Shannon of Lexington, Kentucky, purchased Manila from
owner-breeder Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. after the colt’s winless two-year-old season
of 1985. Shannon’s timing proved to be ideal, as Manila compiled a 12-3-0 record
in the final 15 starts of his career. He won nine consecutive races between June
7, 1986 and July 15, 1987, including the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) as a
three-year-old and back-to-back runnings of the United Nations (G1).
Following a half-length loss in the Bernard Baruch H. (G2) at Saratoga that
ended his streak, Manila won the Arlington Million (G1), which turned out to be
the final race of his career. Among the horses he defeated in the Million were
Sharrood and Theatrical (Ire).
Ancient Title, a durable and versatile California-bred gelding, was bred and
owned by the late William and Ethel Kirkland. He competed for seven seasons,
from 1972 to 1978, and won 24 of 57 starts — 20 of them stakes — earning
$1,252,791 in purse money. At the time of his retirement he ranked 10th in
career earnings.
During his career, Ancient Title successfully carried weight in major stakes
races. As a five-year-old in 1975, he won the Californian S. (G1) and Hollywood
Gold Cup (G1) while spotting the competition weight. Though Ancient Title
primarily raced in California, trainer Keith Stucki brought him to the East in
1975 for three major events. He won the Whitney H. (G2) by a neck over Group
Plan, who was carrying 13 fewer pounds and went on to win the Jockey Club Gold
Cup (G1) in his next outing.