Paddy Neilson, MFH, whipping-in at Cheshire / Jim Graham photoLegendary horseman Louis “Paddy” Neilson III, MFH, died Thursday, September 5, 2019 at the age of seventy-seven. He was the husband of Toinette Phillips Neilson, with whom he shared thirty-one years of marriage.
Paddy served as Master, alongside his daughter, Sanna, of Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds (PA) and was a winning race rider and trainer. He hunted with Cheshire since childhood and served as full-time honorary whipper-in for the last thirteen years of his life, jumping his last fence in the line of duty just a couple of weeks before his death.
He began riding at age six, rode his first race at fourteen and won Maryland’s Grand National Steeplechase at fifteen. And, that was just the beginning. He appeared in the winner’s circle in his silks for four decades, including riding in the Maryland Hunt Cup twenty-one times and winning it three times in three decades. For ten years he was the leading amateur steeplechase jockey in North America.
Paddy Neilson wins the 1989 Maryland Hunt Cup (aboard Mrs. Roy Chapman’s Uncle Merlin) for the third time in three decades, ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. / Douglas Lees photo
Born in Glen Cove, New York in 1942, Paddy was the son of the late Louis Neilson Jr. and Katherine Pell Neilson. A graduate of Gilman School, Princeton University, and the Wharton Business School, Paddy was a man of many talents, both cerebral and physical.
He was a corporate bond broker for Alex. Brown & Sons in Philadelphia for years while foxhunting, galloping race horses, and riding races on the side. He retired from racing for nine years, was drawn back in for one ride, but stayed in after the stock market crash in 1987. He left his desk to devote himself to training horses full time at his Rockaway Farm in Chatham.
Members of the hunting community could always count on Paddy’s big smile, great sense of humor, deep knowledge, incredible riding skill and encouragement. He could always wow the field by trotting up to a formidable four-foot-plus four-rail fence and popping over with style and grace. He chaired Cheshire’s most successful Point-to-Point Races earlier this year.
Paddy was proud to have chaired the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup Races for seventeen years, and later the Plumsted Races for eleven. Under his chairmanship the Plumsted Races benefitted the nearby Chatham Acres senior citizens home, giving a huge boost to its program. Paddy was also a founding board member of the American Steeplechase Injured Jockeys’ Fund and served on the original committee that began the Winterthur Point-to-Point.
And Paddy was civic minded. During the Viet Nam era, he was a member of the First City Troop in Philadelphia, a division of the National Guard. He has been actively involved locally with London Grove Township as chairman of the Open Space Committee and the Parks and Recreation Committee. There was no one better with whom to have a lively political chat. He was a huge fan of Philadelphia’s sports teams and all sports in general, most particularly the ones his children and grandchildren played. Paddy also had a great love for North Atlantic salmon fishing with old friends. He loved the band Coldplay, was a Civil War buff, a big reader of non-fiction, and collector of knowledge. He had many lifelong friends and friends of all ages as well. He befriended strangers and learned their stories wherever he went. No one will forget his enormous smile and contagious laugh, especially when laughing at himself.
Always on display was Paddy’s pride in and great love for his wife Toinette and his daughters Kathy, Sanna, Liza, Daphne, and Emily and grandchildren Skylar, Parker, Nina, Natalie, Max, Pell, Perry, Izzie, Burr, Nell, and Beasie. He is also survived by his brother Cook Neilson and sisters Madeline Rockwell and Carol Neilson.
A Celebration of Paddy’s Life will be held Friday, October 4 at 2:00 PM on the kennel lawn of Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds, 1549 West Doe Run Road, Coatesville, PA 19320.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Paddy’s memory to Fair Hill Foundation (P.O. Box 1324 Elkton, MD 21922); The Cheshire Land Preservation Fund (P.O. Box 983 Unionville, PA 19375); or Atlantic Salmon Federation (P.O. Box 807 Calais, ME 04619-0807).
Posted September 12, 2019