2019 Foxfield Fall Races ©Betsy Burke Parker

After a two-year hiatus, fall steeplechasing returns to Charlottesville, Va., on Sunday with the 43rd running of the Foxfield Races. But it won’t be the same old meet. Major improvements to the course and grounds, new partnerships with charitable organizations, a de-emphasis on the consumption of alcoholic beverages, and a commitment to becoming a good

Jockey Bernie Dalton scored his 100th win with Del Rio Chasers' Step to the Bar and trainer Kate Dalton. © Tod Marks

Newcomers shine, a veteran comes through again, and Dalton reaches a milestone Saturday’s eight-race card at Shawan Downs in Cockeysville, Md., was a reminder of what makes steeplechase racing at the hunt meets a day of glorious family fun. Fans picnicking under the bright blue autumn sky in a picture-perfect setting of rolling hills and

Shawan Downs is comprised of 300 acres of open space protected by the Land Preservation Trust. © Tod Marks

The first of 11 race meets spread across seven states over the next month and half takes place at Shawan Downs near Hunt Valley in Baltimore County on Saturday with an eight-race card that’s attracted 75 entries.   After two months of high-profile flat-track steeplechase racing at Saratoga and Colonial Downs in Virginia, the National

BATTLE OF THE SEXES: The mare The Mean Queen and Richie Condon outduel Snap Decision and Graham Watters in the Grade 1 Lonesome Glory.

Buttonwood Farm’s The Mean Queen prevails in epic grade one showdown vs. Snap Decision Whether you were there in person or watching the live stream, Thursday’s $150,000 Lonesome Glory hurdle stakes at Belmont Park was a race fans will be talking about for a long time. The showdown between the quirky, but freakishly talented mare

Tod Marks photos

NYRA oddsmakers have made Snap Decision the even-money favorite for Thursday’s Lonesome Glory showdown with The Mean Queen, who has been installed as the 7-5 second choice. In less than 48 hours, we’ll learn if Buttonwood Farm’s mighty mare The Mean Queen can give steeplechasing’s reigning monarch, Bruton Street-US’ Snap Decision, a run for his

Bruton Street-US' Snap Decision (Willie McCarthy, up) on his way to post prior to winning the 2019 edition of the Entenmann. ©Tod Marks

The $75,000 William Entenmann novice stakes at Belmont on Thursday pits a talent-packed, up-and-coming field in the early stages of their jumping careers. Six of the runners have become familiar names over the past few months, largely thanks to their exploits at Colonial Downs in Virginia and at Saratoga over the summer. The seventh is