Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races Nov. 15 announced the seven new members of the Charles Town Racing Hall of Fame to be inducted at the West Virginia track Saturday, Dec. 10.
The Charles Town Racing Hall of Fame is comprised of individuals and horses with ties to Charles Town that have displayed superior performance or achievement in their careers in racing. Candidates are voted on and inducted in one of four categories: distinguished achievement, horse, industry, and jockey.
The seven new inductees join the 25 other members who were inducted in the previous three classes.
The 2011 inductees are as follows:
Ann Hilton (industry)
A longtime fixture at Charles Town, Ann Hilton has spent much of her life as one of the predominant horsewomen in West Virginia’s eastern panhandle. In addition to being an owner and taking an active role in the relationship between horsemen and management, she also served a stint as President of the Charles Town HBPA. In recent years, Hilton has made her presence felt at Charles Town through her creation and upkeep of the History Walls located throughout the grandstand.
Elwood Heironimus (industry)
The Charles Town resident began his involvement with horse racing in 1941 when he went to work in the stable area and held his first position with the track in 1956.
After 5 years as a racing official, Heironimus was named assistant racing secretary in 1966 and was the racing secretary at Shenandoah Downs between 1969 and 1978 and the racing secretary at Charles Town until 1984. He then worked as the association steward until his retirement in the mid 1990’s.
Coin Collector (horse)
Trained by James M. Casey, Coin Collector won both the 1992 and 1993 West Virginia Breeders’ Classic (then known as the Ronrico Breeders’ Classic) and finished third in the 1991 Saratoga Special (gr. II) behind Caller I. D. In a career that spanned 43 races. Coin Collector found the winners’ circle 12 times and banked nearly $330,000 in career earnings.
Miss Prime (horse)
Over her six-year racing career, Miss Prime won an impressive 31 of 85 lifetime starts, and scored a victory at every age from 2 to 7. Trained by Babe Soportas, Miss Prime was dubbed the “Citation of the bush league tracks” in a 1950 article in Life Magazine.
Larry Dupuy (jockey)
A local wrestling champion prior to his success as a jockey, Larry Dupuy rode 3,204 winners over the course of a career that included several riding titles at Charles Town.
Despite closing his career out in 2000, Dupuy still ranks as one of the top 10 leading jockeys in the history of the West Virginia Breeders’ Classics with six wins. He is currently a state steward at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races.
Woody Kirk (jockey)
The veteran jockey, whose career spanned 22 years, piloted his first winner at Charles Town in 1933. Kirk, known as one of the region’s top bullring riders, spent much of the 1930’s and 40’s at or near the top of Charles Town’s jockey standings before passing away at age 43 in 1959.
Sam Huff and Carol Holden (distinguished achievement)
NFL Hall of Famer Sam Huff and Carol Holden founded the West Virginia Breeders’ Classics in 1987. The Breeders’ Classics, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, offered only five races in its inaugural running but behind the vision and planning of Huff and Holden, had expanded to nine races and $2 million in purses in 2009.
In addition to their role with the West Virginia Breeders’ Classics Huff and Holden co-host a weekly racing show on the Middleburg Broadcasting Network.