Krone on Ballot for Hall

The only females in the Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., are fillies and mares. Julie Krone, who retired from riding last year after winning 3,545 races, a record for a woman, might change that soon.

Krone, the first woman to be nominated for membership in the Hall of Fame, is one of three jockeys on this year’s ballot. The others are Earlie Fires and the late Jack Westrope, who have been on the ballot before.

Only one horse or person can be elected annually in each category. About 140 turf writers, broadcasters and racing historians will vote. The winners will be announced at Churchill Downs a few days before the running of the Kentucky Derby, which is May 6.

Nominated for trainer were three conditioners with California backgrounds--Neil Drysdale, Richard Mandella and Willard Proctor, who died in 1998.

A.P. Indy, trained by Drysdale and horse of the year in 1992, is one of three nominees in the contemporary male category. Others on the ballot are Precisionist and Unbridled. The contemporary female nominees are Flawlessly, Mom’s Command and Winning Colors. In the horses of yesteryear category, Bowl Of Flowers, Cougar II and Needles were nominated.

Horse Racing Notes

Hollywood Park is looking for a track announcer after Lone Star Park near Dallas announced that Michael Wrona will begin calling the races there April 13. . . . Trainers of the first three finishers in last Saturday’s Santa Anita Handicap are making plans. General Challenge will remain at Santa Anita to run in the $150,000 San Bernardino Handicap on April 9. Budroyale is headed for the $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap in Arkansas on April 8 and Puerto Madero will be flown to the United Arab Emirates to run in the $6-million Dubai World Cup on March 25. Laffit Pincay will keep the mount on Puerto Madero. . . . Dixie Dot Com, who finished last in the Big ‘Cap, fractured his left front cannon bone and his racing career could be over. . . . Desert Hero, winner of the San Rafael Stakes at Santa Anita last year and the winner of an allowance race Jan. 29 in a comeback as a 4-year-old, was euthanized March 1. The son of Sea Hero was suffering from a spinal-cord disorder. . . . High Yield, who drew the inside post in a 10-horse field, is the 8-5 favorite in Saturday’s $750,000 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park.