TORONTO -- Owner and breeder Frank Stronach and thoroughbred Chief Bearhart headline the list of eight new inductees into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Also to be inducted Aug. 29 are harness racing owner-breeder Irving Liverman, trainer-driver William (Bud) Fritz and horses Staying Together and Super Wave. Joining Stronach and Chief Bearhart among the thorougbhred inductees will be trainer MacDonald (Mac) Benson and jockey Ted Atkinson.

Stronach, 69, of Newmarket, Ont., is one of thoroughbred racing's biggest names. The Austrian-born auto parts magnate not only is a celebrated owner and breeder, but also created Magna Entertainment, which is the world's largest operator of racetracks. His most accomplished horses include Awesome Again, Macho Uno, Basqueian, Touch Gold, Red Bullet and Glorious Song, to name a few. Stronach was voted the leading breeder and owner in the U.S. from 1998 to 2000.

Chief Bearhart was twice honoured as Canada's horse of the year and won an Eclipse Award in 1997 as the leading turf horse. Chief Bearhart, owned by Sam-Son Farms of Milton, Ont., enjoyed a banner '97 season, winning both the Canadian International at Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack and the Breeders' Cup Turf event at Hollywood Park.

Liverman, of Hampstead, Que., is one of harness racing's most successful owners. Liverman's stable includes the likes of Silent Majority, Handle With Care, Windshield Wiper, Laughs, Britelite Lobell, Time Well Spent, Muscles Yankee, Feel The Motion and Chasing Tail. His horses registered victories in such notable races as the Hambletonian, Meadowlands Pace, Breeders Crown, World Trotting Derby and Jugette.

Fritz, of Walkerton, Ont., won more than 1,900 races and purse earnings of nearly $10 million over his harness racing career. He was honoured as Canada's Horseman of the Year three times (1986, '89, '90) and was named Canadian Trainer of the Year in 1990.

Pacer Staying Together, owned by Robert Hamather of Hensall, Ont., was a dominant force in 1993. He won nearly $1.2 million that year, the largest single-season amount ever amassed by a gelding. He was named Harness Horse of the Year in both Canada and the U.S., eventually retiring with

career earnings of nearly $1.7 million.

Super Wave was one of North America's premier pacing horses, winning 40 of his 85 lifetime starts and finishing no worse than third in 80 per cent of his races. In 1971, Super Wave was named Canadian Horse of the Year as well as U.S. Aged Pacing Horse of the Year.

Benson trained two Queen's Plate winners (Regal Embrace in 1978, filly La Lorgnette in '85). Among the winning stars he developed for Winfields Farm in Oshawa, Ont., were Choral Group, Bounding Away, Legarto, Deputy Jane West and Santa Amelia.

Atkinson, of Toronto, was twice the leading jockey in North American in both wins and earnings. He rode from 1938 to 1959, registering 287 wins in 1944. Two years later, he became the first jockey to surpass the $1-million mark in winnings. He retired with 3,795 career wins and is a member of the U.S. Horse Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga, N.Y.