Fence 3: (l-r) Imperial Way (Bethany Baumgardner up) about to jump; Raven’s Choice (Mark Beecher up) 1st; Almarmooq (James Slater up); Guts For Garters (Jody Petty up) 2nd; Twill Do (James Stierhoff up) / Douglas Lees photo
Ten minutes after crossing the wire first, a half length in front of Raven’s Choice, Imperial Way was disqualified. His jockey Bethany Baumgardner failed to weigh out with all the weight she carried into the race. Somewhere, during the course of the race, a twenty-pound weight slipped out of her saddle pad—a first in the 119 runnings of the Maryland Hunt Cup.
It was a double disappointment for Imperial Way, who was beat by just a nose in last year’s race by Stewart Strawbridge’s Guts for Garters. The odds-on favorite this year, Guts for Garters was trying for his second consecutive win, but placed second to Raven’s Choice by six lengths after the disqualification.
Considered the stiffest timber race in the world, the Maryland Hunt Cup is a four-mile race for five-year-olds and up, carrying amateur riders over twenty-two fences up to five feet high. The fence rails are as thick as a man’s thigh, and the race demands from horses the ultimate in scope, speed, and endurance.
Fence 13: (l-r) Spencer Road (Eric Poretz up) 3rd; Guts For Garters (Jody Petty up) 2nd; Fort Henry (McLane Hendriks up) / Douglas Lees photo
The declared winner, Raven’s Choice, is owned by Mrs. Cary W. Jackson, trained by Todd Wyatt, and was ridden by Mark Beecher, currently the leading timber rider this season. Beecher won this race just two years ago on Mrs. George L. Ohrstrom, Jr’s Professor Maxwell.
Spencer Road was third, and early pacesetter Joshua G. finished fourth. Joshua G held a commanding lead of up to thirty-five lengths for the first three miles, but tired and came back to the field with about a mile left to run.
Imperial Way and Raven’s Choice battle head to head in the stretch. / Douglas Lees photo