Irv Naylor's Must See The Doc headed for the start of Far Hills' Gladstone Stakes, in which he finished second on Oct. 19. (Tod Marks photo)

Irv Naylor’s Must See The Doc, always prominent in the Steeplechase of Charleston’s $25,000 Alston Cup for three-year-olds, battled past front-runner Global Freedom after the last fence and held off Another Try for a narrow victory on Sunday.
Hudson River Farms’ Another Try finished second, just ahead of Rosbrian Farm’s Global Freedom, winner of the Far Hills Races’ $50,000 Gladstone Stakes on Oct. 19.
Trained by Ricky Hendriks, Global Freedom became the year’s three-year-old champion with $32,500 in jump purses. Leslie Young-trained Must See The Doc, second to Global Freedom in the Gladstone, finished second in the standings with $24,000.
Under sunny skies and with temperatures in the brisk mid-50s, the six-race Steeplechase of Charleston at Stono Ferry brought down the curtain on the 2019 National Steeplechase Association program. The races in Hollywood, S.C., were run for the first time under the ownership of the Post and Courier, the South’s oldest newspaper.
In the Alston Cup, Gerard Galligan sent Global Freedom to the lead at the start and set a moderate pace on the Stono Ferry course. Must See The Doc took up an occasionally fractious stalking position under Brian Linehan, with Diablo Voloce briefly prominent in the early going and Another Try well back.