Analysis of Hall of Fame Horses

[*Ripley*]

The Early Profiles:

The Natural won two Breeders Cup races in the randomized version of GHF. The Breeders Cup Turf and the Breeders Cup Mile. He made 75 career starts with 34 victories. He has produced two Hall of Fame horses: Wildly Natural and Born To Soar.

True Enough, the third horse to be inducted to the Hall of Fame, never won a Breeders Cup race. He ran second in the Breeders Cup Turf. He won the Continental Cup and Melbourne Cup in his 73 race career. He won 23 races. He has produced one Hall of Fame horse: Euphoria and a Breeders Cup Classic winner: Lusitania.

Bank On Silver was the Y2 Race Horse of the Year, Y2 Best Older Mare, Y8 and Y9 Broodmare of the Year. She was the first horse to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. She ran in 69 races with 28 victories. She finished third and eight in her only Breeders Cup starts. With True Enough she has produced Euphoria, a hall of fame horse, and with Merry Bay King, she produced Impressario, considered to be one of the best in history and also a hall of famer. She is the dam of Breeders Cup Classic winner Lusitania, Dubai World Cup and Kentucky Derby winner Bank On Glory, Breeders Cup Juvenile, Marathon and Dirt Mile winner Bank On Greatness, and winner of two legs in the Triple Tiara, Silverianna. Bank On Silver is considered the most successful broodmare in history and perhaps, her broodmare career should be considered better than her racing career.

Merry Bay King ran in 106 races with 34 wins, tying with The Natural for victories. He won the Breeders Cup Turf, the Cox Plate and Unicorn Horn Classic. He finished second in the Melbourne Cup. His best foal to race was Impressario, but he also produced Hall of Famer Simply A Flyer. He is the sire of Bank On Greatness, Once Upon A Dream, Lawliet’s Girl, Euphorion and A Royal Legacy. He had the most induction votes with 23 yes and was the second horse to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Rising Fury, considered to be the best filly in history, won Filly of Year Award twice, Best Three Year Old Filly, Best Older Mare, Best Dirt, Racehorse of the Year and Y10 Broodmare of the Year. Rising Fury won the Mermaid Cup. Rising Fury won the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies, Breeders Cup Classic, Preakness Stakes, Dubai Filly Cup, Queen Cup, Dubai World Cup and Unicorn Horn Classic. She is the dam of Breeders Cup Marathon winner and Y11 Best Older Horse, Vindictive Fury, Y10 Triple Crown winner Furious Passion, Belmont Turf Classic winner Silent Fury, and Y13 Acorn Stakes winner Ventura. Behind Bank On Silver, Rising Fury ranks as the second best broodmare in racing history. Yet, none of her offspring could claim to a better racing career. Rising Fury ran in 87 races and won 41.

Everyday Hero ran in 51 races and won 18 of them. He won the Turquoise Sprint and the Who’s More Youthful Stakes. He never ran in a Breeders Cup race. His best foal to date is Vindictive Fury, out of Rising Fury. He is the sire of Strictly A Hero, Wish Upon A Star, Wishing For A Heroine, Everyday Smile, Majestic Hero, Dragonheart, Taboo, and Black Zephyr. His foals are the youngest out of the original set of Hall of Fame horses. His stud career is not as complete.

Wild Flower is the seventh horse to be nominated to the Hall of Fame. She was inducted with 10 yes and 0 no. She won Best Three Year Old Filly and Best Turf Horse twice. She ran in 87 races, won 34 of them. She won the Y5 Dream Cup and finished 3rd in the Breeders Cup Turf, in her only Breeders Cup appearance. Her broodmare career appears like Bank On Silver to have outdone her racing career. She produced Wildly Natural, fellow Hall of Famer and three time winner in the Breeders Cup, Call of The Wild, juvenile currently and winner of the Magic Million Colts Turf and Follow The Hoofprints Turf Classic, Y12 Best Older Horse and Breeders Cup Turf Winner Worldbreaker, and Wild Kiss winner of the Y11 Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Royal Red Richard was Y3 Best 3yo Colt. He ran in 58 races, finished first in 34.He won the Universal Cup and the Breeders Cup Classic. He has produced Breeders Cup Sprint winner: Here’s The King, Hall of Famer Pegasus Wings, Royal Perfection, Strictly Royal, Royal Assassin, Manhattan Royalty, Proteus Prince and Royal Rush.

