Westerland, Noah and the Ark star in busy weekendThree stakes on tap in weekend doubleheader

Westerland winning at Callaway © Tod Marks Plenty of major moments after last Saturday’s 14-race doubleheader, including Graham Watters’ 100th NSA victory, and three-win days for both Jamie Bargary and Gerard Galligan. Trainer Leslie Young, too, was prolific, and her combined four wins at both venues put her in a tie at 27 with Jack…

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  Audrey Riker

Audrey Riker visiting multiple grade stake winner Irish Strait at Fair Hill,Maryland in 2017 (Credit: Isobel Ellis) Former thoroughbred owner and stakes winning trainer Audrey Riker died October 30th at her home in White Hall, Maryland. Riker trained horses over fences and on the flat for five decades, beginning in the late 1950’s until her…

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Three stakes on tap in weekend doubleheader

Going Country at Far Hills © Tod Marks The jumpers land in Georgia and Virginia on Saturday as the 2024 National Steeplechase Association season heads toward the finish line at Aiken, S.C., on Nov. 23. At the Montpelier Hunt Races, run on the front lawn of President James Madison’s historic home in Montpelier Station, Va.,…

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Mystic Strike, Carloun sparkle at reimagined Gold Cup Races

Gerard Galligan and Todd McKenna © Tod Marks On a picture-perfect autumn afternoon, the National Steeplechase Association returned to Glenwood Park in Middleburg on Sunday, just two weeks after the Virginia Fall Races, the traditional October fixture at the site. The running of back-to-back meets at the same venue is highly unusual, and came about…

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Ground Conditions Force Cancellation of 2024 Steeplechase of Charleston presented by Lexus

(Hollywood, SC) – Out of deep concern for the safety of our equine and human athletes, Steeplechase of Charleston presented by Lexus, announces the cancellation of this year’s event originally scheduled for Sunday, November 10, 2024, at Stono Ferry Racetrack in Hollywood, SC. The prolonged drought in our region has left the ground overly hard,…

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Snap Decision finally gets his ‘Grand’ moment

Snap Decision © Tod Marks After six seasons of scintillating performances that included 15 victories (13 stakes) facing top-flight competition, Bruton Street-US’ Snap Decision finally landed the biggest prize that had eluded him, the $250,000 American Grand National at Far Hills. With the hard-fought victory on Saturday — his first in four tries in the…

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Stage set for steeplechasing’s “Grand” day  

Large Crowd at Far Hills 2023 © Tod Marks American steeplechase racing’s crowning day features a six-race, all-stakes lineup and $720,000 in prize money.  The races will be broadcast nationally on America’s Day at the Races on Fox Sports. First race post time is 12:50 p.m. They don’t call the Far Hills Races steeplechasing’s championship…

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Virginia Gold Cup Association Statement 

The National Steeplechase Association (NSA), the national governing body for jump racing, has revoked the sanction for the running of the 2024 International Gold Cup at Great Meadow, scheduled to run on October 26. The NSA has deemed the Great Meadow racecourse to be “in disrepair and unsafe.” Without the NSA sanction, the races cannot continue…

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Virginia Fall Races 70th Anniversary Meet to Honor Longtime Race Director and Announcer with $50,000 Will O’Keefe Memorial Hurdle Stakes

MIDDLEBURG, Va., September 6, 2024— The Virginia Fall Races will honor longtime race meet director and voice of Virginia steeplechasing, Will O’Keefe, with the inaugural running of the Will O’Keefe Memorial, a $50,000 hurdle stakes for three-year-olds, at Glenwood Park on Oct. 12. The hurdle feature offers the first stakes opportunity for the three-year-old class…

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