NEW YORK -- At long last, trainer Nick Zito will find out
what it's like to be inducted into racing's Hall of Fame instead of
attending the ceremony and wondering.
"I remember just about every one of them, and I just loved
it," Zito said Tuesday after being elected to the National Museum
of Racing's Hall of Fame. "I just wanted to know how it would feel
someday, like everybody else. Anybody that says they don't want to
be in there, they're just not human. It's a great, great honor."
Zito, voted into the hall in his eighth year of eligibility,
will be inducted Aug. 8 at Saratoga Springs, along with three
standouts in steeplechase racing -- jockey Thomas Walsh, trainer
Sidney Watters Jr. and five-time champion Lonesome Glory.
The two-time Kentucky Derby winning trainer acknowledged he was
frustrated it took so long to get in.
"But on the other hand, you have to wait your turn, you have to
be humble, and do the right thing and try to realize you're in a
great game and the game is bigger than everyone," the 57-year-old
Zito said on a conference call. "And I'm not ancient, so that's
good. I'm just gratified that I did get this great honor."
Zito won the Derby with Strike the Gold in 1991 and Go for Gin
in 1994, and also won the 1996 Preakness with Louis Quatorze and
the 2004 Belmont Stakes with Birdstone, who played the spoiler's
role in Smarty Jones' Triple Crown bid.
Under a new voting format, nominees in four racing categories --
trainer, jockey, contemporary male horse and contemporary female
horse -- must receive 75 percent of the votes to be elected.
Previously, the top vote-getter in each category was elected. Zito
was the only one of 20 nominees who received the necessary votes
(of the 163 eligible voters, 127 returned ballots).
The steeplechase division is separate, with nominees considered
every four years and voting done by a 12-person committee.
Despite missing out on a chance to win the Derby with a
record-tying five horses or the Preakness with a record-equaling
three horses this year, Zito has amassed numbers worthy of Hall of
Fame recognition.
The New Yorker has saddled 1,410 winners in a career that began
in 1972, including 83 in graded stakes races, and they have earned
$69,333,163 in purse money.
Zito had his best earnings year in 2004, when he saddled 86
winners and totaled nearly $7 million in purse money.
"The Hall of Fame is based on a career," Zito said. "I always
try to philosophize life in general ... My disappointment is in the
Derby, of course. I'm human. But I must have had some pretty good
days, too. Sure it's disappointment, but nothing tops this."
During his 12-year riding career that ended in 1967 at the age
of 27, Walsh was fifth in victories with 253, including five
consecutive wins in the prestigious Grand National Steeplechase.
Walsh currently trains horses and is based at Belmont Park.
Watters, 87, led or shared the lead in steeplechase victories
six times between 1948 and 1971. He led steeplechase trainers in
purse money earned three times. He also was a successful flat-race
trainer, handling 1983 3-year-old champion Slew o' Gold and 1970
2-year-old champion Hoist the Flag.
Lonesome Glory, with 24 wins in 44 career starts in 1991-1999,
is steeplechase racing's leading money-earner with $1.4 million.
Nominated jockeys who failed to receive the required votes were
Eddie Maple, Craig Perret, Randy Romero, Jose Santos and Ismael
(Milo) Valenzuela.
Contemporary female nominees were Inside Information, Mom's
Command, Open Mind, Silverbulletday and Sky Beauty. Contemporary
male nominees were Best Pal, Housebuster, Lure, Manila and Silver
Charm.
Other trainers on the ballot were Dale Baird, Gary Jones, Mel
Stute and John Veitch.
Zito started out as a hotwalker for Buddy Jacobson and was an
assistant trainer for Johnny Campo and LeRoy Jolley before opening
a two-horse stable in 1972. His first Grade 1 winner came in 1986 --
Ride Sally win the Top Flight Handicap at Aqueduct. Five years
later, he was in the winner's circle with Derby winner Strike the
Gold, and racing in the Triple Crown events became Zito's primary
goal.
Zito has sent out 19 starters in the Derby, 16 in the Preakness
and 13 in the Belmont. He also has trained two divisional
champions, both fillies -- Storm Song in 1996 and Bird Town in 2003.