Hall\'s Immortals announced

Sunday, July 2, "Hall of Fame Day," the 2005 Immortal Honorees--John G. Hayes Sr., William Hayes II, Martin Tananbaum and the horses Little Brown Jug and Romeo Hanover--will be inducted into the Hall during ceremonies held under the tent on the museum lawn.



This great distinction is given both to people and horses, no longer living, who have made significant contributions to the sport of harness racing.



The new inductees are nominated annually by the museum's members and elected by the Board of Trustees.



John G. Hayes Sr. was born in Oshawa, Ont., on July 17, 1919. Known throughout the harness racing industry as "the Senator," he was the rare person who achieved great success as an owner, breeder, trainer, driver, and executive. He was respected by his colleagues for his honesty and candor.



A flight engineer in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II, Hayes retired to dairy farming after injuring his back in a training flight. From there he went on to become first an owner and then a trainer and driver of Standardbreds.



On the track, Hayes was best known for training and racing Strike Out, who set a world record 1:56.3h in winning the 1972 Little Brown Jug. Hayes, who would become the first Canadian to own and train a Little Brown Jug winner, had the wisdom to turn the reins over to 1986 Hall of Famer Keith Waples for the prestigious race. Hayes drove Alley Fighter, another colt from his stable. After the race he made his now-famous statement that he would rather win the Little Brown Jug than go to heaven.



Hayes also co-owned 1981 Meadowlands Pace winner Conquered and 1984 North America Cup winner Legal Notice, both of whom were trained and driven by his son, Dr. John Hayes. Other notable Standardbreds owned or co-owned by John G. Hayes Sr. were Alley Fighter, Penn Hanover, League Leader, Keystone Pat, Striking Force, Buxom Beauty, Spindletop Joe, Commander Dell, Airy Way, Sharp N Smart, Speed King, Wilton Royale, Luxury, Brets Amour, Proposal, Joule, Be My Choice, Striking Sun, Tyrant, Striking Force, Oil Strike, No Hitter, Hoot Hanover, Neros Jay, No Standing Around, Touch of Pleasure, Memphis Flash, Little Black Book, League Leader, and Natchez Gambler.



In 1959, with partners Bob and Conrad Shapiro, Hayes formed the Beejay Stable, a major breeding and racing operation in North America. After 25 years of racing together they formed the Quarter Century Club for their racing stock.





John Hayes Sr. was the first Canadian inducted into the Little Brown Jug Wall of Fame. That honor came in 1990. The following year he was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. He died in 1998 at age 79.



William R. "Bill" Hayes II came from a Du Quoin, Ill., family in which the trotter was worshipped and harness racing was part of everyday conversation. His grandfather, William R. "Will" Hayes, who founded and developed Hayes Fair Acres Stable, has the distinction of being the only owner to win both trotting's Hambletonian Stake (Lusty Song driven by Delvin Miller) and pacing's Little Brown Jug (Dudley Hanover driven by Delvin Miller) in the same year (1950). Will also established the Du Quoin State Fair in 1923, thus bringing Grand Circuit Harness Racing to southern Illinois.



Bill's father, E.J. (Gene), and uncle, Don M., were instrumental in moving the Hambletonian from Good Time Park in Goshen, NY, to Du Quoin in 1957. Bill eagerly joined the team after graduating from the University of Illinois in 1958.



The Hayes family owned a Coca-Cola franchise. Upon the untimely death of Gene in 1964 and Don three years later in a plane crash, Bill Hayes stepped up to become company president. He also assumed the role of president of the Du Quoin State Fair and operator of its star event, the Hambletonian Stake. Bill was just 30 years old.



Over the years Hayes Fair Acres had many top performing Standardbreds with Bill Hayes continuing the Hayes Fair Acres' tradition of breeding and racing successful race horses. The first filly he purchased was Desert Wind, 2, 1:59.3. Desert Wind raced in the 1971 inaugural Hambletonian Filly Stake. The race, later known as The Oaks, was one of the innovations at Du Quoin during Bill's leadership tenure. It was considered a long overdue enhancement, giving attention to trotting fillies.



Hayes Fair Acres also owned Victorious Lou, second dam of Valley Victory, and Victorious Leah, dam of top trotters Camp David and Kramer Nobless.



