Roberto Borea / AP file

Jockey Jose Santos, who rode Funny Cide during his Triple Crown attempt, was inducted into the Hall of Fame on Monday.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The largest induction class for the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in nearly 30 years begat a standing-room-only audience for Monday's ceremonies, but it was clear that of the five people and three horses that made up the group of eight, there was one in particular the fans wanted to see.

Not once, not twice, but an unprecedented three times, jockey Jose Santos received a standing ovation. It was an acknowledgment of his outstanding career, the poignancy of being inducted only a week after announcing his retirement, and, perhaps, the symbolism connecting Santos and the keynote speech given by Rick Pitino, the basketball coach at the University of Louisville and a passionate racing fan and owner.

Before Santos and his fellow inductees - jockey John Sellers, trainers Henry Forrest, Frank McCabe, and John Veitch, and horses Mom's Command, Silver Charm, and Swoon's Son - were honored at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion, Pitino implored the audience to avoid what he called "the fellowship of the miserable" and instead go through life looking at what's good, not bad.

"You have a choice each day when you wake up: to be happy or sad, to be ordinary or extraordinary," Pitino said.

Santos, 46, exemplified that during his career. He arrived in this country from his native Chile in 1984 with $2,000 and no ability to speak English. Yet he endeared himself to trainers and owners with his skill, work ethic, and positive attitude, even in the darkest moments. In his acceptance speech, Santos - who won more than 4,000 races - made no mention of the back injuries this spring that forced his retirement, nor of the controversy he was dragged into following absurd allegations by the Miami Herald that he had used an illegal electrical device when Funny Cide won the 2003 Kentucky Derby. Santos accentuated the positive.

"Jose has lived the American dream," said owner Bob Goodman, who has known Santos for more than 20 years and was chosen by Santos to introduce him at the Hall of Fame ceremonies. "He has so much class."

Santos received several chuckles from the audience, the first coming when he said he had a long list of people to thank, then produced a long sheet of paper.

"It's a long list," he said. "I came here in 1984, a long time ago."

Santos first thanked trainer P.G. Sims — who trained for Goodman and his uncle Matty in Florida - for putting him on his first two winners in this country, and for giving him a chance.

"I didn't understand what he was telling me, but I was there," Santos said.

Santos said that Manila, the 1986 Breeders' Cup Turf winner, was "the best horse I ever rode in my life." Among the trainers he thanked were Leroy Jolley, trainer of Manila, along with P.G. Johnson, Jeff Lukas, and Scotty Schulhofer.

Santos got another good laugh when he said he wanted to thank his agents.

"I went through a lot of them," he said.

After Santos finished and received his final standing ovation, a number of audience members left, even though the program, which lasted 1 hour and 50 minutes, was only half over.

Those who stayed to the end heard a passionate, and all too brief, acceptance speech from Veitch, who joined his father, Syl, in the Hall of Fame. Veitch was best known for training Alydar, but also trained a number of top horses for both Calumet Farm and Darby Dan Farm, including Before Dawn, Davona Dale, Our Mims, Proud Truth, and Sunshine Forever.

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