Christophe Clement and John Shirreffs, two elite trainers who plied their trade successfully at the highest level right up until the time of their deaths, were elected into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, it was announced Thursday.  Clement and Shirreffs, each of whom had been on the ballot numerous times when they were alive, were two of 11 new inductees who will be enshrined during a ceremony in Saratoga Springs on Aug. 7. Clement and Shirreffs were elected in the Contemporary category as was the champion sprinter Kona Gold.  The horses Gulch and Mongo as well as the late trainer David Whiteley were selected by the Historic Review Committee. The late Prince Khalid bin Abdullah, Dr. Robert Copelan, Seth Hancock, G. Watts Humphrey Jr., and the late Joseph Widener were chosen by the Pillars of the Turf Committee.  :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Clement, Shirreffs, and Kona Gold were the only three Contemporary candidates from 13 finalists who received the necessary number of votes - 50 percent plus one - to gain election. A total of 143 ballots (92.8 percent) were returned from 154 sent out. Voters could select as many candidates as they deemed worthy.  Those who did not receive the necessary votes were trainers Kenny McPeek, Graham Motion, Doug O’Neill, and John Sadler, and the horses Blind Luck, Game On Dude, Groupie Doll, Havre de Grace, Lady Eli, and Rags to Riches. There were no jockeys on the ballot.  Clement, a native of Paris, France, who died last May 25 at age 59 due to cancer, was appearing on the ballot for the eighth time. He won 2,576 races, including 286 graded stakes, and amassed purse earnings of $184.1 million during a career that spanned from 1991-2025. He trained 22 horses who earned $1 million or more, led by three-time Eclipse Award winner Gio Ponti and Tonalist, the 2014 Belmont Stakes winner who also won consecutive runnings of the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Clement’s last stakes winner was Far Bridge, who won the Grade 2 Man o’ War at Aqueduct on May 10, two weeks before Clement died.  Other Grade 1 winners trained by Clement include Discreet Marq, Far Bridge, Forbidden Apple, Gufo, Rutherienne, Voodoo Dancer, and Winchester.  Clement’s stable has since been taken over by his son Miguel.  Shirreffs, a native of Leavenworth, Kan., who died in his sleep on Feb. 12 at age 80, was appearing on the ballot for a seventh year. Shirreffs, who had a few starters in 1978, trained regularly from 1994 through 2025. He won 596 races, including 113 graded stakes, and his horses amassed purse earnings of $58.5 million.  Shirreffs, known as a meticulous and patient horsemen, campaigned the Hall of Famer and 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta through four racing seasons (2007-10) during which she won 19 consecutive races, including 13 Grade 1s. Zenyatta’s only loss came in her career finale, a head defeat to Blame in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic.  Shirreffs won the 2005 Kentucky Derby with Giacomo, one of nine horses he trained to earn more than $1 million. That list included Baeza, who won last September’s Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby, Express Train, Gormley, Hollywood Story, Life Is Sweet, Manistique, and Tiago. Shirreffs’s final win came with Westwood in the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 31.  Kona Gold, appearing on the ballot for a ninth time, was the Eclipse Award-winning sprinter of 2000. That year, he won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, setting what at the time was the Churchill Downs track record for six furlongs (1:07.77). Kona Gold appeared in five consecutive runnings of the BC Sprint. Trained by Bruce Headley, who was also part-owner, Kona Gold had a record of 14-7-2 from 30 starts and earnings of $2.29 million in a career that spanned from 1998-2003.  Kona Gold, a gelding by Java Gold, won multiple editions of the Bing Crosby Handicap, Potrero Grande Breeders’ Cup, and El Conejo Handicap. He recorded 17 Beyer Speed Figures of 110 or higher.  Kona Gold will be inducted with another champion sprinter, Gulch, who was the Eclipse Award winner in that category in 1988. Gulch, a son of Mr. Prospector, compiled a record of 13-8-3, including seven Grade 1 stakes victories, from 32 starts and earned $3.09 million. Gulch was a two-time winner of the Metropolitan Handicap, one of just six horses to win multiple runnings of that prestigious Grade 1 event and the only one to win it at 3 and repeat at age 4.  Gulch was owned by Peter Brant and trained for two seasons by LeRoy Jolley before being transferred to D. Wayne Lukas for his 1988 campaign.  