Nafzger to enter Texas Hall of Fame

Carl Nafzger, the trainer of Kentucky Derby winner and Breeders' Cup Classic candidate Street Sense, will be inducted into the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame at Retama Park during a ceremony at the San Antonio-area track on Oct. 13.

"He was born and raised in Texas," Joe Straus Jr., chairman of Retama, said of Nafzger. "He was a rodeo cowboy before he was a trainer."

Nafzger was born in Plainview and became one of the world's top-ranked bull riders in 1963 before launching a training career in 1968. Street Sense, the champion 2-year-old last year following his win in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, is one of three champions to have been trained by Nafzger. He also trained Unbridled, who won the Kentucky Derby in 1990 and was voted champion 3-year-old, and Banshee Breeze, champion 3-year-old filly in 1998.

Nafzger will be part of a Texas class that includes owner and breeder Preston Carter Jr.

"He did a lot to help us get parimutuel returned to Texas," Straus said of Carter.

Straus said Texas's historic tracks would also be honored during the ceremony. Some operated more than 70 years ago, before parimutuel wagering in the state was shut down in the late 1930s.

"Alamo Downs here in San Antonio was a major track back in those days," Straus said. "And there was Arlington Downs, which was up between Dallas and Fort Worth, and then Epsom Downs in Houston."

Straus said other tracks to be honored include Gillespie County Fair in Fredericksburg. The Hall of Fame ceremonies will precede a program of six restricted stakes worth $485,000.

* Danny Pish, who leads the standings at Retama, had 991 career wins as a trainer as of Wednesday.