While the official schedule will be unveiled at the Race Chairmen’s Meeting in late January, race meets have announced dates for the upcoming spring season on their websites.
Kicking off the season will be the traditional opener, the Aiken Spring Steeplechase, on Saturday, March 26, in Aiken, S.C. The action moves up Interstate 20 the following Saturday, April 2, for the Carolina Cup at Camden’s Springdale Course.
North Carolina opens its steeplechase schedule with the Stoneybrook Steeplechase on Saturday, April 9. Other events in the Tar Heel State are the Queen’s Cup near Charlotte on Saturday, April 30, and the Block House Races in Tryon on May 7.
The storied Maryland timber triple crown begins on Saturday, April 16, at My Lady’s Manor in Monkton. The following week, the action moves to the Grand National in Butler on April 23, and concludes with the Maryland Hunt Cup on April 30.
Virginia’s active jump-racing schedule kicks off with the Middleburg Spring Races on April 23, and the action moves to Charlottesville on Saturday, April 30, for the Foxfield Spring Races. The Virginia Gold Cup, the richest spring meet in 2015, will be staged on Saturday, May 7. The Winterthur Steeplechase is Sunday, May 8, in Delaware.
The spring’s richest race, the $150,000 Calvin Houghland Iroquois (Gr. 1) will be part of the Iroquois Steeplechase in Nashville on May 14.
Racing action moves to Pennsylvania the next day for the Willowdale Steeplechase in Kennett Square, and the Radnor Hunt Races will be run in suburban Philadelphia on Saturday, May 21.
The following day, jump racing travels to the Kentucky Horse Park for the High Hope Steeplechase, and the spring season concludes May 28 with the Fair Hill Races in Maryland.
NEXT RACE: Colonial Downs on August 9