Posts Tagged ‘steeplechase’
Cool Jet, Keys Discount shine on busy weekend
©Tod Marks Despite some ominous weather in Virginia and Delaware, fan turnout was undeterred as the Virginia Gold Cup celebrated its 100th anniversary and Winterthur enjoyed its 47th renewal with a combined 10 races worth $465,000. Six races were on tap at Great Meadow Race Course – a seventh was cancelled when storms blew in…
Read MoreVirginia, Delaware to host 11 races on Kentucky Derby weekend
©Tod Marks Saturday’s Virginia Gold Cup meet at Great Meadow Race Course features the first of nine Grade 1 National Steeplechase Association hurdle stakes, which has drawn a prospective lineup of nine. The Winterthur Point-to-Point on Sunday, outside of Wilmington, Del., will feature its traditional four-race card, three over timber. Though the 2025 Maryland Hunt…
Read MoreRoad to Oz gets up in final strides to win 128th Maryland Hunt Cup
©Tod Marks Trainer Mark Beecher earns his first Hunt Cup score as a conditioner, while jockey Conor Tierney edges the horse he rode to victory in the historic contest in 2023. In a thrilling renewal of $100,000 Maryland Hunt Cup, American timber racing’s most celebrated and demanding event, Daniel Baker’s gutsy Road to Oz took…
Read MoreHunt Cup, Foxfield make for a super Saturday
©Tod Marks Maryland and Virginia take center stage for this weekend’s National Steeplechase Association stops. In Glyndon, nine horses are expected to face the starter for the 128th Maryland Hunt Cup, America’s oldest, longest, and most challenging timber race. Meanwhile hurdlers will be spotlighted at Foxfield in Charlottesville, where $240,000 in purses are on the…
Read MoreStar-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…
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