OFFICIAL FINAL DRAFT OF SUMMER 15 NEWSLETTER 8.5.15.pub

Summer 2015 Newsletter
Hall of Fame2015
The National Museum of Racing’s 2015 Hall of Fame class will be inducted Friday, Aug. 7 at 10:30 a.m.
at Fasig-Tipton in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The inductees — trainer King Leatherbury, jockeys Chris
Antley and Vincent Powers, horses Lava Man, Xtra Heat and Billy Kelly and Pillars of the Turf Alfred
Vanderbilt and John Hay Whitney — bring the number of members of the Hall of Fame to 404.
Here is a closer look at each member of the 2015 class:
CHRIS ANTLEY
Antley, who was born in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and grew up in
Elloree, S.C., won 3,480 races and had purse earnings of $92,261,894
in a career that spanned from 1983 until his death in 2000 at the age of
34. Antley rode his first winner, Vaya Con Dinero, at Pimlico in
November 1983. He won 127 graded stakes races and 293 overall
stakes.
The leading North American rider by wins in 1985 with 469, Antley
was a two-time Kentucky Derby winner, taking the Run for the
Roses with Strike the Gold in 1991 and Charismatic in 1999. He
also won the Preakness Stakes with Charismatic. Antley ranked in the
top 10 nationally in wins each year from 1984 through 1987 and was
the leading rider at Monmouth Park in 1984, 1985 and 1986. He led
the New York circuit with 234 wins in 1989 and was the leading rider
at Saratoga in 1990. Other major victories for Antley included the
Jockey Club Gold Cup, Woodward, Santa Anita Handicap,
Hollywood Derby, Alabama, Wood Memorial, Manhattan Handicap,
Carter Handicap, Louisiana Derby, Blue Grass, Coaching Club
American Oaks and Jerome Handicap. On Oct. 31, 1987, Antley won
nine races when he had four victories at Aqueduct and five at the
Meadowlands. He also had a streak of 64 consecutive days with at least one win in 1989.
See page 3 for more details
Page 2
Letter from the Director
The summer season, which is always the busiest and most
exciting time of year at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of
Fame, is in full swing.
Board of Trustees:
Gretchen Jackson (President)
John F. Hendrickson (V. President)
Charles E. Mather III (V. President)
William S. Roebling (V. President)
Jeffrey S. Amling (Treasurer)
Charlotte Weber (Secretary)
John T. von Stade (Chairman Emeritus)
Stella F. Thayer (Chairman)
Barbara Banke, George B. Bolton
Edward L Bowen, Charlsie D. Cantey,
Case Clay, Donald R. Dizney,
G. Watts Humphrey, Jr., Jon Kelly,
Deborah O’Kain, Debby Oxley,
Richard Palmer, Daisy Phipps Pulito,
Mike Rogers, Joseph V. Shields, Jr.,
Beverly R. Steinman, Lisa Troutt
AdvisoryBoard:
Aurelia G. Bolton, Charles J. Cella,
Richard C. Colton, Cornelia G. Corbett,
Richard Duchossois, William S. Farish,
Terrence Finley, C. Kenneth Grayson,
The opening day at Saratoga Race Course July 24 signals
the start of a season of great activities and events at the Museum
with the centerpiece being the annual Hall of Fame inductions on
Friday, Aug. 7 when the 2015 class of King Leatherbury, Chris
Antley, Vincent Powers, Lava Man, Xtra Heat, Billy Kelly,
Alfred Vanderbilt and John Hay Whitney is enshrined in the Hall
of Fame.The inductions begin at 10:30 a.m. at Fasig-Tipton and are
open to the public to attend free of change.
We are also excited about our new exhibits that are open
this summer: Greg Montgomery: 30 Y ears of the Travers in the
von Stade Gallery; The Sanford Legacy in the Contemporary
Racing Gallery and Treasures of the V ault in the McBean Gallery.
These wonderful exhibits will both entertain and inform racing fans
of all ages.
