One to Watch Archive
Black Jack Blues wins Lonesome Glory Champions Award
Irvin S. Naylor’s Black Jack Blues, a recent import who sailed to two impressive victories in his only U.S. starts, was named the National Steeplechase Association’s Lonesome Glory Champions Award winner, bestowed on the horse with the highest earnings in the current racing season. The Lonesome Glory and other awards were presented Saturday, Nov. 19, in Camden, S.C., at a dinner that followed the year’s final meet, the Marion duPont Scott Colonial Cup that afternoon.
Naylor was honored as champion owner after a record-breaking season, and his Lake Placid was the year’s champion novice and claimer.
Jonathan Sheppard passes $20-million milepost
The victory of Bill Pape’s Dugan in a $15,000 open claiming race at the Aiken Fall meet on Oct. 29 would appear to be barely a footnote in the illustrious career of Dugan’s trainer, Racing Hall of Fame member Jonathan Sheppard. But the half-length victory had considerable historic meaning.
Dugan’s $9,000 winning purse raised Sheppard’s career winnings in National Steeplechase Association races to $20,002,192. The British-born trainer, 70, is the first in the American sport ever to pass the $20-million mark. His closest competitor, Jack Fisher, is approaching $10-million in career purse earnings.
Irv Naylor sets annual purse record with Far Hills haul
With weeks remaining in the National Steeplechase Association’s 2011 season, the owner title has been all but decided. More than a half-million dollars remained on the table after the rich Far Hills meet on Oct. 22, but it is virtually impossible for anyone to overtake Irvin S. Naylor, who won his first owner title in 2010. The York, Pa., businessman and philanthropist already has set a record for most purse earnings in a season.
His stable’s performance at Far Hills was unprecedented: three victories, including two in the day’s biggest races, and a second in another stakes race. When the day was over, Naylor had won $265,250 of Far Hills’ season-high $450,000 in purses. That haul raised his 2011 purses total to $605,775, which was $486,475 ahead of Jacqueline Ohrstrom, whose stable is enjoying an excellent year.
Jimmy Duggan to provide Far Hills Races commentary
Jimmy Duggan, TVG’s steeplechase analyst, will be the expert commentator at the 91st annual Far Hills Races in New Jersey on Saturday, Oct. 22. Duggan’s astute comments on the hurdlers and timber horses will be available worldwide by live streaming video on a pay-per-view basis. Details and log-in are accessed from the video link on the www.nationalsteeplechase.com home page.
Based in California for the last 17 years, Duggan was a steeplechase jockey in the 1980s and early 1990s in his native England. He was stable jockey for renowned National Hunt trainer Sir Fred Winter after the retirement of John Francome and had his best season in 1984-85, when he rode 30 winners. In all, he accumulated 311 wins, 14 of them aboard Aonoch, who bested the legendary See You Then in the 1986 Sandeman Aintree Hurdle. During Saratoga Race Course’s summer meet, he provided commentary each week on the New York track’s steeplechase races for TVG.
Live video streaming slated for Far Hills
The National Steeplechase Association, in conjunction with the United States Equestrian Federation, will offer live streaming video broadcasts of three more fall-championship race meets on a pay-per-view basis.
The live video streaming continues with the Far Hills Races on Oct. 22, the Steeplechase at Callaway Gardens on Nov. 5, and the season-ending Marion duPont Scott Colonial Cup on Nov. 19.
Camden golf tourney to benefit National Steeplechase Foundation
The Colonial Cup meet always provides an exciting conclusion to the year’s steeplechase season, and now there’s another reason to attend the season finale at Camden, S.C.
On Nov. 17, two days before the Colonial Cup, the National Steeplechase Foundation will sponsor “The Cup” Charity Golf Tournament. The semi-annual event will be held at the Camden Country Club.
International Gold Cup kicks off live video streaming
The National Steeplechase Association, in conjunction with the United States Equestrian Federation, will offer live streaming video broadcasts of four fall-championship race meets on a pay-per-view basis.
The live video streaming begins with the International Gold Cup on Saturday, Oct. 15, and continues with the Far Hills Races on Oct. 22, the Steeplechase at Callaway Gardens on Nov. 5, and the season-ending Marion duPont Scott Colonial Cup on Nov. 19.
Camden golf tournament to benefit National Steeplechase Foundation
The Colonial Cup meet always provides an exciting conclusion to the year’s steeplechase season, and now there’s another reason to attend the season finale at Camden, S.C.
