SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Shug McGaughey, jockey Kent Desormeaux and 1998 Horse of the Year Skip Away were inducted into thoroughbred racing’s Hall of Fame on Monday.

Flawlessly, perhaps the most successful offspring of 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed, entered in the contemporary female horse category. Jimmy Winkfield, a two-time Kentucky Derby winner in the early 1900s, was enshrined in the historic jockey category, and Bowl of Flowers entered in the historic horse category.

“I’m overwhelmed to be joining such distinguished company,” McGaughey said, acknowledging Hall of Famers in the crowd at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion that included trainers D. Wayne Lukas, Bobby Frankel, Bill Mott and Allen Jerkens, and jockeys Jerry Bailey and Pat Day.

“I’m grateful to the Hall of Fame committee, to the news media and, of course, everyone who voted for me.”

Among McGaughey’s top feats were winning six stakes races in one day, campaigning champion Personal Ensign through a 13-race unbeaten career, and sending Easy Goer out to win the 1989 Belmont Stakes.

“Whether it’s the challenge of developing a racehorse, or the thrill of the crowd on race day, we do this because of the horses,” McGaughey said. “We respect the talented individuals who make it all happen and we are devoted to the time-honored culture of excellence.”

McGaughey, 53, has saddled more than 1,300 winners and his horses have earned more than $84 million in a career that began in 1979. Known simply as “Shug,” McGaughey is based in New York, where he has been the exclusive trainer for the Phipps Family Stable since 1985.

Ogden Mills Phipps, chairman of The Jockey Club, said McGaughey has won 164 stakes races with 54 horses for his family, as well as six Breeders’ Cup races. The Phipps stable campaigned Personal Ensign, Easy Goer, Heavenly Prize and Storm Flag Flying, among others.

Tim Roske / AP Trainer Shug McGaughey has saddled more than 1,300 winners and his horses have earned more than $84 million in a career that began in 1979.

Desormeaux, among the top riders in Southern California, won the 1998 Kentucky Derby and Preakness with Real Quiet and the 2000 Derby aboard Fusaichi Pegasus. The 34-year-old rider from Maurice, La., has won more than 4,500 races with total purses earned topping $186 million. He holds the record for wins in a single season with 598 in 1989.

“My backyard was nothing but a training ground for being a jockey,” Desormeaux said. “My mom and dad had a passion for horses. Thank God for Cajun country.”

Skip Away, among the most dominant horses from 1996-1998, enters the Hall a year after his trainer Sonny Hine was inducted posthumously. Hine died in 2000.

Bought for $22,500 as a gift for Hine’s wife, Carolyn, the gray Skip Away won 18 of 38 starts, with 10 seconds and six thirds for earnings of $9,616,360 — the second-highest total behind Cigar.

At one point during his 4- and 5-year-old campaigns, Skip Away reeled off nine consecutive wins, seven in Grade 1 races. Among those victories were the Jockey Club Gold Cup, the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the Donn and Gulfstream Park handicaps, the Pimlico Special, Hollywood Gold Cup and the Woodward Stakes.

“Skippy was a gift from God, and he keeps giving because now I am witnessing Skip Away’s sons and daughters repeating many of his winning ways,” Carolyn Hine said. “Some of them, I happy to say, are winning in my colors.

“Skippy thanks you, Sonny thanks you, and I thank you.”

Winkfield is the third black jockey to enter the Hall. Isaac Murphy was the first in 1955 and Willie Simms the second in 1977. He remains one of only four riders to win consecutive Derbys, winning 1901 and 1902. Since exact records weren’t kept, it is believed Winkfield won more than 2,500 races in the United States and Europe. Winkfield died in 1974.

Flawlessly, owned by Louis and Patrice Wolfson’s Harbor View Farm, won 16 of 28 starts and earned $2,572,536. The bay filly was the champion turf female in 1992 and 1993.

In an emotional moment, Patrice Wolfson accepted the honor on behalf of her husband, saying: “My husband suffers from Alzeheimer’s. This afternoon, the members of our team are going to take this over to the Hall of Fame and give this plaque to him.”

Bowl of Flowers, campaigned by Hall of Fame trainer Elliott Burch, won 10 of 16 starts and was the champion 2- and 3-year old filly in 1960 and 1961. Burch said the biggest win of his career was Bowl of Flowers’ victory in the Coaching Club American Oaks in 1961.

All the plaques will be moved a few blocks to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Racing Museum, located across the street from Saratoga Race Course.

The Hall now includes 173 thoroughbreds, 85 jockeys and 79 trainers.