Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt – of Sagamore Farm and Pimlico fame – and John Hay Whitney will enter racing’s Hall of Fame as Pillars of the Turf.
How Xtra Heat went from ignored to beloved to an Eclipse winner to a Hall of Famer is, says trainer John Salzman, Sr., “a good story from the ground up.”
King Leatherbury has earned the admiration of the mid-Atlantic racing community, won 6,400 races, and done it with modest stock. Next stop: the Hall of Fame.
A pair of Maryland legends — trainer King Leatherbury and fleet filly Xtra Heat — have been named to the national racing Hall of Fame.
Some of our favorite photos of Hall of Fame finalist King Leatherbury and a horse who had a hand in that, Ben’s Cat.
All it took for King Leatherbury to become a Hall of Fame finalist was 56 years and 6,400 wins. He doesn’t think that’s enough – but other trainers disagree.
For the first time, Maryland-based trainer King Leatherbury is among 10 finalists for the Hall of Fame. Also on the ballot: popular sprinter Xtra Heat.
Gallorette, the Maryland-bred filly who regularly defeated the best boys in her Hall of Fame career, will have a hoofprint on Saratoga’s Walk of Fame.
“I’m still doing what I love every day,” says trainer King Leatherbury. That includes readying Ben’s Cat for possible fifth Mister Diz win.
Tuscalee, who won more steeplechase races than any other horse in history, is one of two horses to enter the Maryland Thoroughbred Hall of Fame this year.