Velazquez, Attfield lead class of 4 to Racing Hall
August 10, 2012SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) - Kentucky Derby-winning jockey John Velazquez (veh-LAHZ'-kehz) and trainer Roger Attfield are the newest inductees into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
The pair, plus the late trainer Robert Wheeler and champion horse Ghostzapper, were inducted Friday.
The 40-year-old Velazquez, of Puerto Rico, has won three national riding titles and two Eclipse Awards. He rode 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom.
Attfield, a 72-year-old from Great Britain, has trained three winners of the Canadian Triple Crown and been Canada's leading trainer eight times.
Wheeler, who died in 1992, won 1,336 races from 1938 to 1992.
Ghostzapper was Horse of the Year and champion older male in 2004.
Jockey Anthony Hamilton and the champion horse Planet, both from the post-Civil War era, also were inducted.