2009 Hall of Fame Inductees
Jeff Carr
Jeff Carr
He attended Texas A&M University until the summer of 1943 when he entered the military and served with distinction in the 82nd and 101st Airborne Division in the European theater. After the war he returned to Corpus Christi to practice law and founded Carr Oil, an oil and gas exploration company.
Carr’s success in business led his entry into the world of horse racing. First with Quarter Horses and later he moved to Thoroughbreds. A number of Carr’s Quarter running horses made the consolation of the All American Futurity, and for over 30 years he was a member of the American Quarter Horse Association.
Jeff’s interest in Thoroughbreds revolved primarily around breeding. His first venture was one that would try his resolve. After purchasing a million-dollar winning son of Alydar, Jeff went through the tragedy of losing the stud due to injury before its third breeding season. Still determined, Carr bought a track record holding grandson of Seattle Slew named Shots Are Ringing and was a significant presence at TTA sales of yearlings and broodmares.
Jeff Carr worked tirelessly behind the scenes for the passage of pari-mutuel racing in Texas for many years. When the horse racing bill finally passed in 1987, Carr was first in line to invest in Retama Partners Ltd., the developer of Retama Park Racetrack. Jeff’s insight and business acumen served the partnership well during its formative stages. He was elected Chairman of the Board and President from 1997 until his death in January 2002.
Harold Goodman
Harold Goodman
Goodman’s intention was to breed and race top flight Thoroughbreds and to that end Goodman enjoyed a storybook career.
In 1986 Goodman sent trainer Michael Stidham to France to purchase Manzotti, a son of Nijinsky II. Goodman wanted the best bloodline he could find and wanted an outcross for some of the more traditional American racehorses. His success was evident right out of the gate. Manzotti’s first crop produced a beautiful filly, Two Altazano, one of the richest Texas-bred distaffers in history. Two Altazano earned the nickname “Queen of the Oaks” as during her 3-year-old campaign she won the marquee, or Oaks, filly race at five different tracks. Those Grade 2 wins included the Coaching Club of America Oaks, the Monmouth Oaks and the Fairgrounds Oaks as well as the Fantasy at Oaklawn, and the inaugural Sam Houston Oaks with Pat Day in the irons. Two Altazano went on to win nine of 20 starts and earned $709,925.
Harold Goodman was born in Beaumont and raised in Houston. He was a graduate of the University of Texas and a Naval veteran of World War II. He also founded the Goodman Manufacturing Company in 1977. Mr. Goodman owned the Brazos T Ranch near Brookshire where he stood Manzotti. In 1992 he purchased an eighth share of A.P. Indy—1992 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and Horse of the Year.
Goodman’s dream for Manzotti was immortalized by his daughter Two Altazano. Harold Goodman was awarded Texas Breeder of the Year for 1995 and 1996 and Leading Accredited Texas-Bred Program Money Earner for 1997. He passed away in January 1995.
Got KoKo
Got KoKo
She spent the next 18 months preparing Baby North’s filly for the 2000 Keeneland September yearling sale.
Got Koko was purchased by Bruce Headley for his wife, Aase Headley, and Paul Leung. Headley trained the filly and during the 2002 and 2003 winter-spring meet at Santa Anita Got Koko won the La Brea Stakes (G1), El Encino Stakes (G2), and La Canada Stakes (G2) in succession. She was the 2nd filly in 60 years to sweep Santa Anita’s La Canada series. Got Koko is one of only three Texas-bred horses to ever win a Grade 2 stakes, joining Groovy and Two Altazano.
The filly earned three Texas championships including 2003 Horse of the Year. She won seven of 15 starts including the 2003 Lady’s Secret Breeder’s Cup Handicap pushing her earnings to $960,946.
Got Koko died in April this year from foaling complications following the delivery of a Bernardini colt.
Pass Over
Pass Over
She was Champion Quarter Running Three-Year-Old Filly in 1974 after making some of the most remarkable and memorable wins in history. Following a super successful two-year-old racing season in 1973, it’s no wonder why the daughter of Thoroughbred stallion Pass Em Up was named champion for the second year in a row.
Owned by Jack R. Delmar of Rosenberg, Pass Over won at first asking in January of her two-year-old season. Trained by James Bertrand Sr., Pass Over went on to win the Triple Crown Futurity, La Vahia Futurity, Sun Country Futurity, and Kansas Futurity as a two year old. Pass Over set a new track record of :17.38 for 350 yards at Sunland Park trials. She went on to win the $168,000 the Sun Country Futurity with the same exact race time. Her next stop was Ruidoso Downs where she won the Kansas Futurity as she made a huge rally after a poor start to win going away.
During a spectacular first season, Pass Over made 16 starts with eight wins and six seconds and earned a quarter of a million dollars. Her sophomore campaign was a little bit under the radar as she placed second in her trial for the All American Derby. Her time was just good enough to qualify for the big three-year-old race. In the Derby finals, Pass Over moved to the top of her class as she relished a sloppy track to win the All American Derby in 22.08 and earned $172,000.
Houston Post writer Clark Nealon called her “The Cinderella of the Quarter Horse World”. Pass Over was bred by Dr. Nat Kieffer and trained by Charles Cascio.
Top Deck
Top Deck
He descended from Equipoise and was out of a Man O’ War mare. However, those bloodlines were over come by his lack of soundness and a rank mean streak that made him unfit for racing. He did have tremendous speed and displayed that fantastic turn of foot during his early training. In the spring of 1947, Top Deck ran 220 yards in :12.2, fractions off the world record. However, every time he ran, the colt pulled up sore on his left leg.
Robert Kleberg Jr. gave the injured Top Deck to Ernest Lane, a trainer who worked at King Ranch. Lane bred Top Deck to J.B. Ferguson’s mare Skippy F. She foaled Stardeck F, winner of the Texas Futurity at Eagle Pass and the Del Rio Futurity at Val Verde. Ferguson then offered Lane $20,000 for Top Deck. Lane jumped at the chance to rid himself of the ill-tempered stud deemed too hard to handle.
Despite having sired such world famous runners such as Go Man Go, Ferguson had trouble booking mares to Top Deck due to the stud’s bad reputation. In 1960 Ferguson leased the stallion to A.B. Green of Purcell, Oklahoma, where Top Deck became a triumph almost instantly. Top Deck sired 440 Quarter Horse foals and four AQHA Champions. In the first 36 years of the All American Futurity, 25 of the winners descended from Top Deck. Two of his offspring, Astro Deck and War Machine, earned the AQHA Supreme Champion award.
Top Deck died in 1965 at the age of 20. Perceived as the leading sire of money earners around the world, Top Deck was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1990.