Hall of Fame voting procedures changed

The National Museum of Racing has changed the voting procedures for induction

into the Hall of Fame. The changes tighten the nomination process and return to

a plurality voting policy to select inductees in four contemporary categories:

Jockey, Trainer, Female Horse and Male Horse.

"We have made the nominating process stringent enough that returning to the

plurality system does not lower standards," said Stella Thayer, National Museum

of Racing president. "The new process is designed to ensure that only bona fide

Hall of Fame-quality individuals are nominated, so whichever one receives the

highest number of votes has passed a very difficult series of tests."

The changes require the Nominating Committee to determine during a conference

call which candidates should be placed on the final ballot. The committee may

select as few as two or as many as four finalists in each of the categories. The

committee also has the option not to place any names in a category.

The Nominating Committee's selections will advance to the ballot to be sent

to the panel of approximately 185 voters in the United States and Canada. Voters

will be asked to vote Yes or No for each of the finalists on the ballot. The one

candidate in each category with the highest number of votes will be inducted. In

the event of a mathematical dead heat, each candidate involved in the tie will

be inducted.

The Board of Trustees also voted to have the Historic Review Committee meet

more frequently. The Historic Review Committee considers candidates who have not

been active in racing for at least 25 years.

Under the previous schedule, the Historic Review Committee met every

even-numbered year and the Steeplechase Committee every other odd-numbered year.

The new schedule calls for the Historic Review Committee to meet in 2007, 2008,

2010, 2011 and 2012 and the Steeplechase Committee to meet in 2009 and 2013.

Edward L. Bowen continues as the chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee.

The 2007 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held on August 6.