Seven new members have been elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, led by Smarty Jones, the lone selection in the contemporary category.

Edward L. Bowen, Arthur B. Hancock III, and Richard Ten Broeck have been elected by the Pillars of the Turf Committee.

Racehorses Decathlon and Hermis, and trainer George H. Conway have been chosen by the 1900-1959 Historic Review Committee.

In the contemporary category, Smarty Jones was the lone candidate to appear on the majority of ballots submitted (50% plus one vote is required for election) from 16 finalists, as chosen by the Museum's Hall of Fame Nominating Committee. A total of 157 voters (90.2%) participated in the election from the 171 eligible to cast ballots. The candidates in the Historic Review and Pillars of the Turf categories were required to receive 75% approval from the respective committees to earn election.

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Unselected finalists were the racehorses Blind Luck, Game On Dude, Groupie Doll, Havre de Grace, Kona Gold, Lady Eli, and Rags to Riches, trainers Christophe Clement, Kiaran McLaughlin, Kenny McPeek, Graham Motion, Doug O'Neill, John Sadler, and John Shirreffs, and jockey Jorge Chavez.

The 2025 Hall of Fame class will be enshrined Aug. 1 at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion in Saratoga Springs at 10:30 a.m. ET. The ceremony will be broadcast live on the Museum website at racingmuseum.org. The event is open to the public and free to attend. Tom Durkin will serve as the master of ceremonies.

Bred in Pennsylvania by Someday Farm, Smarty Jones (Elusive Quality—I'll Get Along, by Smile) raced from 2003 through 2004, winning eight of his nine career starts, including the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in his sophomore season, and was voted the Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old male in 2004. Owned by Pat Chapman and her late husband, Roy, under their Someday Farm banner, Smarty Jones was trained by John Servis and ridden exclusively by Stewart Elliott.

"He was a special horse. He opened a lot of doors for me, changed my life," Servis told BloodHorse. "It's 21 years later, he's still popular as hell."

A chestnut colt, Smarty Jones won his first two career starts at Philadelphia Park (now Parx Racing) in November 2003 — a maiden special weight and the Pennsylvania Nursery Stakes — by a combined 12 3/4 lengths. He began his road to the Kentucky Derby with a five-length victory in the Count Fleet Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack in January 2004 before advancing to Oaklawn Park's series of Derby preps. In Arkansas, Smarty Jones won the Southwest Stakes and Rebel Stakes before punching his ticket to Churchill Downs with a 1 1/2-length victory in the Arkansas Derby.

On May 1, 2004, Smarty Jones became the first undefeated Kentucky Derby winner since Seattle Slew in 1977 with a 2 3/4-length victory over Lion Heart before a crowd of 140,054 at Churchill Downs. He earned a $5 million bonus from Oaklawn Park for winning the combination of the Kentucky Derby and the three Derby preps at Oaklawn. Smarty Jones also became the second Pennsylvania-bred to win the Derby, joining Lil E. Tee (1992).

Two weeks after his Derby victory, Smarty Jones romped by a record margin of 11 1/2 lengths in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico with 124,351 in attendance. A Belmont Park record 120,139 fans were on hand for a potential Triple Crown sweep in the 2004 Belmont Stakes but 36-1 longshot Birdstone pulled off the upset, defeating Smarty Jones by a length.

Smarty Jones was retired after the Belmont Stakes with a record of 8-1-0 from nine starts and earnings of $7,613,155 (including the Oaklawn bonus). He won his eight races by a combined 47 1/2 lengths.

Ed Bowen was a prolific racing journalist and historian for more than 60 years and served the sport in various other capacities, including 24 years as president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. A native of Welch, W. Va., Bowen was an Eclipse Award-winning journalist, editor in chief of the BloodHorse, author of 22 books about horse racing, and chairman of the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame Nominating Committee from 1987 through 2024.

George Conway is best known for training Hall of Famer War Admiral to a sweep of the 1937 Triple Crown and to an overall record of 21-3-1 from 26 starts and earnings of $273,240 from 1936 through 1938.

Arthur B. Hancock III was born in Nashville, Tenn., and for six decades has been a significant presence in American racing and breeding through his establishment of Stone Farm in 1970 near Paris, Ky. A member of one of the sport’s most distinguished families, Hancock’s grandfather, Arthur B. Hancock, Sr., founded Claiborne Farm.

In partnership with one of his longtime clients, Manhattan real estate broker Leone J. Peters, Arthur B. Hancock III bred and raced Gato Del Sol, who won the 1982 Derby. Hancock and Peters also teamed up to breed Risen Star, winner of the 1988 Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. Through H-G-W Partners, Hancock owned and raced Hall of Fame member and 1989 Horse of the Year Sunday Silence, whose wins included the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Breeders’ Cup Classic.