Timber stakes in spotlight at Middleburg, Genesee
©Tod Marks
Three stakes – two over timber and a restricted three – year – old hurdle stakes highlight this Saturday’s National Steeplechase Association doubleheader in New York and Virginia.
The star of the show at the $275,000 eight-race Virginia Fall Races at Middleburg again will be Dolly Fisher’s Keys Discount, the reigning champion over timber fences who seeks to extend his remarkable skein of consecutive stakes victories to nine.
Six challengers are expected to line up against the champ, who is three for three this season and coming off of another spectacular tally in the Brown Advisory stakes two weeks ago at Shawan Downs, in the $50,000 National Sporting Library & Museum Cup at 3 ¼ miles, a race he captured in 2025. Keys Discount, trained by Jack Fisher and ridden by Jamie Bargary, is undefeated at Glenwood Park, having taken three stakes over the undulating course.
Leading the list of contenders is multiple Grade 1 winning hurdle star Noah and the Ark, who at age 12 recently switched to timber racing. It will be the first meeting between the two. The Keystone Thoroughbreds’ star, trained by Todd McKenna and piloted by Harry Beswick, has shown an affinity for timber. He lost a photo finish in his debut at Fair Hill in May after a year-and-a-half layoff then broke his maiden impressively in wire-to-wire fashion at Shawan Downs on Sept. 26. McKenna has also nominated maiden and allowance winner, Upland Partner’s Bob’s Bar (Stephen Mulqueen), to the race. The 10-year-old was out of action for nearly two years, and has made three starts since his return, all off-the-board finishes.
Keys Discount will face a familiar foe in Potter Group USA, Gaskells Waste Services, and Ashwell Stable’s Uco Valley (Leslie Young, Freddie Procter), who spent much of last year chasing him. This year, Uco Valley has taken a different path and earned his first stakes score in the My Lady’s Manor in the spring.
Trainer Neil Morris, who is having a sensational season trailing only Jack Fisher in victories, sends out a pair in Runnymoore Racing’s Step Out (Graham Watters) and Will Russell’s Animal Kingston (Bernie Dalton). Step Out has stepped up with two victories (maiden and allowance) in two tries this season after coming over from Europe. He was impressive beating a classy field in a non-winners of three allowance at the Iroquois Races in May. Animal Kingston has been competitive since switching from hurdles to timber and has placed in three stakes. He was second best to Keys Discount at Shawan, finishing 10 lengths behind.
Oakdene Stables’ Storm Team (William Dowling, Dan Nevin), once a stakes star who earned more than $330,000, has failed to finish his last three starts.
The co-feature is the $50,000 Will O’Keefe Memorial, one of just two stakes for three-year-olds on the NSA calendar. A field of six freshman is likely for the O’Keefe.
Atlanta Hall’s Mantis (Elizabeth Voss, Niall Prendergast), a Maryland-bred son of G1 winner Cupid, makes his first career start. Riverdee Stable and Joseph Fowler’s Luftkin (Kate Dalton, Jamie Bargary), a New York-bred by millionaire War Dancer, was fifth in his NSA debut at Shawan Downs two weeks ago. Fowler’s Lost Kitty (Kate Dalton, Bernie Dalton), a daughter of Kitten’s Joy and the lone filly in the field, also makes her first start over jumps. Silverton Hill’s Private Larry (Leslie Young, Freddie Procter), one of the most experienced contenders, made nine starts in Ireland and has experience over hurdles. Armata Stables and Achsah O’Donovan’s first-time starter Arrow’s Crossing (Mark Beecher, Dan Nevin) is a Maryland-bred son of Phipps millionaire G1 winner Imagining. VinLaur Racing Stables (Keri Brion, Stephen Mulqueen), a Kentucky-bred son of Hard Spun, was fifth in his NSA debut at Shawan Downs.
The remainder of the program includes a $40,000 maiden hurdle; two $30,000 maiden/optional claiming events for horses who have started for a $30,000 tag; $35,000 handicap for horses rated at 115 or less; $20,000 maiden over timber; and $20,000 steeplethon over mixed obstacles.
Gates open at 10 a.m., and first race post time is 12:30 p.m. For full entries, click here: https://nationalsteeplechase.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Middleburg-Overnight-1.pdf
At the Genesee Valley Hunt Races in Geneseo, N.Y., the only steeplechase in the Empire State away from the major tracks, three sanctioned races have been carded, all over posts and rails. Topping the day is the $25,000 Genesee Valley Hunt Cup, at 3 ½ miles. The other races are a $15,000 maiden and a $15,000 allowance restricted to amateur or apprentice riders.
In the feature, four veterans are expected to face the starter. Bruton Street-US’ Track and Trace (Mark Beecher, Harry O’Dwyer) is seeking to make it back-to-back wins, following a strong allowance victory at Shawan Downs last month. He finished a distant second to Keys Discount twice in the spring. Paul and Molly Willis and Turks Head Turf’s Pavoni (Todd McKenna, Virginia Korrell) was contending for the lead until he fell at the final fence versus Track and Trace at Shawan. Before that, he broke his maiden at the Grand National Races in April.
Greenlights’ The Butler Yates (Leslie Young, Shane Fitzgerald) is no stranger to Genesee, having made three previous starts. In 2025 he captured the Hunt Cup to notch his one and only career stakes victory. Similarly, Irv Naylor’s Withoutmoreado (Kathy Neilson, Eric Poretz) is making his fourth trip to upstate New York. He has the distinction of being the last horse to defeat Keys Discount, which he did in the 2024 edition of the Genesee Hunt Cup, when the latter lost his rider in the early going.
The races are only part of festivities at Genesee. There are terrier and dachshund dog races, a jumping contest, agility courses, sled dog demos, and the Parade of the Genesee Valley Hunt foxhounds. Leashed dogs are welcome to attend the event. There’s lots of events for children, too, including stick horse races and pony rides. There will be food and drink vendors, wine and craft beer tastings, shopping, music, and more. It’s like an old-fashioned country fair with a race track. Gates open at 9 a.m.
For full entries, click here: https://nationalsteeplechase.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Genesee-Overnight.pdf
The races will be live streamed from the National Steeplechase Association web site, www.nationalsteeplechase.com