No Horses Elected to JRA Racing Hall of Fame

The Japan Racing Association has announced that no horse will be elected to the Japan Racing Hall of Fame in 2021, reports yahoo.co.jp. To be eligible, a horse must be retired for at least 12 months, and must achieve at least 75% of the available votes with 203 experts being allowed to vote for four horses each. Champion Sire and Listed winner King Kamehameha (Kingmambo-Manfath, by Last Tycoon) gained the most votes with 140, short of the 153 required, while triple Gr1 winner Buena Vista (Special Week-Biwa Heidi, by Caerleon) received 121, and young sire and 6-time Gr1 winner Maurice (Screen Hero-Mejiro Frances, by Carnegie) gained 96. Gr1 Cox Plate winner Lys Gracieux (Heart’s Cry-Liliside, by American Post) achieved only 20 votes. The Japan Hall of Fame is notoriously difficult to be elected into with only 34 horses inducted to date. The most recent inductees include 7-time Gr1 winner Kitasan Black (Black Tide-Sugar Heart, by Sakura Bakushin O) in 2020, 6-time Gr1 winner and top sire Lord Kanaloa (King Kamehameha-Lady Blossom, by Storm Cat) in 2018, 7-time Gr1 winner Gentildonna (Deep Impact-Donna Blini, by Bertolini) in 2016, 6-time Gr1 winner Orfevre (Stay Gold-Oriental Art, by Mejiro McQueen) in 2015, Japan Cup winner and successful sire El Condor Pasa (Kingmambo-Saddlers Gal, by Sadler’s Wells) in 2014, 5-time Gr1 winner Vodka (Tanino Gimlet-Tanino Sister, by Rousillon) in 2011, and Champion Sire Deep Impact (Sunday Silence-Wind in her Hair, by Alzao) in 2008. The Japan Hall of Fame dates back to the early 1980s.

Lys Gracieux received only 20 votes (pic: Wikipedia)