Star Guitar , the all-time Louisiana earner, E.J. Perrodin, and Ray Salmen have been elected to the Fair Grounds Hall of Fame.
Perrodin is believed to be the all-time leading stakes-winning rider at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, and Salmen owned several popular stakes winners including A Letter to Harry and Pago Hop.
The 2013 class will be inducted during a Fair Grounds Hall of Fame reception in the Black Gold Room on March 4 from 5 to 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 and proceeds will support the ongoing English classes for backstretch workers conducted by St. Anna's Episcopal Church, the Fair Grounds Chaplaincy, and the Neighborhood Story Project.
Star Guitar was bred and owned by the Brittlyn Stable of Maurice and Evelyn Benoit and trained by Al Stall Jr. The son of Quiet American earned 22 of his 24 wins in stakes. He won five Louisiana Champions Day races at Fair Grounds, including three consecutive runnings of the Louisiana Champions Day Classic (2009-2011), in addition to the 2007 Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile and the 2008 Sprint. Star Guitar eclipsed the previous Louisiana-bred earnings mark, held by grade I winner Happy Ticket, by taking the 2012 Costa Rising Stakes, his 10th win at Fair Grounds from 12 starts.
Perrodin, a native of Rayne, La., won 3,083 races with earnings of $41,402,415 in a 37-year career from 1975 to 2012. He won more than 200 stakes, including 56 at Fair Grounds, believed to be the track record. His major Fair Grounds stakes wins include the New Orleans Handicap, the Fair Grounds Oaks twice, and the Mervin H. Muniz Memorial Handicap. His top mounts included Listacade, Quite a Gem, Candid Glen, Sarah Lane's Oates, Waupaca, Clever Song, Police Inspector, and Composure. He won six races on a Fair Grounds card Nov. 18, 1979. Perrodin died of cancer in 2012 at age 55.
Salmen was a member of the Fair Grounds board of directors for nine years. While studying at Tulane University he started his Mardi Gras Stable and secured Tennessee Wright as his trainer. In 1970 he formed a partnership with A.H. and Albert Stall and their horses ran in the name ALAHRAY Stable, which campaigned several stakes winners.
Reservations for the Hall of Fame reception can be made by phone via the Fair Grounds Group Sales department at (504) 948-1285.
