Justify, Gun Runner, Rosario elected to Racing Hall of Fame

All three were elected in their first year of eligibility, and will be officially enshrined on Friday, Aug. 2, at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion in a ceremony that will be free and open to the public.

Justify swept the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes in 2018, giving Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert his second Triple Crown in four years, after American Pharoah won it in 2015.

Justify’s racing career spanned less than four months, but he was undefeated from six starts and won the Belmont on June 9, 2018, by 1 3/4 lengths to become the 13th Triple Crown winner in the U.S.

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith was aboard for all of Justify’s starts except for his career debut in a maiden race.

After a long legal fight, California stewards officially disqualified Justify on March 30 of this year from his victory in the Santa Anita Derby for a post-race drug positive that initially went unpenalized. Justify made it into the Kentucky Derby field with the qualifying points he accrued in the Santa Anita Derby.

His 6-for-6 record and $3,798,000 in purse earnings are subject to change pending an ongoing appeals process related to his disqualification in the Santa Anita Derby.

Gun Runner was named Horse of the Year in 2017 after closing out the season on a four-race winning streak that included the Whitney and Woodward at Saratoga Race Course and the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar.

He went on to make one more start before being retired, winning the 2018 Pegasus World Cup Invitational.

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Gun Runner retired with a record of 12-3-2 from 19 starts for purse earnings of just under $16 million.

Ridden by Florent Geroux, Gun Runner added to Saratoga lore by winning the Whitney with another horse’s shoe tangled up in his tail.

He was a dual Eclipse Award winner in 2017, for Horse of the Year and Champion Older Male.

Rosario, 39, a native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, has won 3,604 races (through April 20) and ranks No. 4 all-time in North American purse earnings with $318,313,804 in a career that began in 2003.

The Eclipse Award winner for Outstanding Jockey in 2021, Rosario won the 2013 Kentucky Derby with Orb and the Belmont Stakes with Tonalist (2014) and Sir Winston (2019). He has won 15 Breeders’ Cup races, including the Classic with champion Accelerate (2018) and Horse of the Year Knicks Go (2021).

As of April 20, Rosario has won 413 graded stakes, including 115 Grade I events.

The other finalists in the contemporary category were racehorses Blind Luck, Game On Dude, Gio Ponti, Havre de Grace, Kona Gold, Lady Eli and Rags to Riches; trainers Christophe Clement, Kiaran McLaughlin, Graham Motion, Doug O’Neill, John Sadler and John Shirreffs; and jockey Jorge Chavez.

To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, trainers must be licensed for 25 years, while jockeys must be licensed for 20 years. Thoroughbreds are required to be retired for five calendar years. All candidates must have been active within the past 25 years. Candidates not active within the past 25 years are eligible through the Historic Review process.

Hall of Fame voters may select as many candidates as they believe are worthy of induction to the Hall of Fame. All candidates that receive 50% plus one vote (majority approval) from the voting panel will be elected to the Hall of Fame. All of the finalists were required to receive support from two-thirds of the 15-member Nominating Committee to qualify for the ballot.

The Class of 2024 includes jockey Abe Hawkins and racehorses Aristides and Lecomte as selected by the Pre-1900 Historic Review Committee.

Harry F. Guggenheim, Clement L. Hirsch and long-time Daily Racing Form columnist Joe Hirsch were chosen by the Pillars of the Turf Committee.

The Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was created in his honor in 2010 to recognize career excellence in media.

Additionally, the press boxes at Saratoga and Churchill Downs are named in his honor.