As we celebrate the Museum’s 65th anniversary this year
there will also be several public programs and events, as well as
book and artist signings. The summer season is always a vibrant
one at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and this
year is no exception.
We hope you take the opportunity to experience our new
exhibits and experience all the history and pageantry of the great
sport of thoroughbred racing that is chronicled and presented at the
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
Sincerely,
Dell Hancock, A. Douglas Henderson,
Gillian Johnston, Beverly Lewis,
Leverett S. Miller, Penelope Miller,
Charles E. Noell, Stanley D. Petter, Jr.,
Andrew Richards, Peter G. Schiff,
George Strawbridge, Jr.,
H. Stuart Valentine,
Daniel G. Van Clief, Michael Veitch,
Harold A. Via, Jr., John T. von Stade, Jr.,
Cortright Wetherill, Jr.
Chris Dragone
Page 3
Upcoming Events:
August 7 —
Hall of Fame induction
ceremony: The National
Museum of Racing inducts
the 2015 Hall of Fame class.
Inductees are trainer King T.
Leatherbury;
jockeys Chris Antley and
Vincent Powers;
racehorses Billy Kelly, Lava
Man and Xtra Heat; and Pillars of the Turf
Alfred Vanderbilt and John
Hay Whitney.
Location:
Fasig-Tipton. Time: 10:30
a.m. Cost: Free.
The event will also be
streamed live at
www.racingmuseum.org
August 7 —
Greg Montgomery artist
signing: Renowned
Travers artist Greg
Montgomery will sign
copies of his 2015 Travers
Stakes posters, the 30th
anniversary of the series.
Location: museum lobby.
Time: 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Posters available for purchase.
August 7 — Hall of Fame
cocktail reception:
Celebrate the induction of the
class of 2015 at this special
reception at the museum. Catering by Mazzone Hospitality and open bar.
Location:
National Museum of
Racing and Hall of Fame.
Time: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Cost: $50 museum
members,
$85 non-members.
King Leatherbury
Leatherbury, 82, who was born in Baltimore, won his first race at
Florida’s Sunshine Park (now Tampa Bay Downs) in 1959 and
currently ranks fourth all time with 6,456 wins. He has won 52 training
titles in Maryland (26 each at Pimlico and Laurel) and four at Delaware
Park with career purse earnings of $63,062,209. Leatherbury led all North
American trainers in wins in 1977 and 1978 and won 300 or more races
each year from 1975 through 1978. He ranked in the top three in North
American wins each year from 1975 through 1980 and has finished in the
top 10 nationally in wins 18 times and in earnings four times. Leatherbury
has won 23 graded stakes races and 153 overall stakes.
In 1987, Leatherbury won the Grade 1 Hempstead Handicap with
Catatonic and in 1994 he won the Grade 1 Philip H. Iselin Handicap with
Taking Risks. Leatherbury also bred, owns and trains Ben’s Cat, a winner
of $2.3 million. Ben’s Cat has won 22 stakes to date, including four
graded events. Other top winners trained by Leatherbury include Ah Day
(winner of 10 stakes) and Thirty Eight Paces (winner of six stakes).
Leatherbury’s graded wins include multiple editions of the Parx Dash,
Turf Monster Handicap, Laurel Turf Cup and John B. Campbell Handicap.
He has also won the Toboggan, Gardenia, Tempted, Woodlawn and
Allegheny stakes, as well as the Snow Goose, Betsy Ross, Assault and
Roseben handicaps.
Ongoing Events:
Exclusive tours of the Oklahoma Training Track: The Museum’s behind-the-scenes tour, in cooperation with NYRA, offers an
inside view of the historic training site across from Saratoga Race
Course. For information and reservations, call (518) 584-0400 ext.
Page 4
Upcoming Events
continued…
August 8 — Photo
Finish Tour with Dona
McAdams: 90-minute
equine photography class
at Saratoga Race Course’s
Oklahoma Training Track.
