The late trainers Christophe Clement and John Shirreffs, both of whom have passed away in the last year, are among the six trainers and seven Thoroughbreds who return to the National Museum of Racing’s contemporary Hall of Fame ballot for 2026. Joining Clement, who died last May at age 59, and Shirreffs, who died earlier this month at 80, among the finalists are trainers Kenny McPeek, Graham Motion, Doug O’Neill, and John Sadler, and racehorses Blind Luck, Game On Dude, Groupie Doll, Havre de Grace, Kona Gold, Lady Eli, and Rags to Riches. None are appearing on the ballot for the first time. They were required to receive a minimum of 10 votes from the Hall of Fame nominating committee’s 15-member roster. Jockey Jorge Chavez, who was on the ballot in 2024 and 2025, did not receive enough support to make the finalists group this year. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. The ballot now moves on to a 154-member voting panel. Hall of Fame voters may select as many candidates as they believe are worthy of induction, and all candidates receiving 50 percent plus one vote will be elected to the Hall of Fame. The results of voting in this contemporary category will be announced on April 23, along with, in a separate process, selections by the Hall of Fame’s historic review, steeplechase, and Pillars of the Turf committees. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Aug. 7 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Clement appears on the ballot for the eighth time this year. His best runners included Gio Ponti, who collected three Eclipse Award trophies over five seasons of racing, and Tonalist, whose four Grade 1 wins included the 2014 Belmont Stakes. Shirreffs is best known as the trainer of Hall of Famer Zenyatta, who won 19 consecutive races, including the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic, before tasting defeat in her final start. She was named 2010 Horse of the Year and earned three divisional trophies. Shirreffs, who is on the ballot for the seventh time, won the 2005 Kentucky Derby with Giacomo. McPeek won the 2024 Kentucky Derby with Mystik Dan and 2024 Kentucky Oaks with Thorpedo Anna, who went on to be named Horse of the Year. He was the first trainer to sweep both races in the same year since the legendary Ben Jones in 1952, propelling him onto the ballot for the first time last year. The Derby win gave McPeek a career sweep of the Triple Crown races, as he had previously won the 2002 Belmont with Sarava and the 2020 Preakness with champion filly Swiss Skydiver. Motion, on the ballot for the fifth time, won the 2011 Kentucky Derby with the versatile champion Animal Kingdom, who went on to take the Dubai World Cup. He also trained another Eclipse champion in Main Sequence, one of his four Breeders’ Cup winners. O’Neill won the 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness with Eclipse Award champion I’ll Have Another, and added another Kentucky Derby four years later with Nyquist, who had won the previous fall’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to lock up a divisional title. O’Neill, who is among the finalists for the seventh time, also trained Hall of Famer Lava Man and additional Eclipse champions Maryfield, Stevie Wonderboy, and Thor’s Echo. Sadler trained undefeated Flightline, who was 2022 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and Horse of the Year to propel his trainer onto the ballot for the first of four times the following year. Sadler also trained 2018 Classic winner and Eclipse champion Accelerate and champion Stellar Wind.  Blind Luck and Havre de Grace, each appearing on the ballot for the ninth time, were on-track rivals. Blind Luck’s six Grade 1 races included the 2010 Kentucky Oaks, propelling her toward a divisional Eclipse Award that year. Havre de Grace won three Grade 1 races in 2011, including the Woodward over males, to secure a Horse of the Year title. The gelding Game On Dude won 14 graded stakes, including eight Grade 1s, and is the only horse to win the Santa Anita Handicap three times, in 2011, 2013, and 2014. Groupie Doll and Kona Gold were both consistent sprinters over multiple years. Groupie Doll won back-to-back editions of the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in 2012 and 2013 to earn corresponding divisional titles. She is on the ballot for the second time. Kona Gold, who has now appeared on the ballot nine times, won the 2000 Eclipse as outstanding sprinter, the year he claimed the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in one of his five straight appearances in the race. Lady Eli, the 2017 Eclipse champion turf female, was a Grade 1 winner at ages 2, 3, 4, and 5. Remarkably, she returned to compete at a high level at ages 4 and 5 after a battle with laminitis kept her from the races for more than a year. She is a finalist for the fourth time. Rags to Riches, on the ballot for the fourth time, was the 2007 Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly after winning four Grade 1 races. That included a remarkable double in the Kentucky Oaks and, five weeks later, the Belmont Stakes over Hall of Famer Curlin, becoming the first filly in more than a century to claim that classic. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.