Guidry Is Nominee for Racing Hall

Jockey Mark Guidry, brothers and top trainers Mel and Warren Stute, 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Silver Charm and inaugural Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Royal Heroine are among the nominees for the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame.

A total of 87 jockeys, trainers and horses have been nominated by Hall of Fame voters, fans and people who work in the racing industry.

Next, a committee of 14 will select three finalists in each of the four categories -- contemporary female, contemporary male, jockey and trainer. Then a selected panel of about 190 judges will receive Hall of Fame ballots in April to determine who will be inducted on Aug. 7 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Results of the balloting will be announced in late May.

Guidry, who was recently chosen the winner of the 2006 George Woolf Memorial Award, joins 17 fellow jockeys as nominees, including Alex Solis, Fernando Toro, Don Pierce and Edgar Prado.

Other trainers nominated include John Gosden, Bruce Headley, David Hofmans, Jerry Hollendorfer, Gary Jones, Neil Howard, Willard Proctor and Bob Wheeler.

In addition to Silver Charm, four other Kentucky Derby winners -- Thunder Gulch, Real Quiet, Ferdinand and Unbridled -- are nominated in the contemporary male category. Among others on the list are Best Pal, Theatrical, Chief’s Crown, who won the first Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in 1984 at Hollywood Park, and Snow Chief.

In the contemporary female group, Royal Heroine is joined by 15 nominees, including Estrapade, Hollywood Wildcat, Landaluce, Safely Kept, Silverbulletday and Soaring Softly.

Horses become eligible for nomination after they have been retired for five full calendar years.

To be inducted, a finalist must receive at least 75% of the votes cast as well as the highest number of votes in that category.