Time: 8 a.m. Cost: $25
museum members;
$35 non-members.
Tour must be paid in advance.
For reservations call
(518) 584-0400 ext. 120.
August 9 — “Summit of
Champions” book
signing: Author
Michael Veitch.
Location: museum
lobby. Time: 10:30 a.m. to
12 p.m.
Books available for
purchase.
August 11 — “A Brush
With Greatness” book
signing: Author Edward
L. Bowen and artist Robert
Clark.
Location: museum
lobby. Time: 10 a.m. to 1
p.m. Books available for
purchase.
August 11 — “James
Goes to Hippotherapy”
book signing: Author
Carolyn Huston.
Location: museum
lobby. Time: 10 a.m. to 3
p.m. Books available for
purchase.
Lava Man
Lava Man (Slew City Slew—L’il Ms. Leonard, by Nostalgia’s Star)
was bred in California by Lonnie Arterburn, Eve Kuhlmann and Kim
Kuhlmann. Arterburn trained Lava Man until he was claimed during his
3-year-old season for $50,000 by trainer Doug O’Neill for STD Racing Stable
and partner Jason Wood.
A winner of seven Grade 1 races — more than any other Californiabred in history — Lava Man posted a career record of 17-8-5 from 47 starts
with earnings of $5,268,706. Among California-bred horses, only Hall of
Famers Tiznow and Best Pal and 2014 Horse of the Year California Chrome
have higher career earnings. Lava Man won three consecutive editions of the
Hollywood Gold Cup (2005 through 2007), matching a feat Hall of Famer
Native Diver accomplished from 1965 through 1967. Lava Man also won
back-to-back runnings of the Santa Anita Handicap in 2006 and 2007.
Lava Man’s other significant wins included the Pacific Classic,
Californian, Sunshine Millions Classic, Charles Whittingham Memorial
Handicap, Goodwood Breeders’ Cup Handicap and Sunshine Millions Turf.
In his first Hollywood Gold Cup victory, Lava Man won by a record eight
lengths and earned a 120 Beyer Speed Figure. With his victory in the
Whittingham in 2006, Lava Man became the first horse since Vanlandingham
21 years earlier to win a Grade 1 on both dirt and turf in the same year.
Lava Man was also the first horse to win the Hollywood Gold Cup, Santa
Anita Handicap and Pacific Classic in the same year (a feat since equaled by
Game On Dude).
Page 5
More Upcoming Events:
August 16 — Photo Finish
Tour with Saratoga
Special’s Tod Marks: 90minute equine photography
class at Saratoga Race Course’s
Oklahoma Training Track.
Time: 7 a.m. Cost: $25 Museum
members; $35 non-members.
Tour must be paid in advance.
For reservations call (518) 584
-0400 ext. 120.
August 18 — Everything You
Always Wanted to Know
About Horse Racing but
Were Afraid to Ask: Tr ainer
Gary Contessa hosts a racing
fan education
seminar about all aspects of
horse racing and
horsemanship. Location: Hall
of Fame. Time: 11 a.m. Cost:
Included with paid
museum admission.
August 21 — “This Was Racing: An Evening with Joe
Palmer.” Walter May, a Kentucky-based actor,
director and playwright
performs a one-man show as
legendary racing writer Joe
Palmer, telling great racing stories from the view of the famous turf writer. Location: Hall
of Fame. Time: 6 p.m. Cost:
Free.
August 25 — Everything You
Always Wanted to Know
About Horse Racing but
Were Afraid to Ask: Tr ainer
Gary Contessa hosts a racing
fan education
seminar about all aspects of
horse racing and
horsemanship.
Location: Hall of Fame. Time:
11 a.m. Cost: Included with
paid museum
admission.
Xtra Heat
Xtra Heat (Dixieland Heat—Begin, by Hatchet Man) was bred in
Kentucky by Pope McLean’s Crestwood Farm and sold as a 2-year-old for
$5,000 at Maryland’s Timonium sale to trainer John Salzman, Sr. and
partners Ken Taylor and Harry Deitchman.
