Spot in Hall of Fame Goes to Desormeaux

Jockey Kent Desormeaux, denied admission to the Racing Hall of Fame in 2002 when the late Jack Westrope carried the ballot, reached the wire first this time. Hall of Fame officials announced Tuesday that Desormeaux had been elected into the shrine, along with trainer Shug McGaughey on his first try and two of the best horses from the 1990s, Skip Away and Flawlessly.

For Desormeaux, 34, whose Hall of Fame credentials are unquestioned, election was only a matter of time, and after ballots were cast by about 140 voters, he swept in on his second try, ahead of Eddie Maple, Randy Romero and Jose Santos.

Desormeaux, whose career started in his native Louisiana, continued in Maryland and peaked after he moved to California in 1990, has won 4,419 races and ridden horses who have earned $169 million. He has won the Kentucky Derby twice, with Real Quiet in 1998 and Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000. He also won the Preakness with Real Quiet and took the Breeders' Cup Sprint with Desert Stormer in 1995 and the Turf with Kotashaan in 1993.

Desormeaux said Tuesday that Best Pal was his favorite horse to ride, Fusaichi Pegasus was the best horse he ever rode and his Derby wins have meant the most. Desormeaux won the 1992 Santa Anita Handicap with Best Pal.

"Best Pal wasn't the fastest, but he was a push-button horse who didn't have any mental deficiencies," Desormeaux said. "Smarty Jones reminds me a lot of Best Pal."

Smarty Jones is one win away from sweeping this year's Triple Crown, a title that eluded Desormeaux when Victory Gallop beat him and Real Quiet by a nose in the 1998 Belmont Stakes.

"Maybe I didn't let Real Quiet go early enough, when he wanted to run," Desormeaux said. "He might have been 35 lengths ahead if I had done that. Then, when Victory Gallop came at us toward the end, I desperately -- probably foolishly -- tried to hinder his path."

Desormeaux is one of only three riders -- Steve Cauthen and Chris McCarron are the others -- to win Eclipse Awards as both an apprentice and a journeyman. He won the apprentice award in 1987, and added the other Eclipses in 1989 and 1992. In 1989, still based in Maryland, Desormeaux won 598 races, which is still a record.

McGaughey, 53, has won 1,379 races, 237 of them in graded stakes. He has trained eight divisional champions, seven of them after he was hired as the private trainer for the Ogden Phipps family in 1985.