Mongo, a Virginia-bred son of Royal Charger, had a record of 22-10-4 from 46 starts and earnings of $820,766 in a career that spanned 1961-64. He was voted champion male turf horse in 1963, a year in which he won six stakes, including a defeat of Kelso in the D.C. International. Mongo defeated Kelso, Carry Back, and Gun Bow twice each. Mongo, who won 16 stakes and won at nine different venues, was trained by Frank Bonsal for owner/breeder Marion duPont Scott.  Whiteley, a native of Easton, Md., who died in 2017, won 454 races and his horses amassed $11.8 million purses during a career that spanned from 1970-95. Whiteley won 45 graded stakes and trained champions Revidere (3-year-old filly in 1976), Waya (older female in 1979), and Just a Game (female turf horse in 1980). Whiteley won the 1979 Belmont Stakes with Coastal, denying Spectacular Bid the Triple Crown.  Whiteley, who joins his father, Frank Whiteley Jr., in the Hall of Fame, also trained graded winners Bailjumper, French Colonial, Highland Blade, Instrument Landing, and Tiller, among others.  Prince Abdullah, a native of Saudi Arabia who died in 2021, established Juddmonte Farms, one of the world’s most accomplished breeding and racing operations. Under Abdullah’s leadership, Juddmonte was voted champion breeder five times (1995, 2001-03 and 2009) and champion owner four times (1992, 2003, 2016-17).  Juddmonte’s horses won more than 500 stakes worldwide, including 118 Group or Grade 1 events. Juddmonte’s international success included 21 Cartier Racing awards, including Horse of the Year honors for Enable, Frankel, and Kingman. Enable in 2018 became the first horse to win the Arc de Triomphe and Breeders’ Cup turf in the same year.  In the U.S, Juddmonte campaigned champion and Hall of Famer Arrogate, and female turf champions Banks Hill, Intercontinental, and Midday. Juddmonte also won the Belmont Stakes with Empire Maker, and campaigned the Kentucky Oaks winner Flute.  Copelan, a native of Cincinnati, is regarded as a pioneer in the field of equine surgery and was one of 11 founding members of the American Association of Equine Practitioners. Copelan, now 100 years old, was among the pioneers of equine joint surgery in the 1960s at his Sunnyside farm in Paris, Ky. In addition to his veterinary work, Copelan was an adviser and contributed to the emergence of William T. Young’s Overbrook Farms racing and breeding program.  Seth Hancock, a native of Lexington Ky., followed in his father and grandfather’s footsteps in running the operations of Claiborne Farm, which he assumed control of in 1972 at age 23 following the death of his father Bull.  Hancock was responsible for syndicating the champion Secretariat for $6 million for the Chenery family. Claiborne has stood many breed-shaping stallions, such as Nijinsky, Mr. Prospector, Unbridled, and Danzig.  In addition to having a strong influence on the breeding of future stallions, Claiborne, under Seth Hancock, won the 1984 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes with Swale, who tragically died shortly after his Belmont win. Claiborne bred and raced Lure, a Hall of Famer and two-time Breeders’ Cup winner. In the mid-1990s, Claiborne brought in Adele Dilschneider as a partner and together they campaigned Grade 1 winners Blame, Arch, and Lea.  In 2015, Seth Hancock, passed the leadership of Claiborne to his son Seth Walker Hancock Jr.  Humphrey, a native of Cleveland, was born into a family with strong ties to Thoroughbred racing. Humphrey is the grandson of George Humphrey, a prominent owner who served as Secretary of the Treasury under President Dwight D. Eisenhower.   Humphrey’s stable has traditionally focused on fillies, including Grade 1 winners Centre Court, Clear Mandate, and Personal Diary, as well as multiple graded stakes winners Frivolous, Rey de Cafe, and Communique. Humphrey bred or co-bred classic winners Genuine Risk and Crème Fraiche.  Widener (1871-1943), a Philadelphia native, owned and bred steeplechase immortals Fairmount and Bushranger, both members of the Hall of Fame. He also bred flat champions Polynesian, winner of the 1945 Preakness, Stagehand, and Valenciennes.  Widener won the Belmont Stakes with Fair Play, Hurryoff, and Peace Chance. Later, Widener acquired majority control of Belmont Park and became president of the Westchester Racing Association.   In 1929, Widener purchased controlling interest in Hialeah Park, making upgrades and enhancing purses which enticed many of the East’s top outfits to winter at Hialeah.  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.