The Eclipse Award winner for Champion 3-Year-Old Filly in 2001,
Xtra Heat compiled a career record of 26-5-2 from 35 starts and earnings of
$2,389,635. Xtra Heat won a total of 25 stakes races, 11 of which were
graded events. She registered two six-race win streaks and had two victories
in the Barbara Fritchie Handicap and Endine Stakes. Xtra Heat’s wins
included the Grade 1 Prioress (setting a stakes record of 1:08.26), as well as
the Vagrancy and Genuine Risk handicaps and the Astarita and Beaumont
stakes.
Ongoing Exhibits
Treasures of the Vault, McBean Gallery: Highlights from the
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame’s Collection, McBean
Gallery.
Hall of Fame Heroes, McBean Gallery: Celebrating the Museum’s
65th anniversary with treasures from the Museum’s collection and
honoring the heroes of thoroughbred racing’s Hall of Fame.
The Paintings of W. Smithson Broadhead, Contemporary Racing
Gallery: Six paintings fr om the Museum’s collection highlight
Broadhead’s distinctive style in horse portraiture.
Greg Montgomery: 30 years of the Travers, von Stade Gallery: Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Greg Montgomery’s iconic poster
series featuring all 30 Travers posters with additional artwork
inspired by the sport of thoroughbred racing.
Page 6
Vincent Powers
Born, June 6, 1892 in Westfield, N.Y., Powers was North America’s
champion flat jockey in 1908 (324 wins) and 1909 (173 wins), champion
steeplechase rider in 1917 (15 wins) and champion steeplechase trainer in 1927
(19 wins). He won on 26 percent of his mounts in 1908 and 25 percent in 1909.
He also won 107 races in 1910. Powers remains the only rider in North American
history to top the national standings as both a flat and steeplechase jockey.
From 1907 through 1910, Powers won 654 (22.2 percent) flat races from 2,936
mounts.
Powers became only the second rider to win 300 races in a year (Hall of
Famer Walter Miller won 388 in 1906 and 334 in 1907). Although his career a
flat jockey in America was brief, Powers won several major races, including the
1909 Kentucky Derby with Wintergreen, as well as the Kentucky Oaks (1908),
Latonia Oaks (1908), Great Trial Stakes (1909), Lawrence Realization (1909),
Coney Island Jockey Club (1909), Breeders’ Futurity (1910), Delaware
Handicap (1910), Fashion Stakes (1910) and Saratoga Cup (1910). His most
notable mount was Fitz Herbert, recognized as the top handicapper in 1909 and 1910. When American racing came to a
virtual standstill in 1911, Powers went with future Hall of Fame trainer Sam Hildreth to Europe for a guaranteed salary
of $10,000. He competed successfully in France and Germany before weight became a problem and necessitated his
transition to steeplechase riding.
Powers returned to America in 1914 when World War I broke out in Europe and became a contract rider for
Greentree Stable steeplechasers. In 1917, Powers was the top steeplechase rider in America with 15 wins from 39
mounts. His major wins as a steeplechase jockey included the Grand National (1919, 1920), Brook (1918, 1926),
International (1920), Meadow Brook (1918, 1919, 1920, 1922), North American (1920, 1922),
Saratoga Steeplechase (1916) and the Shillelah (1917).
In 1921, Powers took over as Greentree’s steeplechase trainer. He had considerable success as a conditioner,
winning the Grand National in 1926, 1927, 1928 and 1937; the Saratoga Steeplechase in 1926, 1935 and 1937; and the
Temple Gwathmey in 1936 and 1937, among others. As a trainer, Powers was best known for conditioning Hall of
Famer Jolly Roger, the first steeplechaser to earn $100,000. Jolly Roger won back-to-back editions of the Grand
National in 1927 and 1928, as well as the Appleton Memorial, Corinthian (twice), Bayside, Brook and North
American steeplechases. Powers was America’s leading steeplechase trainer in 1927 when he saddled 19 winners and
had purse earnings of $103,889, setting a record for a steeplechase conditioner. Powers trained until 1946 and died Oct.
