Professor Maxwell Wins Maryland Hunt Cup
Look, Ma, no stirrups! Mark Beecher flies four timber fences without stirrups on his way to victory aboard Professor Maxwell in the 117th running of the Maryland Hunt Cup.
In a gutsy performance, Mark Beecher rode Mrs. George Ohrstrom’s Professor Maxwell to victory in the Maryland Hunt Cup despite a recently broken collarbone and a lost stirrup.
The collarbone was broken only two weeks earlier at the My Lady’s Manor races. Fortunately, the horse is a careful jumper and, according to Beecher, requires only that the rider sit quietly and do nothing. Beecher did just that without stirrups over four of the imposing solid timber fences.
Trainer Richard Valentine called Beecher’s ride “remarkable.”
Patrick Smithwick Wins the 2013 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award
Flying Change: A Year of Racing and Family and Steeplechasing by Patrick Smithwick, Chesapeake Book Company, 2012, 360 pages, $30.00Writer/horseman Patrick Smithwick has been awarded the seventh annual Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, for his 2012 autobiographical work Flying Change: A Year of Racing and Family and Steeplechasing. The work which was reviewed enthusiastically by […]
Smithwick Saddles Four Winners at Old Dominion
Fogcutter gives Woods Winants his first of three winning rides and trainer Eva Smithwick her first of four wins on the card in the Amateur/Novice Rider Hurdle Race. / Douglas Lees photoEva Smithwick-trained horses won four of the eight races on the card at the Old Dominion Hunt Point-to-Point held on Saturday, April 6, 2013 at Ben Venue Farm. Woods Winants drove home three of her winners: Fogcutter in the Amateur/Novice Rider Hurdle, Coturnix in the Maiden Hurdle, and Rutledge Classic in the Foxhunter Timber Race.
Smithwick’s other win came with Dr. Alex, owned and ridden by Teddy Zimmerman, in the Amateur Highweight Timber Race. This was the second win for Zimmerman and Dr. Alex in this year’s series, their previous victory coming at the Piedmont Point-to-Point.
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.
A Brilliant Day at the Piedmont Races
Amateur Highweight Timber (l-r): Dr. Alex (Teddy Zimmerman) will beat Justpourit (George Hundt) after a hard-fought duel in the stretch.
The Piedmont Fox Hounds 2013 Point-to-Point Races went off under brilliant skies on Saturday, March 23, 2013 with some exciting racing over the big, rolling timber course that includes stone walls, drop fences, and reverses of direction. Here are a few highlights, with complete results just a click away.
At Galway Races
William Butler YeatsWith hunt point-to-points kicking off the racing season, we thought it appropriate to elevate our discourse with a little Yeats. There where the course is,Delight makes all of the one mind,The riders upon the galloping horses,The crowd that closes in behind:We, too, had good attendance once,Hearers and hearteners of the work;Aye, horsemen for […]
Trainer Jimmy Day Sweeps Open Races at Warrenton
Open Hurdle winner Sulwaan (#8) ridden by Paddy Young leads second place finisher Sporty (#3) ridden by Mark Beecher over the last fence. / Douglas Lees photo
Jimmy Day-trained horses swept both Open Races at the Warrenton Hunt Point-to-Point at Airlie Race Course, Warrenton, Virginia on Saturday, March 16, 2013. With Paddy Young in the irons for both races, Sulwaan owned by Magalen O. Bryant and Triple Dip owned by Daybreak Stables won the Open Hurdles and the Open Timber Races respectively.
With a half mile to run over hurdles, Sulwaan and Sporty left the field behind and made it a two-horse race, but Sulwaan drew away after the last fence and won easily. In the timber race Zulla Road led after the last fence, but Triple Dip put on a burst and prevailed by a nose.
Thoroughbreds: Kings of the Hunting Field
Nina Siepel on Steppenwolfer, out with the Cheshire hounds this year
Consider the happy life of Steppenwolfer (by Aptitude out of Wolfer): lots of treats; a big field with clover and buddies; and, from September to March, running around the countryside with a lot of other horses chasing a pack of hounds. A far distance from running third to Barbaro (by Dynaformer out of La Ville Rouge) in the Kentucky Derby and second in the Arkansas Derby in 2006.
Gelded and purchased by Gail and Dixon Thayer as a steeplechase prospect, his short steeplechase career wasn’t as stellar as hoped for. But he’s one happy puppy now. And Nina Siepel, who hunts him with Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds (PA), always wears a big grin, as if she still can’t really believe her good fortune. I’m not sure who is the luckier of the two.
Thoroughbreds: Kings of the Hunting Field
Nina Siepel on Steppenwolfer, out with the Cheshire hounds this year
Consider the happy life of Steppenwolfer (by Aptitude out of Wolfer): lots of treats; a big field with clover and buddies; and, from September to March, running around the countryside with a lot of other horses chasing a pack of hounds. A far distance from running third to Barbaro (by Dynaformer out of La Ville Rouge) in the Kentucky Derby and second in the Arkansas Derby in 2006.
Gelded and purchased by Gail and Dixon Thayer as a steeplechase prospect, his short steeplechase career wasn’t as stellar as hoped for. But he’s one happy puppy now. And Nina Siepel, who hunts him with Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds (PA), always wears a big grin, as if she still can’t really believe her good fortune. I’m not sure who is the luckier of the two.
For the Joy of It!
Jim Graham photoPhotographer Jim Graham captured an exuberant Bruce Miller—MFH and Field Master of Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds—in a moment that conveys by expression and posture the pure joy of galloping cross country. From Miller’s dainty grip on his stick to the loop in his reins, this is a picture of a confident rider on […]