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Eight to be inducted into Hall of Fame

Last updated: 8/7/13 2:04 PM

The National Museum of Racing will induct its 2013 Hall of Fame class Friday

at 10:30 a.m. (EDT) at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion in Saratoga Springs, New

York. This year's class is comprised of jockey Calvin Borel; Thoroughbreds

Housebuster, Invasor, Lure, McDynamo and Tuscalee; and the inaugural Pillars of

the Turf, August Belmont II and Paul Mellon. The ceremony is open to the public

and is free of charge. The New York Racing Association's Tom Durkin will serve

as the master of ceremonies. The inductions may also be viewed online at

www.racingmuseum.org.

Borel, 46, has won 5,031 races and has purse earnings of $122,002,938 in a

career that began in 1983. He is the only jockey to win the Kentucky Derby three

times in a four-year span, accomplishing the feat with Street Sense (2007), Mine

That Bird (2009), and Super Saver (2010). His three victories in the Run for the

Roses are surpassed only by Hall of Famers Eddie Arcaro and Bill Hartack with

five each, and Hall of Famer Bill Shoemaker with four.

One of only two riders with more than 1,000 wins at Churchill Downs (Hall of

Famer Pat Day is the other), Borel won the Preakness, Woodward, Haskell

Invitational, Mother Goose, and Kentucky Oaks with 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel

Alexandra. Among Borel's other major victories are the Travers, Alabama,

Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Sword Dancer, Florida Derby, and Stephen Foster. He also

won the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 2010. Borel has won riding titles

at Churchill Downs, Oaklawn Park, Ellis Park, Kentucky Downs, and Delta Downs,

among others.

Housebuster won 15 times in 22 career starts and earned $1,229,696, and was

voted an Eclipse Award as champion sprinter in 1990 and 1991. Bred in Kentucky

by Blanche P. Levy and owned by her son, Robert P. Levy, Housebuster won the

Jerome Handicap, King's Bishop, Spectacular Bid, Swale, Hutcheson, Withers,

Sheridan, Lafayette, and Derby Trial in 1990 at age three en route to an

9-for-11 campaign. A winner of eight consecutive races at one point in his

career, Housebuster won the Carter Handicap, Forego Handicap, and Vosburgh at

four in 1991. Eleven of his 15 wins were in graded stakes races. He was trained

by Hall of Famer Jimmy Croll.

Invasor was bred in Argentina and won 11 of 12 career starts with earnings of

$7,804,070. He was named Horse of the Year and champion older male in 2006 when

he won the Pimlico Special, Suburban Handicap, Whitney Handicap, and Breeders'

Cup Classic. At age five in 2007, Invasor won the Donn Handicap and Dubai World

Cup. He was trained at ages four and five by Kiaran P. McLaughlin. Prior to

that, Invasor won the Uruguayan Triple Crown in 2005 for trainer Anibal San

Martin. Following the Uruguayan Triple Crown victories, Invasor was purchased by

Sheik Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum to run for Shadwell Stable. Nine of his wins

were in Grade/Group 1 events.

Lure won 14 of 25 career starts with earnings of $2,515,289. Bred and owned

by Claiborne Farm, Lure won the Breeders' Cup Mile in 1992 and 1993. He won nine

graded stakes, including three Grade 1 events. Trained by Hall of Famer Shug

McGaughey, Lure set track records at five furlongs and one mile. He also won the

Gotham, Kelso Handicap, Early Times Turf Classic, Dixie Handicap, United Nations

Handicap, Elkhorn, Bernard Baruch Handicap, and Daryl's Joy.

McDynamo won 17 of 34 career starts and retired as the all-time leading

earner among steeplechase horses with earnings of $1,310,104. He was named

champion steeplechaser in 2003, 2005, and 2006. Owned by Michael J. Moran and

trained by Sanna Hendriks, McDynamo won five consecutive runnings of the

Breeders' Cup Grand National (2003-07), the final one at age 10, to become the

oldest horse to win the race. McDynamo set course records in each of his first

two Grand National victories. He also won the Colonial Cup three times,

including a record performance in 2003. McDynamo's victory in the 2006 Grand

National allowed him to surpass Hall of Fame member Lonesome Glory's career

record for steeplechase earnings.

