Douglas Lee’s winning photo, “Rainy Winner,” was published in the May 29, 2017 edition of The Chronicle of the Horse. This is Irvin Naylor’s Ebanour (Gustav Dahl, up) with Beth Supick headed to the winners circle after winning Virginia Gold Cup race in 2017.
Douglas Lees, the talented photographer who provides Foxhunting Life with so many riveting photographs during the foxhunting and point-to-point seasons, was honored by the American Horse Publications at their 2018 Equine Media Conference held in Hunt Valley, Maryland, June 14-16.
At the awards banquet that concluded the conference, Douglas discovered his photograph, “Rainy Winner,” had won the 2018 AHP Award for Best Freelance Editorial Photograph. No stranger to the awards platform, Douglas has been honored in previous years by the AHP for his outstanding photography, and he is also a multi-winner of the prestigious Eclipse Award from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.
Hundreds of publishers, journalists, graphic designers, photographers, and industry executives convene annually at the AHP conference to network, improve their craft by attending instructional seminars, and honor those about to receive annual awards for excellence. The serious business needs to be tempered, of course, with field trips for the attendees that best represent the equine activities of the conference locale, and what better to represent Maryland than foxhunting, steeplechasing, and Thoroughbred racing?
Green Spring Valley huntsman Ashley Hubbard talks to a group of conference attendees. / Douglas Lees photo
Conference attendees visited the kennels of the Green Spring Valley Hounds, Jack Fisher’s training barn and field, Sagamore Training barn and track, and met up with trainer/riders Joe and Blythe Davies at the third fence of the Maryland Hunt Cup Course.
Douglas was there, camera in hand, when conference attendees visited the Green Spring Valley Hounds kennels to meet the foxhounds, which show some of the best of sport in North America; huntsman Ashley Hubbard and staff; and Ned Halle, ex-MFH and honorary whipper-in.
Huntsman Hubbard and Ned Hally, ex-MFH, field questions. / Douglas Lees photo
AHP attendees also visited with Jack Fisher who trained and raced the greatest racehorse in the history of the Virginia Gold Cup—Saluter. Owned by Mr. And Mrs. Henry Stern of Richmond, and raced under Fisher’s program, Saluter won the Virginia Gold Cup six straight times—an astonishing record not likely to be equaled. Saluter’s record includes the fastest time ever run over the four-mile course. With nine total wins, Jack Fisher holds the record as the top winning trainer in the Gold Cup as well.
Making friends. / Douglas Lees photo
Also on the Maryland tour was Sagamore Farm, built and owned by the Vanderbilts, where top stallions—Aga Khan II’s Bahram and Preakness Stakes winner Kauwai King—stood at stud and from whence came National Hall of Fame racehorses Discovery, Bed o’Roses, and Native Dancer. Sagamore Farm owner Alfred Vanderbilt II was president of Pimlico Race Course and headed the New York Racing Association and the Jockey Club in his time.
A rare candid of Douglas Lees taken by another artist with the camera, the late Janet Hitchen.And what’s a visit for horse enthusiasts to Maryland without seeing the beautiful and imposing Maryland Hunt Cup course at Worthington Farms, home of Green Spring Valley Hounds Master JWY “Duck” Martin? On hand to describe the race and the course to the visitors were Joe and Blythe Davies, both previous winners of this, the stiffest timber race in the world—four miles over twenty-two solid post-and-rail vertical fences.
Joe Davies is currently on a roll as the trainer of Senior Senator. The horse has won the last two Maryland Hunt Cup races over the course, and the team is looking forward to next spring and an opportunity to retire the Cup. Senior Senator is owned by Skip and Vicki Crawford, MFHs of the Potomac Hunt, also in Maryland.
Posted July 10, 2018