John Henry, Trainer McAnally, Velasquez Enter Hall of Fame : Racing: Two-time Horse of the Year retired in 1985. Jockey has won more than 6,000 races.

John Henry, one of the most beloved horses of all time, and his trainer Ron McAnally entered the Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame this morning along with jockey Jorge Velasquez, trainer Jonathan Sheppard and three champion horses.

McAnally credited “a lot of good owners” who “put up money for a lot of good horses” to enable him to reach the Hall of Fame.

“When you’re in racing, you have many dreams . . . and, of course, my dream came true with having a horse of this caliber,” McAnally said of John Henry.

The two-time Horse of the Year raced until the age of 9 before being retired in 1985. He was bought for $25,000 sight unseen by Sam Rubin, who today accepted John Henry’s plaque that will hang in the Hall of Fame.

Velasquez, winner of more than 6,000 races, thanked Fred Hooper, who brought the Panama native to ride in the United States in the early 1960s.

“I’m happy to be here, and I’m also very nervous,” said Velasquez, who was dressed in a gray tuxedo. “But the day has arrived, and I’m tickled to death.”

Sheppard, considered one of the greatest trainers ever of steeplechase racers, said he was honored to join a select group “who represent a tiny percent of the profession.”

Also inducted were the French filly All Along, Bimelech and Zaccio.

The ceremonies, held in a large tent aside the National Museum of Racing, was attended by an overflow crowd of about 1,500, including 35 Hall of Famers reunited for the day. Among those on hand today were jockeys Bill Shoemaker, Eddie Arcaro, Ted Atkinson, Angel Cordero Jr. and Chris McCarron and trainers Buddy Hirsch, Leroy Jolley, John Nerud, Angel Penna and Charlie Whittingham.

The reunion, the largest gathering of racing Hall of Famers ever, is part of the museum’s 40th anniversary celebration. Today’s events included a trackside breakfast with Hall of Famers, hosted by actor John Forsythe, followed by the induction ceremonies, with jockey-turned-mystery-writer Dick Francis serving as guest speaker.

John Henry was 1984 Horse of the Year and retired the next year with career earnings of $6,597,947, a record until broken by Alysheba in 1988. John Henry won 39 of 83 starts, with 15 seconds and nine thirds.

McAnally has trained 89 stakes winners in his 30-year career. The 57-year-old Kentuckian saddled such stakes winners as Bayakoa, Hawkster, Warning Zone and Super Moment.

Sheppard has been the leading money-winner among steeplechase trainers in the United States for the past 17 years. The 49-year-old Briton has trained six national steeplechase champions, including Flatterer, winner of the 1983 steeplechase Triple Crown.

Velasquez, 43, was the nation’s leading rider in 1967 with 438 winners and set a record by riding 57 stakes winners in 1985. Among his winning rides were Pleasant Colony in the 1981 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.

All Along, a French-bred filly voted Horse of the Year in 1983, won more than $3 million in her career. As a 4-year-old that year she won France’s Arc de Triomphe, Woodbine’s Rothmans International, Belmont’s Turf Classic and the Washington, D.C., International at Laurel.

Bimelech was champion 2-year-old in 1939 and champion 3-year-old in 1940, when he won the Preakness and Belmont after being upset by Gallahadion in the Kentucky Derby.

Zaccio captured steeplechase championship honors from 1980 to ’82.

The inductees were elected earlier this year by a national panel of 100 racing writers.

Are today’s horses better--or just richer? See Section C