On Nov. 17, two days before the Colonial Cup, the National Steeplechase Foundation will sponsor “The Cup” Charity Golf Tournament. The semi-annual event will be held at the Camden Country Club.
Patron member Sally Jeffords wins free trip to Cheltenham
Sarah Jeffords, a National Steeplechase Association board member, found out in August how valuable it is to be a Patron Member when she won a dream weekend in England in late January. The trip to Cheltenham Race Course, provided by fellow NSA board member Richard Hutchinson, was the prize offered to all 2011 Patron members when they started or renewed their memberships.
Hers was one of 200 names of Patron Members that were placed in a bowl at Guy and Beverly Torsilieri’s reception on Aug. 18 at Saratoga Springs, N.Y. At the time, she was in Maine and learned of her good luck the following day by e-mail from Hutchinson. “This is the last thing I would find pop up on my computer. It is so cool. What fun!” she wrote in response.
Strawbridge to be TCA’s Honored Guest
The Thoroughbred Club of America has selected leading steeplechase owner George Strawbridge Jr. to be its Honored Guest for 2011. His service to Thoroughbred racing and breeding will be saluted at the club’s 80th annual testimonial dinner at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., on Oct. 30.
“Over a long career, Mr. Strawbridge has exemplified the best traditions of horsemanship and sportsmanship,” TCA President Julie Cauthen said. “His personal commitment to the sport of Thoroughbred racing extends beyond his own personal success to outspoken leadership on behalf of the game.”
Strawbridge to be TCA
Jonathan Sheppard had a season to remember in 2010, when he secured his 1,000th victory over fences and claimed the National Steeplechase Association’s trainer title. The current season looked to be very different, with retirements and layups limiting his spring season to six victories. It appeared that the trainer title would return to the perennial battle between Jack Fisher and Tom Voss.
But then the action moved to Saratoga Race Course, where Sheppard is king. The Racing Hall of Fame trainer won four of five races there in 2010, and he won four races again this year, or half of the jump contests at the New York Racing Association track.
Jump into Saratoga’s Steeplechase Thursdays!
Saratoga Race Course is hosting Steeplechase Thursdays, and they are dawn-to-dusk events at the storied racetrack and its home community, Saratoga Springs.
The day gets a jump-start at the Morning Line Kitchen on Saratoga’s backstretch, close by the quarter pole. The coffee is free, courtesy of the National Steeplechase Association, for two hours each Thursday, and the refreshments are served in cups with the NSA logo and promotional material for Steeplechase Thursday. A banner at the Morning Line promotes the free coffee and the NSA.
Jump into the Saratoga Experience!
Steeplechase racing will have an expanded presence at Saratoga Race Course, and the enhanced experience will extend from the race course itself to the comfortable confines of America’s most popular racetrack.
On tap will be a schedule of nine steeplechase races, a 50% increase from the six races scheduled in 2010, and events for National Steeplechase Association members and participants designed both to increase their enjoyment of the sport and to expand public awareness of steeplechase racing.
Irv Naylor concludes spring season with sizable lead in standings
Irvin S. Naylor, 2010′s champion owner, concluded the current season’s spring schedule with a substantial lead in the earnings table. The York, Pa., sportsman and philanthropist had earnings of $246,275 to $104,450 for the Mede Cahaba Stable of Mignon Smith. Naylor campaigned the spring’s two leading earners, Calvin Houghland Iroquois (Gr. 1) winner Tax Ruling ($93,500) and Decoy Daddy ($84,100), who won the $50,000 Temple Gwathmey (Gr. 3) at Middleburg Spring and the $75,000 Marcellus Frost (Gr. 2) at Iroquois in Nashville.
Tom Voss enjoyed a lead by both wins and earnings on the trainer table. His Maryland-based stable won ten races and produced purse earnings of $210,600. Lilith Boucher, who trains for Mede Cahaba and others, ranked second with seven wins, one ahead of Richard L. Valentine.
Richard Boucher triples at Radnor
Richard Boucher, enjoying one of the best seasons of his National Steeplechase Association career, surged into second place in the 2011 jockey standings by earnings and a tie for second by wins with a three-victory afternoon at the Radnor Hunt Races in Malvern, Pa., on Saturday, May 21.
