Neil Morris
Neil Morris Is MFH at Orange County
Neil Morris hunting a stakes-winning hurdle horse at Orange County / Douglas Lees photoNeil Morris is a new Master of the Orange County Hounds (VA). Morris joins current Masters John Coles and Malcolm Matheson in leading this, one of the most prominent hunts in the country.
“I’m so happy to have him,” said Coles. “Neil can do anything in this job that anyone could want. He’s a great guy, a great horseman...he’s made to order ”
Better known perhaps for his association with winning race horses he has trained for Kinross Farm, such as Grade I Stakes winner Sur La Tete; Virginia Gold Cup winner Miles Ahead; and Virginia-bred Researcher with winnings in the seven figures, Morris is at the same time an avid foxhunter. He hunts his steeplechase horses regularly and credits that time off in the field with providing the bottomless stamina his horses so often display on the race course.
Morris/Roberts Team Dominates Loudoun Races
Magalen Bryant's Triplekin (Jacob Roberts up) wins the second division of the Novice Timber for trainer Neil Morris. The Bryant/Roberts/Morris team won the first division Novice Timber as well with Classic Bridges ./ Liz Callar photo
Trainer Neil Morris and jockey Jacob Roberts teamed up at the Loudoun Hunt Point-to-Point to win four of their five races over fences at Oatlands in Leesburg, Virginia, Sunday, April 14, 2013.
After a fifth place showing in the first division of the first race (Maiden Hurdle)—won by Silverado Beach, rider Jeff Murphy, trainer Doug Fout—Morris-trained horses with Roberts in the irons swept the four remaining brush and timber races on the card.
Strong Showing for Trainer Neil Morris at Orange County
Old Timer gives jockey Jacob Roberts and trainer Neil Morris their first wins of the day in the Novice Timber Race.
Trainer Neil Morris made a bold statement on his home turf at the Orange County Hounds Point-to-Point Races on Sunday, March 31, 2013 by saddling four winners on the card. The day’s racing was run at Locust Hill Farm in Middleburg, Virginia.
Morris-trained horses won three races for Kinross Farm, home to his training stables: Old Timer ridden by Jacob Roberts in the Novice Timber, Sand Box Rules (Chris Read) in the Open Timber, and King Ting (Jacob Roberts) in the Maiden Hurdle.
Foxhunter Mary Motion Caught the Racing Bug on Her Pony
Mary Motion at sixteen is one of only four riders of that age in the country to have earned a steeplechase amateur jockey’s license. Riding against some of the best and experienced jockeys last fall on Pennsylvania Hunt Cup Day, she placed third. It was only a few years ago that Motion was tearing up the turf in the pony races at the point-to-points against the other moppets. Her latent genes were waiting to express themselves from the start, and she caught the racing bug early. Both her mother and grandmother raced, her father Andrew is a Thoroughbred breeder, and her uncle Graham, a trainer, saddled last year’s Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom. Motion is under the tutelage of a pair of the very best trainers in Neil Morris and Doug Fout, both in Virginia, and her sights are set on the Maryland Hunt Cup. Read more about this talented young foxhunter/race rider in Danielle Nadler’s article in Leesburg Today. Posted December 8, 2011
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Hat Trick for Neil Morris at Old Dominion
Lake Placid and Matthew McCarron hold off Fantastic Foeand Jeff Murphy for the Open Hurdle win.Trainer Neil Morris scored a hat trick at the Old Dominion Point-to-Point races on Saturday, April 9, 2011 at Ben Venue Farm. Morris saddled three winners: Maiden Hurdle, Open Hurdle, and Open Timber.
Morris’s first two wins were the easy ones. In the Maiden Hurdle, Last Noble with Jacob Roberts aboard led the field all the way and won easily. In the Open Hurdle, Lake Placid with Matthew McCarron in the irons raced around the course on the lead, turned back a challenge by second place finisher Fantastic Foe, and won by four-and-a-half lengths.
Blue Ridge Hunt Point-to-Point
Zoe Valvo and Questioning win the Junior Field Master's Chase. Douglas Lees photoThe Blue Ridge Hunt Point-to-Point races were held Saturday, March 12 under lovely spring skies...for a change! Despite the rains of the previous week, Woodley Farm’s limestone soil drained well and the mature turf held up to make the going as perfect as the weather.
Zoe Valvo on Questioning won the Junior Field Master's Chase in the Horse Division, and Kellie Witte won the Pony Division easily on Annabelle.
