Hall of Fame Ought To Take Another Look At Gulch

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.–In early June, while I was working on a story about the GI Met Mile for the TDN, one question led me to another.

First: What year did two-time Met Mile winner Gulch go into the Hall of Fame?

Second: How could Gulch, who won seven Grade I races, finished in the top three in 25 of 32 career starts and earned over $3 million in the 1980s not be in the Hall of Fame?

“Yeah. You've got it. You're right,” breeder-owner Peter Brant said. “They don't always do the just thing. My first horse in the Hall of Fame was Waya, who was also a great mare. It took her years to get into the Hall of Fame.”

Gulch retired in 1988, became eligible five full seasons after his last race and could be considered in the contemporary division for 25 years. Now he belongs to the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame Historic Review Committee. That committee, which meets annually, is in the midst of looking at specific time periods: pre-1900 this year, followed by 1900-1959 in 2025 and 1960-2000 in 2026.

As a result, Brant and fans of Gulch will have to wait at least two years before the son of Mr. Prospector could be a candidate for selection by the committee. It's been about 30 years since he was first eligible in the contemporary division and for roughly half that time, the Hall of Fame rules restricted the number of horses that could be inducted each summer. Meanwhile, they required one trainer and one jockey to be elected. It was a well-meaning but disjointed approach. Fortunately, the museum's trustees changed things in 2011, which helped loosen the logjam of talented runners, especially in the female divisions. That first year, Safely Kept, Sky Beauty and Open Mind were elected.

With the policy that was adopted, the nominating committee is now tasked with compiling a list of trainers, horses and jockeys for the ballot to be send to voters in the contemporary division. To be elected, a candidate must receive 50 percent plus one of the votes cast.  This year there were 17 names on the ballot and three–Joel Rosario, Gun Runner (Candy Ride) and Justify (Scat Daddy)–made the Hall of Fame. Each of them was in their first year of eligibility. Under the old policy, one of the horses would have had to wait until next year.

With the number of inductees limited each year, Gulch was unable to make the grade, though he certainly had strong credentials. He won at distances from five furlongs to 1 1 1/8 miles and was third in the 1 1/2 miles Belmont Stakes. If he was competing in this era, he might be a first-ballot inductee. Gulch won two Grade I races as a 2-year-old in the 1986; two more as a 3-year-old and three in his 4-year-old season. He closed his career with a victory in $1 million Breeders' Cup Sprint in 1988 and was voted the Eclipse Award as champion sprinter.

Jay Privman, who retired as the national correspondent for Daily Racing Form in 2022, has done some research on Gulch and said he is a worthy candidate.

Privman points to the Met Mile wins as a significant achievement: “As a two-time winner of the Met Mile, including at age 3, his success in that race stands alone. Gulch is the only horse in the more than 125 runnings of the race who has won it at age 3 and again at age 4. No horse has won the race twice since him, a span now of more than three decades. The horse who preceded him winning it twice was Forego, at ages 5 and 6. Forego and Gulch are the only horses to have won the Met Mile twice since Stymie in 1947-48, more than 70 years ago.”

Forego (1976-77) and Stymie are in the Hall of Fame. So are multiple winners Devil Diver (1943-44-45) and Equipoise (1932-33). Gulch and Mad Hatter (1921-22) have not made it yet.

Peter Brant | Sarah Andrew

Gulch secured his first Met Mile win while in the midst of the Triple Crown series. He was sixth in the Derby on May 2, fourth in the Preakness on May 16, won the Met Mile on May 25 and had his third in the Belmont on June 6. Four GI races in five weeks. His foal crop of 1984 headed by Alysheba, Bet Twice, Cryptoclearance and Java Gold, was one of the deepest in modern times.

Given the chance to make the case for the Hall of Fame for Gulch, Brant said his past performances tell the story.

“I don't have much to say, just his record,” Brant said. “He was what he was. He was a great horse. He was great from the time he was a 2-year-old.”

Gulch won his first five career races in New York for trainer LeRoy Jolley, headed to California where he was second to Capote in the GI Norfolk and was fifth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Wayne Lukas trained Gulch as a 4-year-old, when he was 5-4-2 in 11 starts at five distances over eight tracks in six states. One of those seconds by 1 1/2 lengths to the never-beaten Personal Ensign in the three-horse GI Whitney.

“He was always right there. He'd run short, long,” Brant said. “He was third in the Belmont Stakes. He won the Breeders' Cup Sprint. He was just a really good, sound horse. He ran a number of times, won a lot of money and bred a Kentucky Derby winner, Thunder Gulch.”