warrenton hunt point-to-point race

Open Hurdle Race: (l-r) Praeceps (Alex Leventhal up) 4th; Orchestra Leader (Mell Boucher up) 1st; Noah And The Ark (Eddie Keating up) 2nd / Douglas Lees photo

Eleven-year-old Orchestra Leader, a grandson of Seattle Slew on the distaff side, has been winning Open Hurdle races for at least five years. Owned in his earlier racing days by the late Bruce Smart and trained by Jimmy Day, the brown gelding now races for Team Ollie, is trained by Lilith Boucher, and was ridden to the wire by Mell Boucher at the Warrenton Point-to-Point on Saturday, March 14, 2020. Orchestra Leader was the Leading Hurdle Horse in 2018 and won this same race over the same Airlie racecourse last year.

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.