Boucher, 45, rode two winners for Mede Cahaba Stable and his wife, trainer Lilith Boucher. He kicked off the day with a score on Mede Cahaba’s Class Indian in the $25,000 Milfern Cup, a Sport of Kings maiden hurdle. After entries were taken, he picked up the mount on Pink Ribbon Racing’s Won Wild Bird, who was victorious in the $40,000 Radnor Hunt Cup over timber fences. He then took the day’s richest race, the $50,000 National Hunt Cup aboard Mede Cahaba’s Complete Zen.
Leading owner Naylor surges at Iroquois
Leading owner Irvin S. Naylor’s powerful stable got off to a slow start this spring, but it more than made up for lost time at the Iroquois Steeplechase at Nashville’s Percy Warner Park on Saturday, May 14. The York, Pa., sportsman and philanthropist took away three trophies from his three starters, including victories in the two graded stakes on the program, the $150,000 Calvin Houghland Iroquois (Gr. 1) and the $75,000 Marcellus Frost Stakes (Gr. 2).
Kicking off Naylor’s three-win afternoon was Chess Board, who scored a quarter-length victory in the Bright Hour Amateur Hurdle. His Decoy Daddy then prevailed by a length over The Fields Stable’s Left Unsaid in the Marcellus Frost, a two-mile race over National Fences. Capping the afternoon was Tax Ruling’s repeat victory in the Calvin Houghland Iroquois.
Crowley notches a Queen’s Cup triple over fences
Brian Crowley and Paddy Young headed in different directions on Saturday, April 30, and both had big afternoons. Young, who entered the weekend with a two-race advantage over Crowley in the 2011 National Steeplechase Association jockey standings, had a big day at the Foxfield Spring Races in Charlottesville, Va., winning the first two races for owner Perry Bolton and trainer Tom Voss. He rode Cornhusker to victory in a maiden hurdle and Arch Hero in the Grover Vandevender Memorial over timber.
Crowley went to the Queen’s Cup in Mineral Springs, N.C., and picked up ground on Young with three victories over fences, plus one training flat win that does not count in the standings. Going into the final month of the spring season, Young maintained a one-race lead over Crowley, eight to seven. Crowley started the day with a victory in the BAE Systems maiden hurdle on Cherry Knoll Farm’s Roman Glory for trainer Janet Elliot.
Paddy Young takes command in jockey standings
Paddy Young missed the first race meet of the season in Aiken, S.C., and had one victory at the rich Carolina Cup meet in Camden, S.C. Undaunted by a somewhat slow start, the champion jockey by victories and purse earnings in 2010 hit his stride at the Stoneybrook Steeplechase at Raeford, N.C., on April 9.
The Irish native collected three victories from five races, including a win on Roger O’Byrne’s Tizsilk in the featured $20,000 Sandhills Cup. Tizsilk is trained by Tom Voss, for whom Young also rode Trillium Stable’s Mischief to victory in the $10,000 Stoneybrook Chase, a maiden claiming hurdle. For his wife, trainer Leslie Young, the leading jockey rode Hickory Tree Stables’ SlaneyRock to a win in the $15,000 Stoneybrook Cup, a maiden hurdle.
Crowley makes a fast start in 2011
Brian Crowley was a veteran steeplechase jockey in England and Ireland before trying the American scene, and he got a quick start last year with a debut victory at the 2010 Aiken Spring Meet aboard Honour Element. His affinity for Aiken, S.C., continued into 2011 when he scored two victories on the National Steeplechase Association’s opening day on Saturday, March 26, to take the lead in the jockey standings.
He scored the first of his two victories aboard Debra Kachel’s Class Mark in the $15,000 James W. Maloney maiden hurdle, and the hard-riding Irishman notched a nose victory aboard Christ Is King Stable’s Dispute This in the $10,000 Ford D. Conger claiming hurdle. Both winners were trained by Ricky Hendriks, who also stood alone atop the trainer standings of the new season.
Crowley burst upon the U.S. riding scene in 2010 and finished in second place by purses with $428,440. He had a tremendous Saratoga meet with three wins and two seconds in the five jump races. For Racing Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard, he rode Bill Pape’s Sermon of Love to victories in the $70,000 Jonathan Kiser Novice Stakes and the $100,000 New York Turf Writers Cup Handicap (Gr. 1). He kicked off the fall season with a win with Hudson River Stables’ Arcadius in Monmouth Park’s Helen Haskell Sampson (Gr. 1) and won the Foxbrook Champion Hurdle with Mary Ann Houghland’s Nationbuilder at Far Hills, N.J., both for Sheppard. Crowley had 164 wins in England and Ireland before starting his U.S. career.