19, 1966.
Ask the Historian
By Al Carter, Historian, Naonal Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
Q. How many trainers of Hall of Fame horses are not in the Hall of Fame?
A. The answer is too long to be reproduced here. However, there are six trainers who
trained two Hall of Fame horses who have not themselves been in inducted: William
Hurley ( Bimelech and Black Helen), Hardy Campbell (Ben Brush and Kingston), Edward A.
Christmas (Challedon, a'er his championship days were over, and Gallore)e), J.H.
“Casey” Hayes (Cicada and Hill Prince), George Conway (War Admiral and Crusader) and
Ross Fenstermaker (Precisionist and Susan’s Girl, for a part of her final year of racing).
Page 7
Alfred G. Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt (1912-1999) was born in London and
raised by his mother in Lenox, Mass. He attended Yale
and at the age of 21 took over his mother’s 600-acre
horse farm in Glyndon, Md., named Sagamore.
Vanderbilt registered his racing silks that year and
purchased a 2-year-old named Discovery for $25,000.
Vanderbilt became a major figure in the sport for seven
decades of the 20th century.
Discovery, a future Hall of Fame member, began
to emerge late in his 3-year-old season and was
America’s top handicapper the next two years.
Discovery won 27 races, including three consecutive
runnings of both the Brooklyn and Whitney handicaps,
and helped Vanderbilt become America’s leading
owner in 1935 with earnings of $303,605.
While still in his 20s, Vanderbilt purchased and
took over management of Pimlico Race Course.
He grouped major stakes races on the same day to create
buzz for the track and brought added interest and
visibility to the Preakness through unique events and
marketing of Maryland’s signature race.
In 1937, at the age of 24, Vanderbilt was elected to The Jockey Club. The next year, he brokered the
famous match race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral in the Pimlico Special. In 1940, Vanderbilt began
running Belmont Park, presiding over New York’s transition from bookmakers to pari-mutuel betting.
This was in addition to his duties at Pimlico. Vanderbilt ran both tracks until serving in the Navy in World
War II. He earned a Silver Star during his time serving in the South Pacific.
Success on the track continued for Vanderbilt after the war. Following the success of Discovery,
Vanderbilt campaigned champions Next Move, Bed o’ Roses, Now What, Petrify and his most famous horse,
Native Dancer.Vanderbilt bred all of those champions with the exception of Now What.
Bed o’ Roses and Native Dancer joined Discovery in the Hall of Fame. Native Dancer won 21 of 22 career
starts and was a major star when racing first became prominent on television.
Overall, Vanderbilt bred 77 stakes winners. He was influential in helping the sport flourish on
television and made regular appearances on broadcasts. Vanderbilt eventually retired from track management,
but returned as chairman of NYRA in 1970. He also spent time as president of the Thoroughbred Owners and
Breeders Association (TOBA) and Thoroughbred Racing Associations (TRA). Vanderbilt was presented the
Eclipse Award of Merit in 1994. He died in 1999 at the age of 87.
Page 8
John Hay Whitney
Whitney (1904-1982), who was described by racing journalist Kent
Hollingsworth as being “as close to royalty as American racing ever
had,” was an owner, breeder and leader of the sport for more than a
half-century.
Born in Ellsworth, Maine, Whitney graduated from Yale in 1926 then
studied at Oxford in England until his father died in 1927.
Whitney, known as “Jock,” worked his way up in the banking
industry as a buzzer boy and statistical clerk upon his return to the
United States to manage the family’s business interests.
Racing was always a passion for Whitney. Upon his graduation from
Yale, he received two yearlings as a gift from his father and was
elected to The Jockey Club at age 24 in 1928. Following his early
success with the English steeplechaser Easter Hero, Whitney campaigned his first American stakes winners in
1931, running them in the name of his first wife, Mary Elizabeth Altemus. Whitney’s first major winner in America
was Singing Wood, winner of the prestigious Futurity in 1933.