Sweet Stalker was lightly raced compared to the others with only 58 starts and 16 wins. She raced heavily against fellow Hall of Famers El Sol del Mar and Euphoria. She ran in two Breeders Cup races, but did not win. She and Speed Demon are the only Hall of Famers who did not run past their three year old season. She won the Independence Cup and the Preakness and Belmont Stakes at MHS. She finished 4th in the Kentucky Derby behind GM Execute, El Sol del Mar and Euphoria. She won the Unicorn Horn Dirt. Sweet Stalker has not turned into a prolific broodmare like everyone thought she would. She is the dam of retired grade five stud Sweet Cheeto, grade four filly Sweet Inferno and Biscuit Boy, a weanling at this point in time.

The tenth horse to be nominated to the Hall of Fame is the first sprinter to be inducted. Flying Colours was named Best Sprinter three years in a row from Y4-Y6. He ran the least amount of races with 33 starts and 12 wins. He is the only grade two racehorse to be in the Hall of Fame. He won the Breeders Cup Sprint, the Tick Tock Sprint, the Unicorn Horn Sprint, the Boys Festival and the Star Festival. He finished third in the Y5 Breeders Cup Sprint and only finished out of the money twice. Flying Colours raced against fellow Hall of Famers Speed Demon and El Sol del Mar when she stepped out of the distance classes. He is the sire of Seraphim grade one winner of the Breeders Cup Sprint and Breeders Cup Juvenile Sprint, Forbidden to Fly, grade one winner of the Breeders Cup Juvenile, Unicorn Horn Dirt Sprint and the Wire Finish Cup Dirt, Attractive Flight, Crowned Queen and Colours Attract.

Little Miss Innocent is considered to be the best turf mare from the middle years. She won Best 3yo Filly, Best Turf Horse, Best Older Mare, and Best Grade One. She ran in 73 races and won 32 of them. She won the Cox Plate, Universal Cup, Queen Cup, Dream Cup, Pegasus Stakes [2x], Continental Cup [2x], Breeders Cup Turf and Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Turf. She is the dam of grade one winners Beltane and Axis Mundae, grade three horse The Innocent Skier and grade two winner Innocent Passion winner of the Golden Slipper Stakes, Coronation Stakes and Black Caviar Stakes.

El Sol del Mar took the world by storm in her three year old season. El Sol del Mar won the Preakness, Belmont Stakes, Girls Festival, Mermaid Cup, Breeders Cup Classic, Red Wine Stakes (now sprint), The Natural& Everyday Hero Memorial races, the Strub Stakes, and grade two Seaspray Cup. She has the second highest voting number with 11 yes and was voted in unanimously. She is the dam of grade two Vaorizarre winner Midnight Thriller, grade one winner, Breeders Cup Ladies Classic winner and Y12 Horse of the Year Eternal Phantom, Breeders Cup Juvenile Sprint champion Mastermind. . El Sol del Mar was voted Broodmare of the Year in Y12 at both GHF and TW. She is the only horse to do so at this point in time. She ran in 56 races and won 24 of them. She had faced off against Flying Colours, Speed Demon, Euphoria and Sweet Stalker in her career and best everyone except Flying Colours.

[*Ripley*]

Here are some statistics.

Most races won:

Rising Fury with 41
Dare to Dream with 38 wins out of 113 starts [most career starts]
Impressario with 35
Wildly Natural with 35
The Natural with 34
Wild Flower with 34
Merry Bay King with 34 out of 106 starts
Royal Red Richard with 34
Deadly Desire with 32
Little Miss Innocent with 32
Pegasus Wings with 30
Born to Soar with 29
Bank On Silver with 28
Euphoria with 25
Simply A Flyer with 25
El Sol del Mar with 24
True Enough with 23
Sillenia with 22
The True Nut with 22
Dash of Sugar with 19
Everyday Hero with 18
Sweet Stalker with 16
Speed Demon with 16
Flying Colours with 12

Hall of Fame sire/ producer:

The Natural with 2 [Born To Soar and Wildly Natural]
Bank On Silver with 2 [Euphoria and Impressario]
Merry Bay King with 2 [Impressario and Simply A Flyer]
True Enough with 1 [Euphoria]
Wild Flower with 1 [Wildly Natural]
Royal Red Richard with 1 [Pegasus Wings]
The remaining have zero Hall of Fame foals alongside them.

