'He always had an aura about him' - Justify and Gun Runner inducted into the Hall of Fame

Two of the most noteworthy horses in recent memory were honoured at this year's National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame induction ceremony, held on Friday at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion in Saratoga Springs.

The 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify and 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner were the only contemporary horses in the 2024 Hall of Fame class. Each was inducted in his first year of eligibility.

Speaking on behalf of Justify's connections, co-owner Elliott Walden recalled WinStar Farm's owner Kenny Troutt's Triple Crown, beginning when Troutt established the farm in 2000.

Walden, CEO, president and racing manager for WinStar, which owned Justify in partnership with China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners and Starlight Racing, said: "I don't know if you can speak a Triple Crown into existence, but every year from 2000 to 2018, Kenny Troutt talked about winning the Triple Crown.

"I told him, 'You're setting your sights too high,' and here we are, inducting the 13th Triple Crown winner into the Hall of Fame."

Justify: Triple Crown hero and brilliant sire

China Horse Club and WinStar's Maverick Racing purchased Justify at the 2015 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from the consignment of Glennwood Farm, paying $500,000. Now standing at Ashford Stud in Kentucky for a private fee, Justify was bred by John Gunther. 

The Bob Baffert trainee retired unbeaten in six starts, although this spring he was disqualified from victory in the 2018 Santa Anita Derby following a long legal battle in which a judge ultimately ruled racing regulations mandated that outcome when post-race testing confirmed a positive for scopolamine. 

The disqualification is under appeal, with his connections arguing the presence of scopolamine was caused by environmental contamination that affected six other horses in the same time frame.

After the Santa Anita Derby, Justify sailed through the Triple Crown, taking the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes on his final start.

"He always had an aura about him," Walden said of the chestnut. "Barbara Livingston caught a picture of him coming in from the Belmont, and as he came into the barn, every horse in the shed row had their head on him, looking at him like he was something special."

Not necessarily known on the backstretch for his sentimentality, trainer Steve Asmussen was choked up talking about Gun Runner, who he trained to five straight Grade 1 wins, including the 2017 Whitney Stakes, Woodward Stakes and Breeders' Cup Classic.

"Gun Runner's ability is so obvious, and that's what got him here," said the trainer. "But what a perfect combination of two great racing families, for them to [take] the financial risk and sacrifice of running him as a four-year-old, the confidence they had in him to do what he went on to do. 

"What a great honour it is to look out at [jockey] Florent [Geroux] and [assistant trainer) Scott [Blasi] . . . what this horse meant to us and did for us and the sacrifices we'd all gladly make for this sort of opportunity - it's what makes the Hall of Fame." 

Gun Runner, bred in Kentucky by Besilu Stables, is owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm, where the 11-year-old stood in 2024 for a private fee.   

Three Chimneys' owner Gonçalo Borges Torrealba couldn't be at the ceremony and was represented by his brother Rodrigo, one of the farm's directors. 

"He was magnificent on the track, especially during his final year," said Torrealba. "We owe a great deal to Ben Leon, who bred Gun Runner under his banner of Besilu Stables. Mr Leon, we applaud your achievement in breeding such a remarkable horse." 

Pre-eminent 19th century jockey Abe Hawkins was inducted, more than 150 years after his death in 1867, while jockey Joel Rosario joined Justify and Gun Runner in this year's contemporary inductee class.

This year's Pillars of the Turf inductees are owner-breeder Harry F Guggenheim, Clement L Hirsch, co-founder and president of the Oak Tree Racing Association and a director of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, and Joe Hirsch, who joined the Museum's Media Roll of Honour for his decades of work as a turf writer at Daily Racing Form and other publications.

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