The Saratoga Harness Hall Of Fame and Saratoga Casino Hotel joined efforts on Friday, Nov. 10 to celebrate the newest inductees into the track's Hall Of Fame.
Scott Mongeon was inducted into the Hall Of Fame as a lifelong horseman at the Saratoga Springs oval. The Ballston Spa resident started driving in 1982 and began training in 1992. Throughout his career, Mongeon has been a prominent figure at Saratoga. He received the Horseman of the Year title in 2002, Trainer of the Year title in 2002, and the Johnny Page Up and Coming Driver Award in 1988.
Mongeon has 1,798 driving wins, but has turned his focus to only training in recent years. He is just 44 wins shy of the 1,000 win milestone with 956 training victories.
Slugfest was inducted into the horse Hall Of Fame as the 14-year-old gelding had a star-studded career throughout his time at Saratoga. The son of Conway Hall and the Credit Winner mare Julieannie was bred by Ray Schnittker, Tom Vassilou and Nicholas Tallarico. Vassilou and Tallarico co-owned Slugest, who was trained by Maureen Salino.
Jay Randall piloted Slugfest for most of his 167 career starts in which the gelding took a record of 39 wins, 38 seconds and 20 thirds. Slugfest was a regular in the Open ranks at The Spa. His lifetime bankroll charted $586,543 and he had a career mark of 1:54.1 from Pocono Downs taken at the age of five. Slugfest was retired in mid-2019.
Thomas McTygue was honoured on Friday after he received the Virginia O'Brien Memorial 110-Percent Award. The award honours individuals who devote their life to the pursuit of harness racing, such as a groom or backstretch worker, who might not otherwise be in the limelight.
In the words of driver Wally Hennessey, "The 110-Percent Award tonight is reserved for an individual for whom has given more than that. As in the past, everyone that has received this award is more than deserving. Tonight's recipient needs no introduction -- for the past 50 plus years as an owner, breeder and strong supporter of harness racing here in Saratoga along with continually doing everything to support harness racing here.
"He has not only tried, but succeeded in helping all of us in this room. The respect he has from horsemen and management speaks for itself. I'm so proud to be his friend and so grateful to the Hall Of Fame committee for choosing Mr. Tom McTygue as this year's recipient of this prestigious award."
The banquet on Nov. 10 was dedicated to the horses and horsemen affected at Tioga Downs. All of the proceeds will be donated to the tragedy and McTygue announced during his speech that the Saratoga horsemen are working together to help in any way they can.
Among raffle basket drawings and prizes, a 50/50 raffle was held. The winner, Ryan Nelson, opted to donate his winnings to the Tioga Downs charity fund.
Saratoga Casino Hotel, the Saratoga Harness Horseperson's Association and Saratoga Hall Of Fame would like to congratulate Scott Mongeon, Slugfest and Tom McTygue on their awards.
(Saratoga Casino Hotel; Photo, L-R: Tom McTygue, Jay Randall, the three connections of Slugfest, and Scott Mongeon)