June 2021 Issue

Page 6 June 2021 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN Triple Crown winner Ameri- can Pharoah, seven-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher, and 13-time champion steeplechase trainer Jack Fisher comprise the National Museum of Racing’s 2021 Hall of Fame class. American Pharoah and Pletcher were elected in the contemporary category in their first year of eligibility and Fisher was chosen by the Museum’s Steeplechase Review Commit- tee, which meets once every four years. The class of 2021 will be enshrined along with the 2020 inductees on Friday, Aug. 6, at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion in Saratoga Springs at 10:30 a.m. The ceremony will be broadcast live on the Museum website at racingmuseum.org . Jack Fisher, 57, a native of Unionville, Pa., won his first race as a trainer in 1988 at Middleburg, Va., with Call Louis and has been a consis- Jack Fisher Elected to National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame tently dominant force atop the National Steeplechase Asso- ciation standings for the past 20 years. Fisher topped all steeplechase trainers in wins for the first time in 2003 and has led the list an additional 12 times since. In 2004, he led the earnings list for the first of eight times to date. Fisher has ranked in the top five in both NSA wins and earnings each of the past 20 years. Through May 4, Fisher has won 593 career steeplechase races and ranks second all time in purse earnings with more than $17.8 million (behind only Hall of Famer Jonathan Sheppard). Fisher is the only trainer in steeplechase history to surpass $1 million in purse earnings in a year, something he has accom- plished five times. He trained two-time Eclipse Award winner and Hall of Fame member Good Night Shirt, one of only three horses to earn $1 million in stee- plechase racing (along with Hall of Famers Lonesome Glory and McDynamo). Good Night Shirt won a total of 10 graded stakes, including eight Grade 1 events, and twice set the single-season NSA earnings record. Fisher also trained Eclipse Award winners Scorpiancer (2017) and Mos- cato (2020). He has trained an additional 18 horses that have won NSA division champion- ships: timber champions Bubble Economy, Call Louis, Charlie’s Dewan, Doc Cebu, Gus’s Boy, Saluter, and Two’s Company; novice champions All Together, Paradise’s Boss, Moscato, and Snap Decision; filly and mare champions Footlights and Ivy Mills; and 3-year-old champions Hope For Us All, Ice It, Machete Road, Schoodic, and South Of Java. Fisher has won the Temple Gwathmey six times (including 2021 with Snap Decision), five editions of the Iroquois, four runnings of the A. P. Smithwick, three renewals of the Lonesome Glory, and both the Colonial Cup and Grand National twice. With timber champion Salut- er, Fisher won six consecutive editions of the Virginia Gold Cup and four runnings of the Virginia Hunt Cup. Fisher has won the Virginia Gold Cup 12 times as a trainer and nine times as a rider — both records. Fish- er rode Saluter to each of his Gold Cup victories. According to Equibase, Fisher won 57 rac- es as a jockey with earnings of $953,243, including $394,189 as Saluter’s pilot. “I’ve always loved being around horses. It’s been my life,” Fisher said. “I was terrible in school and didn’t want to be there. I loved riding and I love training. I learned a lot from my father (trainer John Fisher) and from guys like (Hall of Fame trainers) Mikey Smithwick and Tommy Voss. They were exam- ples to me of the work it takes to be successful and also how they built a good team. You can’t do it alone. “I’ll never forget horses like Call Louis and Woody Boy Would and Saluter that made my career at the beginning. They got the ball rolling for me. Saluter was really the one. My license plate says Saluter on it. He meant everything. I’ve had some wonderful and patient owners and great talent in the barn. To have horses like Good Night Shirt, Scorpiancer, Moscato, and Snap Decision has been incredible beyond words. I’m pretty darn lucky.” National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame 2021 inductee Jack Fisher, a Unionville, PA, native, is shown at Saratoga. Fisher topped all steeple- chase trainers in wins for thirteen of the last 20 years and ranks second in all time purse winnings with $17.8 million. Photo credit: Brien Bouyea