The Living Horse Hall of Fame nominating committee of the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame has announced the results of recent balloting to determine the 2020 inductees into the Harness Racing Living Horse Hall of Fame.
Museum members voted for the three horses they felt best exemplified greatness. Their choices are racehorses Always B Miki and Sweet Lou, and racemare Bee A Magician. The other nominees were Chapter Seven, Father Patrick and Peaceful Way.
Always B Miki, Bee A Magician and Sweet Lou will be inducted on Hall of Fame Day, Sunday, July 5, 2020. The ceremonies honouring these extraordinary Standardbred horses will take place during the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame’s annual dinner. For information on the Hall of Fame weekend and other festivities surrounding this important occasion, visit harnessmuseum.com from April 2020 onward or call or write the museum at 240 Main Street, Goshen, NY 10924. Phone: 845-294-6330.
Standardbreds are eligible for nomination to harness racing’s highest accolade only if they comply with the following strict criteria:
AS A RACEHORSE
Must be retired from racing for two years. Must have been the winner of $2.5 million lifetime with two Dan Patch Awards or been the winner of $3 million lifetime or been named Dan Patch Harness Horse of the Year. Horses over the age of 12 that are still racing and meet the criteria are also eligible.
AS A RACEMARE
Must be retired from racing for two years. Must have been the winner of $1.5 million lifetime with two Dan Patch Awards or been the winner of $2.5 million lifetime or been named Dan Patch Harness Horse of the Year. Mares over the age of 12 that are still racing and meet the criteria are also eligible.
AS A STALLION
Must rank among the 10 all-time leading money-winning sires at his gait or have sired at least one hundred $200,000 winners or been the leading money-winning sire at his gait in three or more seasons.
(Nominated as Racehorse)
p,5,1:46 ($2,715,368) Bay Horse, 2011
(Always A Virgin – Artstopper – Artsplace)
Foaled on May 10, 2011 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, two-time Breeders Crown winner and world champion pacer Always B Miki has a lifetime race record of 53-30-13-3.
In 2013, freshman Always B Miki finished on the board in nine of his 12 starts. In his 2014 sophomore year, Always B Miki won 12 of 19 starts with four seconds, earning $791,482. Major wins included the Monument Circle Pace, Indiana Sires Stakes final and the Tattersalls Pace.
Due to a cracked pastern suffered in the spring, four-year-old Always B Miki had only four starts in 2015, but won them all, including the Breeders Crown and American-National.
It was as a five-year-old that Always B Miki would make harness racing history. On October 9, 2016, he became the fastest Standardbred ever, winning the Allerage at the Red Mile in 1:46, shattering the one-mile race standard of 1:46.4, and shaving one fifth off of the 23-year-old record of Cambest set in a 1993 time trial. Always B Miki is the only harness horse in history with four 1:47 or faster victories. Other wins that year included the Breeders Crown, Ben Franklin, William Haughton Memorial, TVG Free-For-All, Jim Ewart Memorial, and Hoosier Park Pacing Derby.
Always B Miki was voted 2016 Dan Patch Horse of the Year, 2016 Dan Patch Pacer of the Year and 2016 Dan Patch Older Pacing Horse of the Year.
(Nominated as Racemare)
3,1:51 ($4,055,865) Bay Mare, 2010
(Kadabra – Beehive – Balanced Image)
Foaled on February 1, 2010 in Allentown, New Jersey, world champion trotting mare Bee A Magician has a lifetime race record of 72-45-14-3.
Bee A Magician was the leading money-winning two-year-old trotter of 2012 with $766,652 in earnings and a 13-10-1-1 record, including wins in the Peaceful Way and Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Super Final. She was voted 2012 O’Brien Two-Year-Old Trotting Filly of the Year.
Three-year-old Bee A Magician was undefeated in 17 starts. She set the world record 1:51 mile for three-year-old fillies and was the year’s leading money-winning trotter with $1,547,304 in earnings, a single-season record for Standardbred mares. Major victories included the Breeders Crown, Hambletonian Oaks, Elegantimage, Delvin Miller Memorial, Moni Maker and Simcoe Stakes. Bee A Magician was voted 2013 Dan Patch and O’Brien Horse of the Year, Dan Patch Trotter of the Year, and Dan Patch and O’Brien Three-Year-Old Trotting Filly of the Year.
As a four-year-old, Bee A Magician earned $421,314 while finishing on the board in 12 of 17 starts, including a victory in the 2014 Breeders Crown Open Mare Trot. In 2015 Bee A Magician would claim the title of top money-winning aged Standardbred of the year, garnering $980,845. With 10 wins and five seconds from 18 starts, including victories in the Maple Leaf Trot and Armbro Flight, Bee A Magician was voted 2015 Dan Patch and O’Brien Older Trotting Mare of the Year.
Bee A Magician ended her racing career in 2016, earning $339,750 with four wins, including the Yonkers Invitational Trot and the Mack Lobell Elitlopp Playoff.
(Nominated as Racehorse)
p,5,1:47f ($3,478,894) Bay Horse, 2009
(Yankee Cruiser – Sweet Future – Falcons Future)
Foaled on March 4, 2009 in Milton, Pennsylvania, two-time world champion pacer Sweet Lou has a lifetime race record of 74-33-11-10. He ranks as the eighth-leading-money-winning pacer of all time.
In 2011, two-year-old Sweet Lou won 10 of his 12 starts with two seconds, earning $686,647. Victories included the Breeders Crown in a still-standing world record 1:49 for two-year-old colt pacers on a mile track, Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Championship and the Elevation. He was voted 2011 Dan Patch Two-Year-Old Pacing Colt of the Year.
Three-year-old Sweet Lou earned $1,082,176 in 2012 and finished on the board in 15 of his 20 starts. His major win was the Tattersalls Pace. In the following year, four-year-old Sweet Lou earned $348,638 in 23 starts, including a victory in the Meadowlands Maturity.
In 2014, five-year-old Sweet Lou won 11 of 19 starts, including a 10-win streak with six consecutive sub-1:48 times. Victories included the Ben Franklin in a world record 1:47f he shares with 2016 Horse of the Year Always B Miki and which still stands as the fastest Standardbred mile on a five-eighths mile track, William Haughton Memorial, U.S. Pacing Championship, Dan Patch Invitational and the Roll With Joe. Sweet Lou wrapped up his racing career by winning the $500,000 TVG Pace. In addition to earning $1,361,433, Sweet Lou was voted 2014 Dan Patch Pacer of the Year and Dan Patch Older Pacing Horse of the Year.
(Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame)
Congratulations to this
Congratulations to this wonderful horses. All so deserving, but it would have been nice to see Peaceful Way get in too.