Voss, Good Night Shirt elected to racing Hall of Fame

Thomas Voss, the late trainer who led the U.S. in steeplechase wins five times, and Good Night Shirt, a two-time steeplechase champion, have been elected as steeplechase representatives to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, the organization announced Wednesday.

Voss, who died in 2014 at the age of 63, won nearly every major steeplechase race at least once in a career that spanned nearly 40 years, amassing 396 steeplechase wins and career earnings from jump races of nearly $9 million. Voss trained eight National Steeplechase Association champions, including Slip Away, who was voted the 2010 Eclipse Award steeplechase champion.

Voss led all NSA trainers in wins in 1997, 2000-02, and 2011. He led all trainers in steeplechase earnings in 1997, 2002, and 2009.

Voss also trained flat runners, most notably John’s Call, who won the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Invitational and the Grade 1 Turf Classic in 2000. Including flat races, Voss won 706 career races for earnings of $17 million.

Good Night Shirt was voted steeplechase champion in 2007 and 2008. In 2007, Good Night Shirt won three Grade 1 races: the Iroquois, Lonesome Glory, and Colonial Cup. The following year, Good Night Shirt raced exclusively in Grade 1 company and earned $485,520, setting a single-season record for a steeplechase runner.

In total, Good Night Shirt won 14 races in 33 starts, retiring with earnings of $1,041,083. He is one of only three steeplechase runners to break the $1 million mark in earnings.

Voss and Good Night Shirt will be inducted during the Hall of Fame ceremony on Aug. 4 at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.