Trainer Nick Zito was voted into the Racing Hall of Fame, it was announced Tuesday, but under new voting rules, no horses or jockeys were elected.
Zito, on the ballot with four other trainers, was named on at least 75% of the 163 ballots cast. Although the Racing Hall of Fame has adopted rules similar to those used by the Baseball Hall of Fame, unlike baseball, the racing shrine does not announce exact totals.
"We don't give exact totals, because then we would be implying who the favorites might be in the next election," said Ed Bowen, chairman of the Racing Hall of Fame's nominating committee. Bowen did allow that no other trainer was named on 75% of the ballots. Only one trainer -- the one with the highest percentage -- would have been elected had that been the case.
Horse racing -- An article in Wednesday's Sports section about the Racing Hall of Fame said trainer Sidney Watters Jr. won the 1957 Santa Anita and San Juan Capistrano handicaps with Cornhusker. In fact, Charlie Whittingham trained Cornhusker for those races. Watters had trained Cornhusker earlier, when the horse was a steeplechaser.
Voters -- turf writers, editors, broadcasters and racing historians -- were given five names in four categories, trainer, jockey, male and female horses, and allowed to select a maximum of three per category. In previous years, the rules varied, but there was one winner per category, no matter what percentage the leading vote-getter might have gotten.
Counting steeplechasers, elected by a 12-member committee, there are 171 horses in the Hall of Fame. Lonesome Glory, a five-time steeplechase champion, was elected by the committee this year. But when Zito is enshrined in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Aug. 8, it will be the first time since the hall opened in 1955 that a thoroughbred running on the flat has not been honored.
None of the jockeys on the ballot -- Eddie Maple, Craig Perret, Randy Romero, Jose Santos and Milo Valenzuela -- received the necessary 75%. The last year at least one jockey wasn't elected was 1986.
"I told them that this would happen," said Joe Hirsch, retired Daily Racing Form columnist and a former chairman of the hall's nominating committee. "[Somebody] got this 75% idea about 20 years ago, and they finally resurrected it. You can't get 75% of any group to agree about anything. I would certainly hope that they change this rule."
Silver Charm, who won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Dubai World Cup, earning almost $7 million, seemed to be a favorite in the male-horse category, but he was up against formidable opposition. Also on the ballot were Lure, a two-time Breeders' Cup winner; the grass standout Manila; Housebuster, twice a champion sprinter; and Best Pal.
- Zito Joins the Hall's Select Group Aug 09, 2005
- Even a Double Dose Isn't Enough Apr 27, 1999
- Desormeaux on Ballot for Horse Racing Hall Apr 07, 2004
