by Emily Gaskin, for Hoosier Park

Anderson, IN — The Indiana Horse Racing Association, Inc. will hold its third annual Hall of Fame induction honoring Harold Barnes, Mari Hulman George, Senator Robert Jackman, DVM and Don Myers (posthumously). Each inductee will be honored with a resolution and portrait presentation, followed by remarks made by industry professionals.

The induction will take place on Monday (Oct. 17) at 5 p.m. at The Columbia Club, 121 Monument Circle, Indianapolis, IN 46204.

Admission into the Indiana Horse Racing Hall of Fame is determined by a vote of the directors of IHRA. To be eligible for admission, a person must have made long lasting and substantial contributions for the benefit and advancement of the sport of horse racing in Indiana.

In the first two years, the directors unanimously selected Senator Lawrence M. Borst, DVM, Michael G. Schaefer (posthumously), Senator Richard Thompson, and Ralph Wilfong (posthumously) as inductees into the Indiana Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Portraits of the 2016 inductees have been painted by Mark Dillman of Indianapolis and will be displayed in the clubhouse of the Indiana Grand Race Course.

The directors of the IHRA are Joe Davis, John Keeler, Jack Kieninger, Roger Lewis, Rick Moore, Rod Ratcliff, and Jon Schuster.

Harold Barnes, a third generation Indiana horseman, was born in 1940 in Maxwell, Ind., to Ed and Luella Barnes. His parents were also Indiana racing participants who have been inducted into the Indiana Standardbred Hall of Fame. His family moved to Shelbyville when he was in the first grade.

Barnes has been married to his wife, Kay, for 56 years. She has worked by his side in the horse racing business since the start. He noted that “without my wife, I could not have done any of this.”

Barnes drove his first race in 1958, at the age of 18 at the Shelby County Fair, and won. There were times when he drifted away from horse racing, working for a few years at General Electric and International Harvester, but he was always drawn back to the horse racing industry, which he made his lifelong career. He has raced all over, from California to Canada to the East Coast.

In addition to his horse racing career, Barnes has served on the Indiana Trotting & Pacing Association Board of Directors (now known as the Indiana Standardbred Association) and the Kentucky Harness Horsemen’s Association.

Together Harold and Kay have four children, Robert, Beverly Korobkin, Brenda and Brian, and a total of six grandchildren.

Mari Hulman George is Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Directors of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation and its corporate parent, Hulman & Company of Terre Haute, Ind.

She is one of the most identifiable personalities in the world of auto racing. Hulman & Company is a large business enterprise in Terre Haute, as it has been through five generations of the Hulman-George family.

Her father, the late Tony Hulman, bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1945. Auto racing quickly became a family affair and by the 1950s, she too was actively involved in the sport as a race car team owner, campaigning a stable of cars in the Midget, Sprint and Championship car divisions of both AAA and USAC, including cars at the Indianapolis 500.

In the early 1960s, her attentions turned west to Cora, Wyo., where from 1963 to 1973 she raised a family and owned and operated the Circle S Ranch, a successful dude ranch and hunting camp on the Green River. It was the ranch life in Wyoming that she credits with developing her interest in animals in general and horses in particular.

Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods in Terre Haute is home of the Mari Hulman George School of Equine Studies, one of the few university programs of its kind anywhere in the country. The equestrian program is offered as an academic major in Equine Studies with a comprehensive curriculum addressing all phases of the horse industry.

Circle S Ranch became the name of her extensive racing stable with Thoroughbreds racing in Indiana, Florida and Kentucky and quarter horses in New Mexico, Oklahoma and other states. She was an inaugural member of the Indiana Breed Development Commission, first appointed by then Governor Evan Bayh. She served as the Chairman of the Indiana Derby weekend for a number of years.

Mari Hulman George, the only child of Anton “Tony” and Mary Fendrich Hulman, has four children (Nancy, Tony, Josie, and Kathi), seven grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

Dr. Robert Jackman graduated Milroy High School in 1961 and went on to college at Purdue University where he graduated with his doctorate degree in Veterinary Medicine.

He is the owner of Jackman Animal Clinic, P.C. in Milroy, Ind., and owner of Jackman Farms. Karen, his wife of 45 years, and their two sons, Dr. Rob Jackman and Nathan Jackman, are instrumental in the family practice. He is the proud grandfather of Crosby, Courtney, Cameron, Emilee, and Luke.

In addition to his work as a veterinarian, Dr. Jackman has also served in the Indiana State Senate for a total of 12 years for District 42, which serves Decatur, Fayette, Franklin, Rush, and Shelby counties. He is also involved in numerous professional and civic activities ranging from the A.V.M.A., I.V.M.A., 10th District I.V.M.A., to Milroy United Methodist Church, Milroy Community Club, Milroy Masonic Lodge #139, Rushville Elks Lodge #1307, and Rush Co. School Building Corporation.

In 2002, Dr. Jackman received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Purdue School of Veterinary Science and Medicine.

Senator Jackman was the central driving force behind the creation of an Indiana Equine Center in Shelbyville and most recently saw that work come to fruition with the groundbreaking for the Centaur Equine Specialty Hospital, a private/public partnership.

Construction is underway at the site of the Centaur Equine Specialty Hospital, which is located in the shadow of Indiana Grand Racing & Casino in Shelbyville. This advanced referral hospital will complement the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Large Animal Hospital in West Lafayette, and promote the health and performance of equine athletes through top-quality emergency medical services, groundbreaking equine research, and expanded training opportunities for future equine specialists.

Born Nov. 13, 1920, in Seymour, Don Myers was the son of the late Robert and Carrie (Ward) Myers. On Feb. 2, 1980, he married the love of his life, Dana Lee Pataky, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He graduated from Shields High School with the class of 1938 and attended Franklin College. He then spent a period of time with the U.S. Army Infantry from the years of 1944 to 1946, where he proudly served his country. Afterward, he returned to Seymour where he raised his family, began his business endeavors, and built his legacy.

In 1963 he began with seven gasoline stations, but his keen business sense impelled him to the founding of Swifty Oil Co., which expanded to 181 gasoline stations and convenience marts multiplying in a number of states. In 1972 he founded Swifty Farms and advanced it to become Indiana’s largest Thoroughbred racing and breeding farm.

In addition to his community support, he was a dedicated member of the First Presbyterian Church, Seymour Elks Club, the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America, the Indiana Gasoline Marketers Association, and during the 1950s, he served on the Seymour Aviation Board.

He was the Greater Seymour Chamber of Commerce 2007 Citizen of the Year and in 2008, he was inducted into the Wall of Fame at Seymour High School. He was very instrumental in developing Thoroughbred racing in the state of Indiana, as well as his heavy involvement in Thoroughbred racing throughout North America. He also was a member of the national Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and Indiana’s Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.

Devoted to Jackson County, he was a silent philanthropist, and many charities were blessed by his unwavering support.

He passed away July 25, 2013 and is survived by his children, Jolene Endicott, Donald W. Jr., Jane Henkle, and Jenny Ruth; his step-daughters, Lisa Brown and Denise Lawton; as well as 17 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; and numerous step-grandchildren.