Breeders Cup wins:

Impressario: 4
Sillenia: 4
Dash of Sugar: 3
Pegasus Wings: 3
Wildly Natural: 3
Deadly Desires: 3
Rising Fury: 2
Little Miss Innocent: 2
The True Nut: 2
Euphoria: 2
Born To Soar: 2
Merry Bay King: 1
Dare to Dream: 1
El Sol del Mar: 1
Speed Demon: 1
Simply A Flyer: 1
Sweet Stalker: 0
Everyday Hero: 0
Bank On Silver: 0
True Enough: 0
Wild Flower: 0

Barn With The Most Hall of Famers:

Stride of Perfection Stables with 8
Star Thoroughbreds with 7
Akita Rose Stables with 3
Sam with 1
Witch Creek/Battle Brook with 1
Meadow Creek Farm with 1
Come Again Farm with 1
Snow Pearl Acres with 1
Oak Hill Farm with 1

[*Ripley*]

The Later Profiles:

These are the horses that we will consider to be new age. This is when the Breeders Cup reins supreme in deciding champions. The times of randomization are over.

Euphoria's success was practically pre-ordained with two Hall of Fame parents, really the first of her kind. She won the Y4 Prospect of the Year, Best Two Year Old Filly, Filly of The Year, and Best Older Mare. Her induction vote, like Sillenia's later was a bone of contention. She raced 65 times with 25 wins. She won the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies and Breeders Cup Distaff. With victories in the Dubai Filly Cup, Climax Cup, Bank On Silver Memorial and Palm Tree Paradise Invitational, Euphoria is easily one of the most notable dirt fillies in history. She raced against Sweet Stalker and El Sol del Mar, but was the only one to continue to the middle and later portions of her four year old career. She is the dam of Euphorion, Preakness winner Euphoria's Warrior, Dysphoria, Everyday Smile, and Like A Lioness. She has not managed to reproduce herself.

Dare To Dream was a bit of a throwback to randomized times. She ran a whopping 113 times, 7 more than Merry Bay King, and won 38 races. She is second behind only Rising Fury in her win column. She won the Breeders Cup Marathon in her time outside of randomization and was inducted more because she was a mainstay of racing than a true standout. Dare To Dream has not produced anything quite like herself with only Dreamcatcher and Dare To Impress for foals just yet. Dare To Dream was inducted a few years after she raced, but got in without really any hitches.

Speed Demon ran 46 times winning 16 races in his year two career. He is only the second Hall of Fame horse to retire after his three year old season. He won the Boys Festival twice, the Unicorn Horn Sprint, and the Breeders Cup Sprint once. He has produced four colts and two fillies with the top horse being Mastermind, out of El Sol del Mar, grade two winner of the Breeders Cup Juvenile Sprint and Eagle Cup. The others are relatively young and like most horses will bloom the more they race.

Simply a Flyer has the awards to back up her position in the Hall of Fame. She won Filly of the Year twice, Best Older Mare, Best Grade One and Racehorse of the Year. She ran first 25 times out of 59 career starts and really did not get on a roll until her three year old season. She won the Melbourne Cup twice, Rising Fury&Wild Flower Memorial Stakes, the Universal Cup, Cox Plate, Pegasus Stakes, Dream Cup, Queen Cup and lastly the Breeders Cup Turf. She is the dam of only two horses, Passionate Flyer& Naturally A Flyer, and neither have made much of a statement on the track. Simply A Flyer is not a horse easily copied.

The True Nut ran 77 times and won 22 of her starts. She won the Unicorn Horn Fillies, Turquoise Sprint twice, Royal Red Richard Memorial twice, Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Turf and another race in the Breeders Cup series. The True Nut won GHF's Best Turf Horse of The Year and was running up for Y7 Horse of The Year by one vote. She has switched ownership often and because of it only has three foals by the names of Classic Nutcase, Born Free, and Black Zephyr.