When New York racing was reorganized in 1934, Whitney was appointed to the state commission. That year, he
called a meeting at his mother’s Greentree Stud near Lexington, Ky., and formed the American Thoroughbred
Breeders’ Association, the forerunner of the present TOBA. Whitney served as the organization’s
president until 1952 and continued as chairman of the board until he became Ambassador to the Court of St. James
in 1957. Around the time he formed the ATBA, Whitney also purchased Old Hickory Farm near
Lexington and renamed it Mare’s Nest. He stood the stallions Royal Minstrel and The Porter and bred two
dozen stakes winners there.
Whitney accepted a captain’s commission in the air corps in 1942. While on an intelligence mission in France
during World War II, Whitney was captured along with 45 others by German troops. He was being transported
when he managed to escape by leaping from a moving train and navigated his way back safely to
American lines 18 days after being detained.
Upon his mother’s death in 1944, Whitney inherited a controlling interest of 63 percent of Greentree, while his
sister, Joan Whitney Payson, received 37 percent. Their previously separate racing and breeding
endeavors were subsequently combined under the Greentree banner.
With the siblings continuing the family legacy, Greentree remained a major force in American racing and
breeding. In 1945, Greentree bred its first $100,000 earner, Mesmer. Capot came along in 1946 and went on to be
named Horse of the Year in 1949 when he won the Preakness, Belmont and Pimlico Special. Along with
Capot, Greentree bred champions Stage Door Johnny, Late Bloomer and Bowl Game among a total of 91 stakes
winners during the John Hay Whitney era.
The best horse Whitney ever owned was Hall of Fame member Tom Fool, a private purchase from breeder
Duval Headley as a yearling. Tom Fool won all 10 of his races as a 4-year-old in 1953, including the
Metropolitan, Suburban, Brooklyn, Whitney and Carter handicaps, as well as the Pimlico Special, to be named
Horse of the Year. Tom Fool’s victories in the Metropolitan, Suburban and Brooklyn secured what was known as
the Handicap Triple Crown, which had not been won since Whisk Broom II in 1913. Tom Fool went on to sire
more than 30 stakes winners, including Buckpasser, Tim Tam and Tompion.
Page 9
Whitney continued
As well as being a prominent owner and breeder, Whitney served as a steward in The Jockey Club and was a
central figure in the establishment of the Greater New York Association in 1955. In 1956, he was
appointed Ambassador to the Court of St. James, a role he held through 1961. Along with his racing and
political interests, Whitney invested heavily in the New York Herald-Tribune and served as its publisher from
1961 through 1966. He was also involved in filmmaking as the financier of several major films,
including “Gone With the Wind.”
Stage Door Johnny, bred and owned by Greentree, won the 100th edition of the Belmont Stakes in 1968. He
became the fourth Greentree runner to win the Belmont, joining Twenty Grand (1931) and Shut Out (1942)
from the Helen Hay Whitney era and Capot (1949).
Upon Joan Whitney Payson’s death in 1975, her stake in Greentree passed to her husband, Charles Shipman
Payson. Whitney bought out that interest in 1980 to obtain sole ownership of Greentree. He died two years
later at the age of 77.
Billy Kelly
A bay gelding by Dick Welles out of the Free Knight mare
Glena, Billy Kelly was purchased during his 2-year-old
season in 1918 for $25,000 by J. K. L. Ross and trained for
the majority of his career by H. Guy Bedwell. With a
record of 39-14-7 from 69 career starts (including 19 stakes
wins) and lifetime earnings of $99,782, Billy Kelly was
widely considered the greatest sprinter of his era and was
able to stretch out his speed and win at distances up to 1¼
miles.
