September 2023 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN September 2023 Page 25 Visit us online at www.eastcoastequestrian.net Press release Ben's Cat and Mountain Dew, two remarkable geldings who put on a show year af- ter year to the delight of their legions of fans, are the Mary- land-bred Thoroughbred Hall of Fame 2023 inductees after a vote by a committee of Mary- land racing industry members coordinated by the Maryland Horse Breeders Association and Maryland Racing Media Asso- ciation. During his eight years of competition, Ben's Cat became a local legend and a national treasure. King T. Leatherbury's nearly-black gelding, a son of Parker's Storm Cat and Leather- bury's homebred mare Twofox, didn't make his first start until age 4 after suffering a broken pelvis at 2, for which he was stall-bound for six months. That only added to the lore. By the time he retired in 2017, Ben's Cat was the all-time leader among Maryland-breds by number of state-bred cham- pionship titles, 17 in all, includ- ing four consecutive for Horse of the Year. He recorded a state- bred record 26 stakes wins and had earnings of $2,643,782. He started eight times in the Mister Diz Stakes, winning six, won the Jim McKay Turf Sprint on Preakness weekend five times, and was a multiple graded stakes winner while terrorizing turf sprinters on the East Coast. In 2017, he was awarded the Secretariat Vox Populi Award, chosen by voters from around the world. “We are so proud that, with this year's inductees, we are able to celebrate not only two of our most important Maryland-bred horses, but Maryland's remarkable horse- men and the diversity of our sport that they represent,” said Cricket Goodall, executive director of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association. “King T. Leatherbury and the Fisher family are great examples of the persistence and longevity that Maryland is known for.” Janon Fisher Jr.'s Mountain Dew was a star foxhunter before switching to timber racing in the early 1960s. At age 6, the son of *Hunters Moon IV and Fisher's homebred War Admiral mare Laelia launched a Maryland Hunt Cup career unequaled in longevity. In eight runnings, he recorded three Hunt Cup wins (1962, 1965 and 1967) with rider Janon Fisher III and was second to National Museum of Racing Hall of Famer Jay Trump in the 1963, 1964 and 1966 runnings. In his Hunt Cup debut in 1961 he finished third. When attempt- ing a record fourth Hunt Cup win in 1968, he was injured at the 19th of 22 fences while leading (and continued on to jump the 20th fence while being pulled up). Maryland-bred Thoroughbred Hall of Fame Honorees Named (Continued on page 29)