Who do you like in Aiken’s Budweiser Imperial Cup?
Country Cousin. 2003 dk. b. or br. g., Lear Fan–Stony Lonesome, by Apalachee. 2010 record: 4-2-0-0, $50,000. Owner: Oakwood Stable. Trainer: Julie Gomena. Jockey: Carl Rafter. 3-1. Won National Hunt Cup at Radnor last May but then went off form in the fall. A contender if he comes back strongly.
Torino Luge. 2003 b. g., Semipalatinsk–Snow Chariot, by Chariot. 2010 record: 0-0-0-0, $0. Owner: Mary Ann Houghland. Trainer: Doug Fout. Jockey: Jeff Murphy. 8-1. Australian-bred has not raced in more than two years, but he set a course record in his U.S. debut. Long layoff is the big question mark.
Slip Away rules as Lonesome Glory Champions Award winner
The National Steeplechase Association presented awards to its 2010 champions at Springdale Hall in Camden, S.C., on Saturday, Nov. 13, only hours after Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Slip Away had roared away to an overpowering victory in the Colonial Cup and secured the annual champion by earnings. Following are profiles of the year’s champions.
LONESOME GLORY CHAMPIONS AWARD
Sheppard honored at Far Hills Races
Racing Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard, who recently reached a milestone when he saddled his 1,000th steeplechase winner,was honored at the Far Hills Races on Oct. 23. Sheppard, who has won more races over fences than any other trainer in the sport’s long history, received a plaque honoring his accomplishment.
Presenting the award was Guy J. Torsilieri, co-chair of the Far Hills Races and president of the National Steeplechase Association. “We are honored to recognize Jonathan Sheppard’s milestone victory,” Torsilieri said. “Besides being a peerless horseman, he has been a leader within the sport and a tireless advocate for steeplechase racing.”
Sheppard notches 1,000th victory in style
A few years ago, Jonathan Sheppard noticed that he was approaching his 1,000th career steeplechase victory, although he did not believe that he would reach that milestone before 2011. But a spectacular season in 2010 placed him at that milestone mark on Sept. 25 when he saddled Hudson River Stables’ Arcadius to win the $100,000 Helen Haskell Sampson Stakes (Gr. 1) at Monmouth Park.
Sheppard, 69, had reached the brink of his 1,000th victory over fences earlier in the afternoon, when Port Mosebey won a$25,000 maiden special weight race for the Racing Hall of Fame trainer’s longtime client Augustin Stables, the racing and breeding operation of George Strawbridge Jr.
Crowley sizzles at Saratoga
Brian Crowley did not sweep the Saratoga Race Course steeplechase races, but he certainly came close. When the meet concluded, the Irish-born jockey had three wins and two seconds in the five Saratoga jump races.
All three of his Saratoga victories were aboard horses owned by Bill Pape and trained by Jonathan Sheppard. His biggest score was aboard Sermon of Love in the $100,000 New York Turf Writers Cup Handicap (Gr. 1) on Aug. 26. He kept the Pulpit gelding in a stalking position and powered to the lead near the sixteenth pole. Sermon of Love finished a length ahead of Hudson River Farms’ Arcadius, whom Crowley had ridden to a second-place finish in the A. P. Smithwick Memorial (Gr. 2) on Aug. 5.
Carl Rafter closes ground in jockey standings
Carl Rafter went on a tear in May, collecting eight of his ten 2010 victories during the month and moving into second place in the National Steeplechase Association standings by races won and purses. From 40 mounts through July 1, the English-born jockey also had five second-place finishes and three thirds, with purse earnings of $196,900.
Rafter, 33, had a triple at the 80th Radnor Hunt Races on May 15, including the afternoon’s two stakes races. He won the $40,000 Radnor Hunt Cup with Keystone Thoroughbreds’ Meet At Eleven and then arrived just in time to take the $50,000 National Hunt Cup with Oakwood Stable’s Country Cousin for trainer Julie Gomena. He closed out the Radnor program with an easy score aboard Chadds Ford Stables’ Saluda Sam in the $20,000 Henry Collins for trainer Kathy McKenna. In all, his mounts won $73,150 at Radnor.
