Trainer Tim McCanna and jockey Vicky (Aragon) Baze headline a list of 2011 Washington Racing Hall of Fame inductees according release from Emerald Downs.
The brilliant filly Firesweeper, the champion gelding Pataha Prince and breeders Grousemont Farm will join McCanna and Baze to compose the Washington Racing Hall of Fame’s Class of 2011. The induction ceremony will be in the Emerald Room at Emerald Downs following the races Saturday, Aug. 20, on the eve of the 76th running of the $200,000 Longacres Mile.
Also, Karen and Mickey Taylor, owners of the Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, will be honored for Lifetime Achievement in the Washington thoroughbred industry.
McCanna, who received his trainer’s license in 1981, will become the first member to be honored mainly for his body of work at Emerald Downs. The 49-year-old Spokane native has been a dominant figure at the Northwest’s premier racing venue, winning 10 of the track’s first 15 training titles and also ranking No. 1 with 794 wins overall thru July 3. McCanna’s 29 stakes wins are fourth all-time at emerald Downs, and he was voted Top Training Achievement for his track record 66 wins in 2008. McCanna also is a two-time winner of the Martin Durkan Award (1991, 1997) for leadership, cooperation, sportsmanship and excellence on and off the track.
Vicky Baze becomes the fourth jockey with the state’s most famous racing surname to enter the Washington Racing Hall of Fame—joining Russell Baze, Joe Baze and her husband Gary Baze in the state’s most exclusive thoroughbred club. In fact, Gary and Vicky Baze, married in 1999, are believed to be the first husband and wife jockey team to both be enshrined in a horse racing hall of fame.
A 46-year-old native of Brunswick, Ga., VickyBaze broke into the sport in 1985 as Vicky Aragon and rapidly developed into the state’s leading jockey while becoming the first and only female rider to win riding titles at Longacres in 1986 and 1988. She remains active, winning the 2010 riding title at Assiniboia Downs and recording her 2,000th career victory earlier this year at Turf Paradise.
Firesweeper tied Captain Condo for most career stakes wins at Longacres with 12 apiece and was voted Washington state championships as 2-year-old filly in 1985 and 3-year-old filly in 1986. A 1983 foal by Drum Fire out of Skysweeper, she compiled a 13-5-7 record in 34 starts and earnings of $363,394 for trainer Bob McMeans and owner-breeder Northwest Farms. Jerre Paxton, the head of Northwest Farms, preceded Firesweeper into the Washington Racing Hall of Fame as a member of the inaugural Class of 2003.
The 1973 Washington Horse of the Year, Pataha Prince won 27 races and six stakes in an 84-race career that spanned 1967-75 and included stakes triumphs at Longacres, Del Mar, Pomona and Sunland Park, and multiple stakes placings at Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields. A 1965 foal by Strong Ruler out of Miss Jeff, Pataha Prince was bred and owned by Arden Archer Jr., who campaigned the colt with trainer Jim Penney in Washington. In California, Pataha Prince helped establish the career of Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel, who claimed the gelding on behalf of client Marion Frankel.
Grousemont Farm, located in Ellensburg and owned by Theiline and Doug Scheumann and the late Howard Wright, has produced four state champions including 1971 Washington Horse of the Year Rock Bath, and several non Washington-bred stakes winners including 1992 Breeders’ Cup Sprint Champion Thirty Slews.
Washington Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame
Horses (year inducted)
Pataha Prince (2011-male), Firesweeper (2011-female), Biggs (2010), Sparrow Castle (2009), Belle of Rainier (2008), Peterhof’s Patea (2007), Sir William (2006), Smogy Dew (2005), Turbulator (2004), Saratoga Passage (2004), Captain Condo (2003), Chinook Pass (2003), Trooper Seven (2003).
Jockeys
Vicky (Aragon) Baze (2011), Joe Baze (2010), Lennie Knowles (2009), Larry Pierce (2008), Johnny Adams (2007), Albert Johnson (2006), Basil James (2005), Russell Baze (2004), Gary Baze (2003), Ralph Neves (2003), Gary Stevens (2003).
Trainers
Tim McCanna (2011), Bill McMeans (2010), Kathy Walsh (2009), Glen Williams (2008), R.H. McDaniel (2007), Frances Keller (2006), Bud Klokstad (2005), Charles Whittingham (2004), Allen Drumheller (2003), Jim Penney (2003), Tom Smith (2003).
Breeders
Grousemont Farm (2011), Les Turner (2010), Wilbur & Marianne Stadelman (2009), Frank Brewster (2008), Dan Agnew (2007), C.J. Sebastian (2006), Guy & Barbara Roberts (2005), George Drumheller (2004), Herb Armstrong (2003), Jerre Paxton (2003).
Eligibility requirements: Any Washington-bred or any horse that has raced at least twice in Washington shall be eligible for induction into the hall of fame. Any jockey or trainer born in Washington shall be eligible for induction into the hall of fame, or any jockey or trainer who has competed in at least five years in Washington shall be eligible for induction. The breeding category alternates yearly between pre-and-post 1970 (2011 was post-1970). Female horse category introduced 2011. Voters are composed of four members each from Emerald Downs, WTBOA, Washington HBPA and Media.
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