After being inactive since the ravages of Hurricane
Katrina, two horses and one trainer who was long overdue were inducted into the
Fair Grounds Hall of Fame during ceremonies at the New Orleans
oval Thursday evening.
Edmund Gann’s Peace Rules, who won the 2003
Louisiana Derby and came back the next winter to take down winning honors
in the 2004 New Orleans Handicap, was the first inductee honored, with
Fair Grounds’ horsemen’s relations director Sandra Salmen accepting the
plaque on behalf the Peace Rules’ late owner as well as his Hall of Fame
trainer Bobby Frankel, who died at the age of 68 in November of 2009
after being stricken with cancer less than a year earlier.
“I know how much Peace Rules meant to both Mr. Gann and
Bobby,” Salmen said when accepting the award. “They both would have been very
proud to be here.”
Next up to the podium to accept his plaque at Thursday’s
ceremonies was conditioner Steve Asmussen, who will be winning his 10th
trainer Fair Grounds training title when the 2010-2011 New Orleans racing
season comes to a close Sunday evening, joining Hall of Fame trainer Jack
Van Berg who also won 10 local titles.
“It’s truly a great honor to be in this position,” said
Asmussen when accepting his plaque, “and I’m very grateful for it.”
The last inductee honored at the Thursday ceremonies was 2009
Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, who became the fourth Fair Grounds
Oaks winner in its last six renewals to go to go on to capture the Kentucky
Oaks later that spring.
Trainer Hal Wiggins, now retired, was Rachel
Alexandra’s conditioner when she won the Fair Grounds Oaks and Kentucky Oaks in
2009.
“First of all I’d like to congratulate Steve (Asmussen, who
took over Rachel Alexandra’s training shortly after the Kentucky Oaks) on his
honor and also to thank Fair Grounds for recognizing Rachel Alexandra with her
honor,” Wiggins said. “I am proud to be able to accept it, especially on behalf
of Mr. and Mrs. (Dolphus) Morrison. I trained for them for over
40 years, and over that period of time we also became close friends.”