Hodsdon joins NSA’s ‘century club’
With her victory aboard Mrs. Calvin Houghland’s Nationbuilder in the $50,000 Queen’s Cup MPC Chase on April 24, Danielle Hodsdon joined the elite century club of jockeys who have won 100 or more National Steeplechase Association-sanctioned races. Hodsdon, 33, is the 36th steeplechase jockey to reach that milestone.
Hodsdon, who notched her first victory a decade ago aboard Sultry Gate at Foxfield in Virginia, was the National Steeplechase Association’s champion jockey in 2006 and the leading earner last year, when she was the regular rider of Eclipse Award winner Mixed Up.
McCarthy has big day at Queen’s Cup
Irish-born jockey Jimmy McCarthy enjoyed a big day on Saturday, April 24, at the 15th Queen’s Cup Steeplechase at Brooklandwood Race Course in Mineral Springs, N.C. With Mattie Batchelor, McCarthy was one of two foreign jockeys riding the card, and he came away with two victories and a quality second in the $50,000 Queen’s Cup MPC Chase.
The veteran steeplechase jockey kicked off the afternoon with a 54-length score aboard Edition Farm’s Takmeoutodabalgame for trainer Janet Elliot in the $25,00 BAE Systems Sport of Kings Maiden Hurdle.
Batchelor on board for Queen’s Cup
Mattie Batchelor, a British steeplechase jockey currently enjoying the best season of his career, will join Jimmy McCarthy as the featured foreign jockeys for the 15th Queen’s Cup Steeplechase on Saturday, April 24. The six-race program at Brooklandwood Racecourse in Mineral Springs, N.C., near Charlotte, will feature the $50,000 Queen’s Cup MPC ‘Chase.
Batchelor, 31, will travel to the U.S. in place of Brian Harding, who recently broke an arm in a fall. A native of the south of England, Batchelor is an accomplished steeplechase jockey and an irrepressible member of the National Hunt jockeys’ rooms. His biggest career win was aboard King Harald in the 2005 Jewson Novice ‘Chase.
Sheppard perfect as owner in ’10
Jonathan Sheppard currently occupies the top spot in the National Steeplechase Association trainer standings, leading both by victories and by earnings. He also is prominent in the owner rankings, with a perfect record through the first three race meets of 2010.
With consecutive victories to close the Stoneybrook Steeplechase program at the Carolina Horse Park in Raeford, N.C., the English-born Racing Hall of Fame trainer ran his unbeaten streak as an owner to three. He won the $10,000 Centurylink Hurdle, a conditioned claiming race, with Sparkled, and then his rising star Italian Wedding drew away to a 3 1/4-length victory in the $20,000 Sandhills Cup, the featured race at the Stoneybrook meet.
Young riding in top form
Paddy Young took his first National Steeplechase Association title as champion jockey last year, and he has jumped out to a brilliant start in the young 2010 season. He had two winners on the opening card at Aiken, S.C., on March 20, including a Budweiser Imperial Cup victory aboard Silverton Hill’s Torlundy, who is trained by his wife, Leslie.
At the gala Carolina Cup Races a week later, he gave Randleston Farm’s Spy in the Sky a confident, winning ride in the $75,000 Carolina First Carolina Cup, the first graded race on the National Steeplechase Association’s 2010 schedule. The 34-year-old Ireland native took the 2009 jockey title with 19 wins from 99 mounts.
Irish invasion of Queen’s Cup
Brian Harding, who had a second and a fourth in steeplechase races at the 2009 Queen’s Cup Steeplechase, is scheduled to ride the 15th-anniversary Queen’s Cup program on April 24 at Mineral Springs, N.C. Joining Harding will be Jimmy McCarthy, who won a training flat race at the 2009 Queen’s Cup meet.
The Charlotte Steeplechase Association, which stages the Queen’s Cup races, will pay the travel expenses of the two Irish-born jockeys, who currently ride in Great Britain.
Ross Geraghty
Talk about a fast start. The veteran Irish steeplechase jockey landed in the United States last September 18, and eight days later he was in the winner’s circle at Monmouth Park after winning the $30,000 Sport of Kings Maiden Hurdle aboard Dumbarton Farm’s Easy Red.
An even bigger day in New Jersey awaited Geraghty and Tom Voss, who trained Easy Red. On Oct. 17, they joined forces to win the $250,000 Grand National (Gr. I) with Your Sum Man and the $100,000 Foxbrook Champion Hurdle with Left Unsaid. Geraghty completed his abbreviated U.S. season with purse earnings of $323,950. He won with six of his 29 mounts, a 20.7% strike rate.