Impressario's Hall of Fame parents have nothing on him in terms of class, length of career and respect on the track. The black horse was named colt of the year twice, best two year old colt, best grade two, racehorse of the year twice, best dirt horse, best grade one and best older horse. He was a unanimous inductee into the Hall of Fame. He ran 75 times with 35 victories. He won four Breeders Cup races on different surfaces and lengths. He was the first Triple Crown winner and quite emphatically at that. He won the Dubai World Cup, the El Sol del Mar Memorial, the King Cup and the Dare To Dream Memorial Stakes. He is the sire of Acorn Stakes winner Ventura, Kentucky Derby winner Born To Impress, grade two filly Italian Ice, Dare To Impress, Impress the Moonlight and Pandora.

Dash of Sugar raced for Akita Rose Stable's and ran 55 times while winning 19. She won the Azalea Cup Fillies, the Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Sprint twice, the Starshine Sprint twice, the Tick Tock Sprint twice, the Flying Colours Memorial and the Breeders Cup Turf Sprint. She won the Best Older Mare Award and Best Grade One Award. Her two fillies are a yearling and weanling respectively.

Deadly Desires was a brilliant filly for Stride of Perfection Stable. She won the Best Grade One, Best Two Year Old Filly an Best Sprinter. She raced from Y7-Y10. She ran a total of 60 races with victories in 32. She is only Hall of Famer to win half of her starts. She won the Azalea Cup fillies, the Girls Festival, the So Sassy Sprint four times, Juvenile Fillies Turf, the Breeders Cup Turf Sprint, the Butter Cup Sprint two times, the Daisy Stakes twice. Deadly Desires was a tough horse on the track, but her first foals are finally coming to the track. Demonic Desires, by Speed Demon, is quickly turning into a two year old sprinter monster. Twins Athena's Desires and Winged Pegasus are too young to hit the track just yet.

Wildly Natural was one of the best horses to date at GHF. She won Best Grade Three, Best Two Year Old Filly, Filly of the Year twice, Best Turf Horse twice, Best Three Year Old Filly, Racehorse of The Year, and Best Older Mare. She won races such as the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, the Kentucky Open, Preakness Champion Stakes, Universal Cup, Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Turf, the Dare to Dream&Rising Fury(2x) Memorial Stakes, the Full Moon Derby (2x), Breeders Cup Turf and the Dream Cup. Wildly Natural has only two foals at the moment. Pandora, a yearling filly, and Natural Selection, a weanling, are a year away from the track.

Pegasus Wings left a large hole in the sprinting division once he retired. He won Best Sprinter two years in a row. He won the Wire Finish Cup Sprin, the Turquoise Sprint twice, the Flying Colours, Speed Demon, and Royal Red Richard Memorial Stakes, he won the Tick Tock Sprint, the Breeders Cup Turf Sprint, the Breeders Cup Sprint, the Star Festival, the Buttercup Sprint, and the Eagle Cup. He ran in 53 races and won 30 of them. He has sired only three horses so far and all of them are yearlings, but it is unlikely he will repeat himself for a long time to come.

Born To Soar is only one of two Triple Tiara champions. She is a daughter of The Natural and out-performed her sire by quite a ways on the track. She was named best two year old filly, best grade three, racehorse of the year, filly of the year, best dirt horse, and best three year old filly. She ran in 59 races and won 29 of them. Among her wins are the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies, Acorn, Mother Goose, CCA Oaks, Independence Cup, Full Moon Derby, Climax Cup, Euphoria Memorial Stakes, Dubai Filly Cup, Breeders Cup Ladies Classic, Bank ON Silver&Merry Bay King Memorial Stakes, the Continental Cup and the Universal Cup.

Sillenia did not win the big name awards, but she performed professionally and drew support from her massive fan base. She did notch Y12 Best Older Mare. She raced 74 times with 22 victories. Among her wins are the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf, the Cotton Candy Cup, Kentucky Open, Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Turf, Unicorn Horn Turf, Little Miss Innocent Memorial, Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Turf again, Merry Bay King&Rising Fury Memorial Stakes. She took the Twilight Stakes, the Pegasus Stakes and the Tropical Rainforest Invitational and concluded her lengthy career with a sound third victory in the Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Sillenia is only in her first season at brood and was bred to well-lined stallion Sweeto Cheeto.

[*Ripley*]

What Makes A Champion Racehorse?

