Baffert, Maple named to Hall of Fame

Trainer Bob Baffert and retired jockey Eddie Maple on Monday were announced as two of the six newest members of the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame.

In addition, Silverbulletday and Tiznow were voted in, and the Hall's steeplechase committee honored trainer Janet Elliot and the horse Ben Nevis.

All six will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Aug. 14 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Baffert, 56, outpolled the late Bob Wheeler, the only other finalist in the trainer category. Baffert is a three-time winner of the Kentucky Derby. This was the first time he had made the final ballot.

Maple, 60, beat out the retired Randy Romero and Alex Solis among jockeys. It was Maple's seventh time on the ballot. He won 4,398 races during his career, including the Belmont Stakes on Creme Fraiche and Temperence Hill.

Silverbulletday, a two-time champion who was trained by Baffert, outpolled Open Mind and Sky Beauty in the contemporary female category. Her biggest wins came in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and the Kentucky Oaks.

Tiznow, the only two-time winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic, defeated Best Pal and Point Given in the contemporary male division.

According to the Hall's rules, only the top vote-getter in each category can be inducted each year. The Hall of Fame does not release vote totals. Of the 181 eligible voters, 175 returned ballots.

Elliot, 60, became second woman, and first female trainer, named to the Hall of Fame. Jockey Julie Krone was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2000. Elliot, a protege of Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard, ranks third in career earnings among steeplechase trainers.

Ben Nevis won the Grand National Steeplechase in Great Britain in 1980. He was just the third United States-based horse to finish first. He joins the first two American winners, Battleship and Jay Trump, in the Hall of Fame.