Trainers and owners loved taking their best horses to Du Quoin each summer. Not only did they enjoy racing on the beautiful mile track, they also enjoyed the famous Hayes hospitality on the more than 1,000 acres of exquisitely landscaped fairgrounds, some of which had been reclaimed from the devastation of strip mining by Bill's grandfather.



In 1971, at the age of 35, William R. Hayes II was voted "Horseman of the Year" by the readers of The Horseman And Fair World. He was also a member of The Hambletonian Society, director of The Little Brown Jug Society, president of the Grand Circuit and a trustee of The Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame, at that time known as The Hall of Fame of the Trotter.



Hayes served as president of the DuQuoin State Fair and Hayes Fair Acres through 1979, when both were sold. He remained director of racing at the fair through 1980, the 23rd and last year the Hambletonian was held in DuQuoin.



Because the loss of the Hambletonian weakened the DuQuoin racing program, Bill worked with others to secure Illinois state legislation that provided the financing for a world-class trotting race to replace the famed stake. The World Trotting Derby was created and raced for the first time in 1981, the first year the Hambletonian Stake was held at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, NJ. His selfless efforts to sustain premier racing at DuQuoin, a country-fair track surrounded by midwest cornfields, will long be remembered and appreciated by all who enjoyed the fine hospitality and witnessed the great racing William R. Hayes II had been so determined to provide.



Bill Hayes moved to Aspen, Colorado, and died there in 1998 at the age of 61.



Martin Tananbaum was considered the most progressive executive in the Standardbred industry and was credited with having been the motivating force behind Yonkers Raceway's climb to a preeminent position among the sport's pari-mutual tracks.



During his 14-year tenure as president of the track, pacers from Australia and New Zealand became a staple on the American racing scene. This was the result of his pioneer scouting trips to those countries to secure horses for the series of Yonkers' International Paces. His efforts to put together the tightest racing possible, by attracting the best horses available, were successful.



He became the leading exponent of free-for-all racing, and Yonkers quickly began to gain a reputation as the track with the big stars. Weekly free-for-alls with large purses lured top pacers and trotters to the track.



Martin Tananbaum and his brothers, Alfred A. and Stanley, assumed control of the Hilltop Oval (as it was known) in 1956 after the death of the track's founder, William H. Cane. Attendance at that time was 1.6 million for an average 85-night meeting, and wagering was about $100 million. The track's first $2 million handle was in 1954.



After the Tananbaums took over the operation, $2 million handles became commonplace, and under Martin's guidance, crowds and betting began to skyrocket. In 1956, during a 105-night meet, 2.02 million fans attended the races and wagered $140.359 million. The following year, during a 104-day meet, 2.146 million fans passed through the turnstiles and bet $145.656 million.



In 1969, the highest single-night handle ever at Yonkers ($3,220,686) helped achieve a record-breaking $300 million handle for the season. It was the highest handle wagered at one track in a single season. An $18 million building project was launched in 1958. It included construction of an ultra-modern six-level clubhouse and a four-story Parkadrome for 3,000 vehicles.



In 1960, the Tananbaum brothers reactivated the historic Old Glory Sale. Another brother, Leo, managed the historic sale. In 1972, two years after Martin Tananbaum's passing, the five Rooney brothers of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia purchased Yonkers Raceway for $52 million. It was the largest private racetrack purchase in U.S. history.



Tananbaum lived to see his White Devon Farm in Geneseo, NY, become a leader among New York State Standardbred breeding establishments. Many of his horses had "Minbar" in their name in honor of his daughters, Minnie and Barbara. One of the first stallions he stood at the farm was Egyptian Candor, winner of the 1965 Hambletonian. The farm became the home of six other top stallions (Thorpe Hanover, Adora's Dream, Greentree Adios, Great Lullwater, Tactile and Trowbridge) and more than 125 broodmares. Greentree Adios sired Hy Minbar whose offspring Hy Class Minbar was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1989.



Tananbaum was a trustee of The Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame, a director of the Harness Horse Breeders of New York State and a member of the United States Trotting Association. He died in 1970 at age 54.



Museum members, in good standing, enjoy the privilege of nominating a person or a trotter or pacer, no longer alive, to be an Immortal. Nominations must be accompanied by in depth biographical information outlining the nominee\'s national contributions to the Standardbred sport and must be received by the museum director no later than March 1st of any given year. These nominations are reviewed by the Immortals Committee; recommendations are made to the museum\'s full board of trustees, and the board elects Immortals at its annual meeting on Hall of Fame Day, the first Sunday in July.

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