Trainer Alicia Murphy and jockey Mark Beecher capped a successful weekend when Armata Stables’ Cornhusker won the $25,000 Winterthur Bowl at the Winterthur Races in Delaware on Sunday. Northwoods Stable’s Peace Fire finished second, three-quarters of a length behind the winner, and Welcome Here Farm’s Be Great took third. A British-bred Dynaformer gelding, Cornhusker ran the Winterthur Bowl’s 3 1/4 miles in 6:56.60 over timber fences on turf rated as good.
A day earlier, Murphy and Beecher were the winning team when Michael Wharton’s Grinding Speed won his second victory in the $90,000 Virginia Gold Cup. A week before that, Beecher’s mount Raven’s Choice was elevated to the top spot in the $75,000 Maryland Hunt Cup. Owned by Ann Jackson, Raven’s Choice is trained by Todd Wyatt.
The Winterthur Bowl was Cornhusker’s second victory of the year in three starts. He won the $30,000 Middleburg Hunt Cup by the same margin on April 18. The former hurdler made a successful transition to timber last year and won the Iroquois Steeplechase’s Mason Houghland Memorial.