Three of the most accomplished horses in recent memory were inducted Aug. 4 into the National Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame in a ceremony in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., all of them in their first year of eligibility.

All Eclipse champions, Arrogate, Songbird, and California Chrome also attracted wide popular support, especially California Chrome, whose devoted followers were christened “Chromies” and who were well represented at the ceremony, eliciting appreciation from the podium by Steve Coburn, who co-bred and co-owned the 2014 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner. 

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“I don’t know how to express the love people gave this horse,” he said. “The ‘Chromies’ are here; they came from all over the place. Thank you, fans.” 

A two-time Horse of the Year, California Chrome was also voted the 2014 champion 3-year-old male and 2016 champion older horse. He retired in 2017 with earnings of nearly $14.8 million and seven grade 1 wins, including the 2016 Dubai World Cup and Pacific Classic Stakes.

A neck and a nose away from being undefeated in 15 career races, Songbird was the agonizing runner-up in the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Distaff. The stretch duel between her and Beholder was one for the ages, their noses so slimly separated that they are nearly indistinguishable even in the photo of the finish.

“She was sweet, loving, and gentle,” said Victoria Keith, vice president of the now-closed Fox Hill Farm. “We wondered if her lack of a fiery side would be a problem if she were ever challenged by another talented horse.

“In her 12th race, we found the answer in spectacular fashion in a race for the ages between Songbird and Beholder. It took a champion to beat Songbird.”

Songbird was owned by Fox Hill Farm; Rick Porter paid $400,000 for her as a yearling at The Saratoga Sale in 2014 at Fasig-Tipton. Porter died in 2021, four years after Songbird’s last year of racing.

“She brought joy and love to thousands of racing fans and she was a bright spot through some difficult times with Rick Porter,” said Keith, referring to the illness from which Porter eventually died after years of treatment. “This induction honors not only Songbird but also Rick Porter and Fox Hill Farm. It’s bittersweet, though, because we really wish it was him on this stage today.” 

Like Songbird, Arrogate raced last in 2017, and like Porter, Arrogate’s owner Prince Khalid bin Abdullah Al Saud also died in 2021. Running in the colors of the Prince’s Juddmonte Farms, Arrogate earned $17.4 million, winning the Travers Stakes, the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes, and the Dubai World Cup. 

“It’s very sad that Prince Khalid passed away a couple of years ago,” said Dr. John Chandler, president of Juddmonte Farms. “He would have liked to have been here.”

Though known for their turf horses, Juddmonte was impressed by trainer Bob Baffert’s success in California, and, as Baffert trained primarily dirt horses, Juddmonte purchased some to send to him. Among them was Arrogate.

“He brought the Prince more pleasure than anything I had seen in a long time,” Chandler said.

Corey Nakatani (Eclipse Sportswire)

Also inducted on Friday were jockeys Corey Nakatani and Fernando Toro, the latter of which was unable to make the trip from California and will receive his Hall of Fame plaque and jacket at a special ceremony Aug. 19 at Del Mar. Despite Toro’s absence, his induction was the emotional high point of the ceremony.

Writers Jay Privman and Jay Hovdey had informed the 82-year-old Toro of his induction and the video they took of his incredulous, overwhelmed reaction brought forth emotional applause from those in the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion on the grounds of Fasig-Tipton, where the ceremony took place.

In the Pillars of the Turf category, John W. Hanes II, Leonard W. Jerome, and Stella F. Thayer were inducted. Hanes was instrumental in reviving New York racing in the middle of the last century, while Jerome, inspired by the racetrack he helped found in Saratoga with his friend William Travers, brought three tracks to the New York City area.

Thayer is the president of Tampa Bay Downs, the track she and her brother purchased in 1986; prior to that, they had co-owned the track with New York Yankees’ owner George Steinbrenner. Thayer also served as the Museum’s president from 2005 to 2014. Though not involved with horse racing as a child, she would stand on the truck owned by her childhood friend Sylvia Vega’s father to watch the races.

“Little did I realize how much my life would be bound up with that piece of ground,” she said.

The ceremony opened with the presentation of the inaugural Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Award to Edward Bowen, longtime trustee of the Museum. The award will be presented periodically to “those who have made impactful contributions to the Museum.” 

“It has been an honor to be in a position to play a tiny role in the ongoing stewardship of the vision and sportsmanship of those original sportsmen and sportsladies,” Bowen said.