A multiple stakes winner at ages 2, 3, 4 and 5, Billy Kelly was a stablemate of Hall of Famer Sir Barton, the
first Triple Crown winner. Billy Kelly raced against Sir Barton 12 times, winning outright or finishing ahead
of him eight times. As a 2-year-old, Billy Kelly compiled a record of 14-2-0 from 17 starts and
earnings of $33,783. His stakes wins included the Idle Hour, Bashford Manor, Flash (setting a stakes
record), United States Hotel and Sanford Memorial (by eight lengths), as well as the Grab Bag (carrying 135
pounds), Eastern Shore, Annapolis and Columbia handicaps.
After beginning his 3-year-old season in 1919 with wins in the Hartford and Philadelphia handicaps, Billy
Kelly finished second to Sir Barton in the Kentucky Derby. Billy Kelly also won the Toboggan and Capital
handicaps that year and several allowance races to finish with a record of 9-6-2 from 19 starts and earnings of
$26,563. At age 4 in 1920, Billy Kelly defeated Hall of Famer Old Rosebud in the Hartford Handicap and
defeated Sir Barton twice (and finished ahead of him two other times). His record at age 4 was 6-4-2 with
earnings of $16,048 from 12 starts. Billy Kelly began his 5-year-old campaign with six straight wins,
including his third consecutive Hartford Handicap. He carried 130 pounds or more four times during the
stretch, including 135 in his Connaught Handicap win at Montreal’s Blue Bonnets. Billy Kelly owned a mark
of 9-0-2 and earnings of $20,488 from 17 starts for his 1920 season. Billy Kelly had injury issues in 1921 and
competed only once, finishing second to Hall of Famer Exterminator while attempting to win a fourth consecutive Hartford Handicap. He won once in three starts in 1923 as a 7-year-old.
Page 10
Greg Montgomery: 30 Years of the Travers
now open
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame is celebrating the 30th anniversary of renowned artist Greg Montgomery’s famed Travers Stakes poster
series with a special exhibit entitled Greg Montgomery: 30 years of the Travers.
The exhibition is now open in the Museum’s von Stade Gallery. The collection of
works will remain on display through 2015.
Greg Montgomery: 30 Years of the Travers includes each of Montgomery’s 30
Travers Stakes posters from the inaugural work in 1986 through the 30th
anniversary edition, “Crossing Union.” Along with the Travers posters, the
exhibit features unique silk-screens of Montgomery’s Travers pieces, as well as
additional racing artwork, supporting materials and the stories that inspired the
iconic collection.
A native of Washington, D.C., Montgomery received his formal training at the
University of New Mexico and The College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y. His
series of Travers Stakes posters is the longest continuing series of art featuring a
single event by a single artist in racing history. Montgomery has worked as an art
director for General Electric and Capital Region magazine, as well as design
editor for the Albany (N.Y.) Times Union.
Montgomery has done numerous commissioned works throughout his career, including 40 covers for
the Dick Francis mystery novels. In 2008, he published the book “The History and Art of 25 Travers” along
with writer Vic Zast. Montgomery’s work has been displayed in numerous galleries and exhibitions and is in
the permanent collection of the Library of Congress.
The Travers poster series was inspired by the rich history
of the Travers Stakes, the first race contested on Saratoga Race
Course’s opening day Aug. 2, 1864. Named in honor of William
R. Travers, the first president of the Saratoga Association, the
inaugural Travers Stakes was won by future Hall of Fame
member Kentucky, a horse Travers owned in partnership.
One of the most prestigious races in America, the Travers
has been won by racing immortals such as Hall of Famers
Man o’ War, Hindoo, Twenty Grand, Eight Thirty, Native
Dancer, Sword Dancer, Buckpasser, Damascus, Easy Goer,
Holy Bull and Point Given. The 146th running of the Travers is
scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 29 at Saratoga Race Course.
Page 11
Curator’s Corner
Native Dancer
C. Fred Sitzler
Oil on canvas
Gift: Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt II
1955.45
This installment of the Curator's Corner features a portrait of one of our Hall of Fame legends, currently on
display in Treasures of The V ault: Highlights from the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame’s
Collection.