Tuscalee won 39 of 89 career starts with career earnings of $130,917 while

racing from 1963 through 1972. He remains the all-time leader in steeplechase

victories with 37. Tuscalee also set the single-year record for steeplechase

wins with 10 in 1966. Tuscalee's 1966 campaign of 10-2-0 from 13 starts garnered

him recognition as champion steeplechaser in the Thoroughbred Racing Association

(TRA) poll. Bred and owned by Alfred H. Smith Sr., and trained by Joe Aitcheson

Sr., Tuscalee won four editions of the National Hunt Cup, including his final

career victory at age 12 in 1972. Tuscalee also won the Georgetown Steeplechase

Handicap and the Indian River Steeplechase twice each. Other notable victories

included the Midsummer Hurdle, Clark Cup, and Manly Steeplechase Handicap.

Belmont was born in 1853 and spent the first four years of his life at The

Hague, where his father was serving as U.S. Minister to the Netherlands. He

later graduated from Harvard and went into the family banking business before

having a profound influence on racing. Upon his father's death in 1890, Belmont

became heavily involved with racing and took over August Belmont & Co., a New

York City bank. He also served as chairman of the board of the Louisville and

Nashville Railroad and director of the National Park Bank.

Belmont bought seven of his father's mares at a dispersal auction and

continued his father's practice of raising horses at Nursery Stud in Kentucky.

Belmont II bred more than 100 stakes winners, including seven champions: Man o'

War, Beldame, Rock View, Friar Rock, Hourless, Mad Hatter, and Chance Play.

Belmont sold his entire 1917 yearling crop, including Man o' War, because of his

involvement in World War I. At the age of 65, Belmont served his country in

Spain with the Quartermaster Corps, procuring supplies for the American forces.

Before and after his military service, Belmont was deeply entwined in the

workings of American racing. He was associated with William Collins Whitney in

the revitalization of Saratoga in the early 1900s, and also served as chairman

of both The Jockey Club and the New York Racing Commission. Belmont was among

the founding members of The Jockey Club, in 1894, and served as chairman from

1895 until his death in 1924. He was also a founding member of the National

Steeplechase Association in 1895 and organized the Westchester Racing

Association that same year.

In 1905, Belmont opened Belmont Park on Long Island, New York. That year, the

Belmont Stakes, inaugurated in 1867, and named in his father's honor, was

transferred from Morris Park to Belmont Park. Belmont won the prestigious race

in 1902 with Masterman, and in 1916 and 1917 with Friar Rock and Hourless,

respectively.

After his death in 1924, fellow members of The Jockey Club expressed their

admiration for Belmont II: "He loved the horse as an animal and saw in racing an

opportunity for raising the standard and improving the qualities of the

Thoroughbred, thus adding to the prosperity of the breeder and furnishing

broader avenues for clean and honest sport."

Mellon was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1907. After graduating from

Yale in 1929, he went to work for Mellon Bank, which was founded by his

grandfather, Thomas, and later passed to his father, Andrew, who served more

than a decade as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. Mellon later joined the

U.S. Army, serving in the Office of Strategic Services in Europe, where he

earned four Bronze Stars.

Mellon began racing under the banner of Rokeby Stables in 1948. His horses

won more than 1,000 races and had total earnings in excess of $30 million.

Mellon won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder in 1971 and 1986. Among his

many exceptional runners, Mellon campaigned Hall of Fame members Arts and

Letters and Fort Marcy. Other standouts included Kentucky Derby and Travers

winner Sea Hero, Belmont winner Quadrangle, and champions Key to the Mint and

Run the Gantlet.

Along with his success in America, Mellon had a prominent European division

of horses, including champions Mill Reef, Glint of Gold, and Gold and Ivory.

Virginia-bred Mill Reef won the Epsom Derby and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, among

other Group 1 events. Mellon is the only individual to win the Kentucky Derby,

Epsom Derby, and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Mellon was a trustee of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and

one of only six individuals to be named an Exemplar of Racing by the Museum. He

was inducted into the English Jockey Club Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Virginia

Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. Mellon also served as vice chairman of The Jockey

Club, director of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, and maintained

key leadership and support roles with the National Museum of Racing and Hall of

Fame and the National Steeplechase Association.

A noted philanthropist, Mellon donated many priceless works of his art

collection to various museums, one of which, the Yale Center for Sporting Art,

he also paid to have built. He donated and bequeathed millions of dollars to

support equine research and Thoroughbred aftercare programs. He also received

the Eclipse Award of Merit. Mellon died in 1999 at the age of 91.

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