Letter To The Editor: Passing On Clement Was A Hall Of Fame Failure

[Wandering Eyes]

Trainer Christophe Clement sadly passed away without being inducted into the National Museum of Racing's 2025 Hall of Fame class, and I freely admit that I did not cast a ballot for him again. Something is amiss because it feels like a failure on my part, the voters and by the system.

When the envelope has arrived in the mail these past few years and I look down at the list of trainers it always fills my cup full of dread. Take your medicine, I tell myself, but it's so difficult to discern what to do. Vote for all of them or none of them? It might look easy from the cheap seats, but it's not.

I perform my due diligence and examine earnings, Grade I wins, how many Eclipse winners were once along their shedrows and any intangible information that is outside the lines.

This year's arrangement included: Clement, Kiaran McLaughlin, Kenny McPeek, Graham Motion, Chief Stipe O'Neill, John Sadler and John Shirreffs. When I began to look at each c.v., the lines quickly began to blur once again.

I will be honest, I do not particularly like the idea of voting for people whose training license is active. It does not make much sense to me. Shouldn't you be retired, so when you stand on that podium you can reflect on your days from pillar to post?

This bloc I found particularly tough because this is a group of conditioners who I have watched closely as a member of the turf writing cadre these past seven years.

To my eye, only Shirreffs–who turned 80 on Sunday–stood out not only because of his connection to one of the greatest horses of all-time in Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}), but I remembered among his many accomplishments that he was the first trainer to win both the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and Ladies Classic in the same year.

I did labor over selecting Clement, who has been on the ballot for several years now. Obviously, he developed the great Gio Ponti (Tale of the Cat) and of course Tonalist (Tapit), the winner of the GI Belmont Stakes. I recalled meeting him at Aqueduct when I first went there for a story a few years back. I asked him about his stable star Gufo (Declaration of War) and he answered several questions with customary patience. What he has given back to the industry makes him a Hall of Famer, so why couldn't he garner 50 percent plus one vote (majority approval) to be elected?

When I was staring at that ballot, maybe there was a part of me that believed that Clement would be with us for another year? Maybe he would offer even more accomplishments than he already has to a storied career? Maybe I thought his time would come?

That all seems like poor reasoning now. Do I have any business being a panelist?

In my despair though there is resolve. Can the Hall of Fame pull back the curtain and do better? I believe we can and must–for Christophe Clement's legacy–by not letting this happen again.

–TDN staff writer J.N. Campbell has been member of the Hall of Fame voting panel since 2023.

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