Jockey Smith Elected to Hall

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —  Jockey Mike Smith, on the ballot for the first time, and the late Sonny Hine, who was beaten out by other trainers his first two times, have been elected into the Racing Hall of Fame.

In an announcement Tuesday at Churchill Downs, Precisionist, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in 1985, and Dance Smartly, the only filly to sweep Canada’s Triple Crown, were also added to the shrine in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Induction is scheduled Aug. 4.

Smith, an Eastern rider who moved to Southern California in 2001, outpointed Randy Romero and Eddie Maple in voting among 150 racing writers. Hine was on the ballot with John Veitch and Mel Stute. Ancient Title and Manila were on the ballot in the male-horse category with Precisionist, and Dance Smartly outpolled Flawlessly and Sky Beauty on the female side.

A son of a jockey, Smith, 37, has won about 4,200 races and his horses have earned more than $152 million. He has won two Eclipse Awards, setting a record for stakes wins with 62 in 1993 and breaking the mark with 66 the next year. Last year at Arlington Park, Smith won two Breeders’ Cup races, bringing his total to 10, behind only Jerry Bailey’s 13 and Pat Day’s 12. One of Smith’s most recent Breeders’ Cup winners, Azeri, was voted horse of the year for 2002. Smith also was the regular rider on Holy Bull, the 1994 horse of the year.

Hine, who died in 2000, trained Skip Away, the horse of the year in 1998. He also trained Skip Away’s sire, Skip Trial, and Guilty Conscience, the champion sprinter in 1981. Hine trained 46 stakes-winning horses, won 897 races and overall his stock earned $28.5 million. His biggest victory was Skip Away’s beating Cigar in the 1996 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park.

Carolyn Hine, who had been given Skip Away by her husband as a birthday present, attended Tuesday’s announcement.

“When the Hall of Fame people called, they told me not to tell anybody,” she said. “But I told them I had to make one exception. I had to go to the cemetery and tell Sonny. And I did.”

Precisionist, bred and owned by the late Fred Hooper, was more than a sprinter.

He is one of five horses to sweep the three-race Strub series at Santa Anita. Ross Fenstermaker, off a 4 1/2-month layoff, trained him to win the Breeders’ Cup race.

Dance Smartly, trained by Jim Day for owner-breeder Ernie Samuel, won the Queen’s Plate, the Prince of Wales and the Breeders’ Stakes -- Canada’s Triple Crown -- by a combined 18 lengths in 1991. She won the Breeders’ Cup Distaff the same year, and won the Eclipse Award for best 3-year-old filly in North America.