Four days before saddling Charismatic to an
upset victory in the Kentucky Derby, D. Wayne Lukas was elected to the Racing Hall of Fame
over fellow California-based trainers Dick Mandella and Neil Drysdale. Charismatic
provided the 63-year-old trainer with his fourth victory in the Run for the Roses. Two
years ago, jockey Gary Stevens was also elected to the Hall of Fame during the same week
he rode Silver Charm to victory in the Derby. Like Silver Charm, Charismatic is owned by
Robert and Beverly Lewis.
Leading Northern California jockey Russell Baze 
outpolled Earlie Fires
and Jack Westrope for a spot on the Hall of Fame. Baze has won about 6,500 races worth
more than $90 million and led all the nation’s riders in victories for five
consecutive years, from 1992 through 1996. He has also accomplished the unprecedented feat
of winning 400 races for seven straight years. No other rider has ridden that many winners
more than three times.
Horses elected to the Hall of Fame are Exceller, as contemporary male; Miesque, as contemporary female, and Gun Bow as the horse of yesteryear. Exceller, who died in a slaughterhouse in Sweden in 1997, was successful in Europe before he returned to North America. He won seven of 10 races as a five-year-old for Charlie Whittingham, including a victory over Triple Crown champions Seattle Slew and Affirmed in the 1978 Jockey Club Gold Cup. Miesque became the first horse to win two Breeders’ Cup races, capturing the Mile back-to-back in 1987 and 1988.
Induction ceremonies will take place Aug. 9 at the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs, N. Y.