Three men and three horses spanning six decades of excellence make up the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Class of 2008.

Jockeys Edgar Prado and Ismael “Milo” Valenzuela, trainer Carl Nafzger and thoroughbreds Inside Information, Manila and Ancient Title will each be inducted this summer.

The annual free public ceremony will be held Monday, Aug. 4, at the Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion on East Avenue in Saratoga Springs starting at 10:30 a.m.

Prado, Nafzger, Inside Information and Manila were elected by voters among contemporary nominees. The Historic Review Committee, which considers candidates inactive in the sport for 25 years or more, chose Valenzuela and Ancient Title.

Though Nafzger and Prado were both eligible in past years, this marked the first time either appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot.

In semi-retirement for the past few years, Nafzger, 66, was a top rodeo performer in Texas in the 1960s and was inducted into its hall of fame last year. He trained quarter horses for a few years before turning to thoroughbreds, saddling his first winner in 1971 at Santa Fe Downs in New Mexico.

Over the next three decades, Nafzger won nearly 1,100 races and more than $50 million in purses from close to 8,100 starts. He won 140 stakes, 68 of them graded, since 1976 and won at least one stakes race every year from 1980 through 2007.

Nafzger trained three champions in Unbridled, the top 3-year-old colt of 1990, Banshee Breeze, top 3-year-old filly of 1998, and Street Sense, top 2-year-old colt of 2007.

Unbridled gave Nafzger the first of his two Kentucky Derby victories and that fall became the second of only two horses to win the Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic the same year.

Street Sense repeated Nafzger’s triumph at Churchill Downs last May, marking the first time a horse captured both the Derby at 3 and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at 2.

Banshee Breeze won five Grade 1 races in her career, including the Alabama at Saratoga. Nafzger also won Saratoga’s signature race, the Travers, with Unshaded in 2000 and with Street Sense.

“It’s been unbelievable,” Nafzger said. “To go into any Hall of Fame is a great responsibility, the way I look at it. This is a sport that has given me so many memories, and going into something as elite as the Hall of Fame as a trainer ... I never did think I’d ever be here, truthfully.”

Prado, 40, rose to national prominence in Maryland before moving his tack to the New York circuit in 1999. A native of Peru, he came to America in 1986 and has amassed more than 6,000 wins and $205 million in purse earnings.

From 1997 to 1999, Prado led the country in victories, becoming only the fourth rider to reach the 500-win plateau in a single season in 1997, with 535. Seventh on the career earnings list, he has been aboard more than 250 graded stakes winners including the Derby with Barbaro in 2006 and the Belmont Stakes in 2002 with Sarava and 2004 with Birdstone.

A three-time leading rider at Saratoga (2002, 2005, 2006), Prado earned his first year-end championship with the 2006 Eclipse Award.

Among the top horses that Prado has ridden are champions Folklore, Smuggler, Lemon Drop Kid, Kitten’s Joy and Saint Liam, who was Horse of the Year in 2005. He won the 2004 Travers with Birdstone.

“I was speechless,” Prado said. “I was in the jockey’s room when I got the phone call, and I didn’t know what to say. It was a dream come true. All my career, since I began riding, I wanted to do the best I can, but to be in this elite group of people in the Hall of Fame is something I never could imagine reaching.”

Unable to travel to Saratoga, the 73-year-old Valenzuela was presented with his Hall of Fame plaque, ring and blue blazer in a special ceremony last month at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., where he lives.

Valenzuela rode 2,545 winners in 21,203 mounts between 1951 and 1980, earning purse money of $20.1 million. He captured the Derby and Preakness in 1958 with Tim Tam and 1968 with Forward Pass and was the regular rider of Hall of Famer Kelso, teaming up to win 22 stakes together.

“I am the happiest man today knowing that I have been recognized and accepted to the Hall of Fame,” Valenzuela said. “This was my last chapter in my racing career that I wanted to complete.”

Inside Information was chosen in the contemporary female category. Bred and owned by Ogden Mills Phipps and trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, she won 14 of 17 career starts and $1,641,806 in purse money from 1993-95.

Now a broodmare at Claiborne Farms, Inside Information closed her career with three consecutive Grade 1 victories, capping it off with a 13-length romp in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, still the largest margin in event history. She was voted top older female of 1995.

“She was a bit of a suprise to me, even though she did win her first time,” McGaughey said. “She just had that ability to win.”

The contemporary male inductee, Manila is regarded as one of the best American grass horses of all time. He was an 11-time finalist for the Hall of Fame since first appearing on the ballot in 1992.

Trained by Hall of Famer Leroy Jolley for owner Bradley “Mike” Shannon, Manila won 12 of 18 career starts and nearly $2.7 million in purses after going winless as a 2-year-old in 1985.

Now standing at stud in Turkey, the Lyphard colt won 12 of his final 15 starts, including nine in a row between June 7, 1986, and July 15, 1987, before his streak was ended by Talakeno in the 1987 Bernard Baruch at Saratoga.

“It was a total surprise,” Shannon said. “I was astonished when I was called about it. I’m very glad they put him in.”

A California-bred gelding who was both durable and versatile, Ancient Title was bred and owned by William and Ethel Kirkland and trained by Keith Stucki. In a seven-year career from 1972-78, Ancient Title raced 57 times and won 24, 20 of them in stakes, for purses of nearly $1.3 million.

Among his top wins were the Grade 1 Californian and Hollywood Gold Cup in California and the 1975 Whitney at Saratoga.

“He had the speed and stamina and ability and was willing to give it to you if you had him in the right conditions,” Stucki said. “He ran consistently all the time.”

This year’s contemporary finalists also included jockeys Randy Romero and Alex Solis, trainer Robert Wheeler, male horses Best Pal and Tiznow and female horses Open Mind, Silverbulletday and Sky Beauty.

In all, 179 of 184 ballots (97.3 percent) were returned by the Hall of Fame voting panel.

Reach Gazette sports writer Phil Janack at 395-3154 or janack@dailygazette.com.