Native Dancer (b. 1950), by Polynesian out of Geisha by Discovery, won 21 races out of 22 lifetime starts.
A champion at 2, he would have been the ninth Triple Crown champion if his only career loss wasn’t a
second-place finish to Dark Star in the 1953 Kentucky Derby.
This portrait was donated to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame by his owner, Alfred Gwynne
Vanderbilt II, a 2015 Pillar of the Turf Hall of Fame inductee. It was first put on display in the summer of
1956, the second year of the Museum’s operation at its Union Avenue location. A favorite of Saratoga racing
fans with his wins in the Flash, Saratoga Special, Grand Union Hotel, Hopeful and
Travers, Native Dancer’s portrait was selected by the National Museum of Racing to join its Centennial
Trailer traveling exhibition in 1963, honoring the 100th anniversary of the start of racing in Saratoga Springs,
N.Y. This exhibition toured the state, bringing some of the history and excitement of the sport of
Thoroughbred racing to fans near and far before returning home for the centennial meet at Saratoga Race
Course. In addition to this painting, this special exhibit from the Museum’s past featured a bronze
sculpture of Man o’ War, historic racing programs and silks, the 1874 Travers trophy, horse shoes and
artwork from the collection.
To this day, Native Dancer remains a favorite among racing fans and will be immortalized in a new park
located in the heart of Saratoga Springs. Centennial Park, located where Union Ave. meets historic
Congress Park, was gifted to the city by John Hendrickson and Marylou Whitney in honor of its
centennial in 2015. This park features a welcome sign and fountain, and this August it will feature a
life-size bronze of Native Dancer, a member of the 1963 Hall of Fame class.
To see more of the treasures from our Museum Collection, please stop by the McBean Gallery to check out
one of our newest special exhibitions, Treasures of the V ault. And, while you’re in Saratoga Springs this
racing season, be sure to stop by the new Centennial Park, too!
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Walter May Presents:
“An Evening with Joe Palmer”
Day: Friday
Date: August 21
Time: 5:30 pm
Walter May, a Kentucky-based actor, director
and playwright, will perform his one-man show “This Was Racing: An Evening with Joe Palmer” at the
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame on Friday, Aug. 21. The show will begin at 6 p.m. in the Hall of
Fame Gallery. The event is free for Museum members and $10 for non-members. Wine and light hors
d’oeurves will be served beginning at 5:30 p.m.
The event will mark May’s second performance of “This Was Racing: An Evening with Joe
Palmer.” He debuted the show in March at the Keeneland Library in Lexington, Ky. A retired lawyer, May
purchased turf writer Joe Palmer’s book “This Was Racing” about 30 years ago and it eventually led him to
write the one-man show he will perform at the Museum based on Palmer’s writing. Palmer’s book,
published in 1953, is a collection of his columns from the New York Herald Tribune, for which he wrote the
syndicated racing column, “Views of the Turf.” Palmer died the year before the book was published.
Palmer graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1927 and worked as an English professor there
and at the University of Michigan. When Palmer was working on his thesis for his Ph.D.,
The Blood-Horse magazine offered him a job as an associate editor. An avid racing fan, Palmer accepted and
began his career as a turf writer. In 1946, Palmer left The Blood-Horse and went to work for the Herald
Tribune alongside famed sportswriter Walter “ Red” Smith. Palmer died of a heart attack in 1952. In honor of
his friend Palmer, Smith gathered Palmer’s columns and published “This Was Racing.”
May spends his time working at the Hope Center in Kentucky, a mission that provides services for
homeless and at-risk people. He also acts in, directs and writes theatrical productions. In 2013, Actors Guild of
Lexington performed May’s play, “Gone Astray.” Bunbury Theatre in Louisville will be featuring the play in
its upcoming season.
Since 1964, the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters organization has presented the Joe Palmer
Award for meritorious service to racing.