It is hard to describe what a major champion is made up of. Blazing early speed, precociousness, durability, strength, reputation, presence, number of admirers. All of this goes into what makes a champion. Every horse is different and every opinion is different. Horses of the past were never given much thought to continuing in their careers. If they ran, they were not pointed to major races. It was about who they faced and not what races they were winning. Now it is exactly the opposite. Sillenia faced The Wire Champion Alluring Assault, a hall of famer at that track. She beat her multiple times. She faced Worldbreaker and Executioner's Apprenticed. She faced Wildly Natural and dealt with competition inside of her own string. Her toughness in the Twilight Stakes was key to her career and it cemented her as a great racehorse. She was durable and she ran in all of the right races. So why question her place in history?

I believe it is because she ran like a sprinter, not like a distance horse. She faced the best of the best over the duration of her carer, but did not perform like a typical turf horse targeting and winning the major races in her turf division. Rather she repeated like Pegasus Wings and Deadly Desires. That was the key to complicated final decision. And perhaps this is why we need to stop and consider the full career and not just early season victories.

None of the hall of fame horses had standout, spectacular or unbelievable two year old seasons. All of them moved up in some way, shape or form as adult horses. Very few, El Sol del Mar, Speed Demon and Sweet Stalker, only excelled in their three year old campaigns and they were considered to be very special horses. But while the competition gets tougher now with larger fields and more varying competitors, we may have to drop the bar back down a bit.

Breeders Cup races matter more now than they did in the past. If that is the case, we need to look at several past horses that would stand quite proudly alongside our newest Hall of Famers. Our three year old champions should be considered for final rewards such as these because very rarely are schedules repeated by every three year old.


Horses That Should Be In The Hall of Fame and Are Not

Furious Passion - only the second Triple Crown winner deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. He ran 54 races and won 16 of them, equaling Speed Demon and Sweet Stalker. He also won three year old races that Sweet Stalker could not. He won the Derby, the Preakness, the Belmont. He deserves to be unanimously inducted into the Hall of Fame. Remember only one other horse has won the Triple Crown and he is in as well. Furious Passion also won the Breeders Cup Juvenile and Marathon. He won the Dubai Colt Cup and World Cup. And he won three memorial stakes as well. The now stallion should be sitting in the legendary Hall.

Bank On Greatness - Y10's best older horse ran in 74 races and won 24 of them. He won the Breeders Cup Juvenile, Marathon and the Dirt Mile, a very unique accomplishment. He won the Independence Cup, the Dubai Colt Cup, the Natural Memorial Stakes, the Palm Tree Paradise Invitational, the White Wine Stakes, the Natural Memorial Stakes, the Bank On Silver Memorial, the These Old Bones Stakes, the Blue Grass and the Unicorn Horn Classic. He outperformed his dam and sire out on the track. Time to rattle the cage and get this guy in the Hall.

Radiance - Y9's Best Dirt Horse, was only outperformed by Stablemate Impressario. Is that really the only thing keeping this bay horse out? He ran 60 times, won 21 of them. He took the Breeders Cup Juvenile, the Hardcore Cup, the Diamond Stakes twice, the Wood Memorial, the Dubai Colt Cup twice, Belmont Stakes, Breeders Cup Marathon, and the Palm Tree Paradise Invitational. He also won the Bank On Silver Memorial, the These Old Bones Stakes, the Independence Stakes, and the Breeders Cup Classic. His campaign is very similar to Bank On Greatness'. Does one deserve to be in, but not the other?

Passionate Class has the award credentials for those who are award junkies. He was named best three year old colt, colt of the year, best turf horse of the year, and best older horse. He won the Exhilaration Stakes, the Unicorn Horn Colts, Breeders Cup Mile, the Unicorn Horn Classic twice, the Caulfield Cup, the Continental Cup, the Universal Cup, Little Miss Innocent Memorial, and the Breeders Cup Turf. He raced 56 times and won 25 of those races.

Fleet Goddess won three Breeders Cup Races, two Breeders Cup Distaffs and the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies. She won the Winter Cup and Summer Cup Grade Five Dirt as a juvenile against older horses, the Acorn Stakes, the Natural Memorial Stakes, and the Dubai World Cup. She ran 57 times and won 17 races. Her career would have gotten her to the Hall during the early years. She's ready to become a champion with a record comparable to many of her cohorts. She was denied once, but what other dirt champion has a record like hers?