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Star-studded Gwathmey headlines weekend tripleheader in Virginia, Maryland
©Tod Marks Glenwood Park hosts stars and stakes action at the Middleburg Spring Races on Saturday with an eight-race, $310,000 card, anchored by the $100,000 Temple Gwathmey stakes and $30,000 Middleburg Hunt Cup stakes over timber. The Grade 2 Gwathmey, at 2 ½ miles, is shaping up as an early season blockbuster. The nine nominees…
Read MoreMy Lady’s Manor headlines weekend doubleheader
©Tod Marks Eight races worth $185,000 are on tap for Saturday as steeplechasing returns to Maryland and Virginia. The historic Maryland Timber Triple gets underway in Monkton, about 30 miles north of Baltimore with the $50,000 My Lady’s Manor stakes, the marquee event on the four-race, $105,000 card. The race, first contested in 1902, has…
Read MoreDaltons make it back-to-back wins in Carolina Cup; China Beach stamps himself as rising novice star
©Tod Marks St. Rita Racing’s China Beach went from relative unknown to formidable foe with a dominant performance in the 90th running of the $75,000 Carolina Cup novice stakes at Springdale Race Course in Camden, S.C., on Saturday. Making his first stakes start – and only fourth career try over jumps following a long career…
Read MoreSonny Via passes; campaigned all-time NSA great Good Night Shirt
©Tod Marks Virginia horseman Harold “Sonny” Via Jr., owner of duel Eclipse Award winning jumper and Hall of Famer Good Night Shirt, died March 25 at age 94, according to Jack Fisher, who trained the champion as well as other Via runners. Via, who lived at Hob Knob Farm in Free Union, Va., campaigned Good…
Read MoreCarolina Cup tops weekend double header
©Tod Marks Six races worth $195,000 are on tap for South Carolina’s premier spring social event, while timber specialists head to Pennsylvania for four additional contests worth $65,000. Racing returns to historic Springdale Race Course in Camden, S.C., on Saturday for the 90th running of the Carolina Cup Races. Anchored by the $75,000 Carolina Cup,…
Read MoreAiken recap
©Tod Marks Blue Creek takes featured Imperial Cup; caps two-win day for Brion, Mulqueen On a picture-perfect Saturday afternoon, a record crowd turned out for the National Steeplechase Association season kickoff in Aiken, S.C. a six race, $140,000 card highlighted by the $40,000 Imperial Cup, a handicap for horses rated at 120 or less. It…
Read MoreSix races, $140,000 on tap for Aiken opener
©Tod Marks The National Steeplechase Association Spring season gets underway on Saturday in horsey Aiken, S.C., at the beautiful new course on Richland Avenue. First run in 1930, the Aiken races mark the one of 16 events through May 17 worth a collective $2.67 million. The $140,000 Aiken card consists of six races, five over…
Read MoreRemembering Roddy MacKenzie
©Tod Marks As many know by now, former National Steeplechase Association jockey Roderick “Roddy” MacKenzie, who competed on the circuit for nine years from 2006 to 2014, passed away suddenly on Wednesday in Delaware at the young age of 45. While arrangements are pending, the funeral home that made the announcement said that the family…
Read MoreMaryland timber racing losses a stalwart
©Tod Marks Perry Bolton, who co-owned Armata Stable with Ben Griswold and campaigned Maryland Hunt Cup winners Welter Weight and Vintage Vinnie passed away Tuesday at his home in Florida at age 94. A Maryland fixture, Bolton, who resided in Lutherville, formed the Armata partnership with his lifelong friend in the early 1990s and the…
Read MoreCharles Wayne (Skip) Achuff Jr. – Annual Memorial Stalwart of Steeplechase Award
$1000 award given to a jockey, race official, race meet director, or others who support the growth of Steeplechase Qualifications of the award recipient: Potential recipients are nominated by their peers for performance in 2024 (previous year). Petitioners for nominees must complete an application and submit by 28 February. The Achuff family will select from…
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