Hall to honor five

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Langfuhr and Classy 'N Smart, both of whom distinguished themselves on the racetrack before going on the successful careers in the breeding shed, are among this year's inductees to the Canadian Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame.

This year's induction ceremonies will be held on the evening of Aug. 26, at the nearby Toronto Congress Centre. The scheduled guest speaker is Jack Knowlton, managing partner of Sackatoga Stable, the partnership that owns Funny Cide.

Langfuhr was Canada's champion sprinter in 1996 but cut a wider swath by winning three Grade 1 stakes in New York.

Trained by Mike Keogh and owned and bred by Gustav Schickedanz, Langfuhr currently stands at Lane's End Farm in Versailles, Ky., and his successful progeny include Canadian horse of the year Wando and the multiple stakes winner Mobil. He is also the sire of Imperialism, who finished third behind Smarty Jones in the Kentucky Derby and fifth in the Preakness.

Classy 'N Smart, owned and bred by Sam-Son Farm and trained by Jim Day, was honored as Canada's champion 3-year-old filly in 1984 and as outstanding broodmare in 1991.

Her most famous offspring is Dance Smartly, Canada's horse of the year and the Eclipse Award-winning older filly of 1991 and herself a recipient of the Sovereign Award as outstanding broodmare. Classy 'N Smart died in 1999.

The other new inductees from the Thoroughbred racing industry are trainer Red Smith and the late owner-breeder Don McClelland.

Smith, who earned a Sovereign Award as Canada's outstanding trainer in 1977, has won numerous training titles while based in Alberta through most of his 46-year career. Some of his more noteworthy runners included Fancy As, Sea Reason and Ky Alta.

Now 66 years old, Smith currently leads the standings at the Stampede Park meeting.

McClelland, who died in 2003 at age 82, was the breeder of several Canadian champions including King Maple, horse of the year in 1953; Dauphin Fabuleux, horse of the year and 2-year-old male of 1984; and Gandria, 3-year-old filly, 1999.

Langfuhr, Classy 'N Smart, Smith and McClelland gained admittance after garnering at least 75 percent of the votes of the 16 members of the Hall of Fame's elections committee.

Wonder Where, who was Canada's horse of the year in 1959 after winning the Canadian Oaks and seven other stakes, will also be inducted as the unanimous choice of the Hall of Fame's veterans committee.

The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, located at Woodbine, also recognizes Standardbred accomplishments. This year's inductees on the Standardbred side are pacers Precious Bunny and Town Pro, trotter Goodtimes, and breeder Chris Van Bussel.