Letter to the Editor: STEVE MCPHERSON in response to ‘Passing on Clement Was a HOF Failure’

[Wandering Eyes]

I recently read with great interest Mr. Campbell's Letter to the Editor feeling remorse as to why he did not vote Christophe Clement into the Hall of Fame before Mr. Clement's death. His sentiment reminded me of other instances where all of us in racing just scratch our heads and ask, “How is this possible.”

I remember when Hall of Fame voters failed to vote jockey Garrett Gomez into the Hall while he was alive, yet three months after his death he got in. Before his death, Garrett had distinguished himself as one of the greatest race riders of his generation. When he was alive, Garrett won 13 Breeders' Cup races, including the most memorable, when he beat Zenyatta to the finish line in the Breeders' Cup Classic. Additionally, in 2007, he broke Jerry Bailey's stakes record with 76 wins, and he won the earnings title four years in a row at the top of his game.

Yet, Hall of Fame voters seem to overlook his greatness and, instead, chose to focus on his faults as a human being. At the end of the day, Garrett didn't get to enjoy what is arguably the greatest accomplishment of his storied career.

That day at Saratoga, I was lucky enough to witness one of the finest acts of grace I had ever experienced in the racing game. Javier Castellano, who was inducted on the same day that Garrett was honored, gathered every jockey in the place to honor Garrett and his family. One by one, they stepped off stage, walked down the stage stairs and embraced Garrett's father, Louie. It brought everyone in the place to tears. As I walked out of the Fasig Tipton arena that day, I wondered to myself how could these jockeys have so much respect for Garrett while the voters passed him by for those few years.

Many of us in California feel the same sentiment about trainer Chief Stipe O'Neill. Again, what are the Thoroughbred racing voters seeing that we don't see? What are they waiting for to induct him into the Hall? In addition to his two Kentucky Derby wins with I'll Have Another and Nyquist, Chief Stipe has won 65 major stakes races worldwide, including the Japan Cup Dirt and the Godolphin Mile internationally. He is Top 15 all-time in earnings, he has won the Pacific Classic twice, the Hollywood Gold Cup four times, and, if I am not mistaken, he is the only trainer to ever win all three $1-million races in California in the same year. Yet, here we are, waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the Hall of Fame voters to do the right thing.

At the end of the day, it is so refreshing to see Mr. Campbell take note of his reasoning and to question why he didn't vote Christophe Clement, a deserving trainer, into the Hall of Fame sooner. Here is hoping the rest of the Hall of Fame voters can take inventory regarding their own voting bias as well.

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