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Fair Hill Races to Skip 2021

Officials with Fair Hill Races, which annually holds jump racing events in Elkton, Md., announced Thursday the decision to skip the 2021 season and not schedule any races. Traditionally held in May, the Fair Hill Races are extremely popular with both the racing segment and the general public.

While uncertainty regarding COVID-19 and safety regulations came into play, the cancellation was also an opportunity to let the newly installed turf surface mature. Through a $20 million public-private partnership between the state of Maryland and the Fair Hill Foundation, upgrades to the historic one-mile track were completed last year. Among the upgrades were a new irrigation system, distance poles, finish pole and running rails, and widened turns. The course is part of the newly constructed equestrian Special Event Zone at Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area. The venue also features a new cross-country course, updated timber course, and new competition arenas built within the turf track's infield. The inaugural Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill, to be held in October, will be the first event to take place in the Special Event Zone this October.

“While it is disappointing that we will not be able to host the races this spring, we know that holding off and letting the new surface develop properly is the right decision,” said Fair Hill president and CEO Charles C. Fenwick, Jr. “We want to ensure the course will be stable and secure for many decades to come. When the course was first constructed in 1928, William du Pont, Jr. waited six years before allowing horses on the track for the same reason. With today's technology, we do not expect the maturing process to take nearly that long.”

The Turf Course at Fair Hill was modeled after the original design of England's Aintree Racecourse and hosted its first race in 1934.

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Delacour Hoping Magic Attitude Can ‘Bounce Back’ In Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup

Lael Stables' Magic Attitude (GB), the likely favorite for Saturday's 37th running of the $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) Presented by Dixiana, arrived at Keeneland Tuesday morning following an overnight van ride from the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland.

A Group 3 winner as well as a Group 1 runner-up this year in France, Magic Attitude dazzled in her U.S. debut, winning the Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1) on Sept. 19 by 2¼ lengths with a last-to-first move in the stretch.

“I was thinking they are going slow and they are all going to kick,” trainer Arnaud Delacour said of the 1¼-mile race. “It was a good effort from her and I think she appreciated the firm ground.”

The 1 1/8-mile Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup comes three weeks after the victory at Belmont, repeating a time frame Magic Attitude had this summer between her runner-up finish at Chantilly in France in the Saxon Warrior Coolmore Prix Saint Alary (G1) and fifth-place finish in the Prix de Diane (G1).

“It probably will be her last race of the year, and the question is the three weeks (between races),” Delacour said. “Will she bounce back well? So far, she has been showing all the right things, and she had a nice maintenance move the other day (a half-mile in :51 on the dirt at Fair Hill).”

Also arriving Tuesday morning was Lael Stables' Chalon, who is entered in Friday's 24th running of the $150,000 Buffalo Trace Franklin County (G3) going 5½ furlongs on the Keeneland turf course.

The 6-year-old mare, who has compiled a 22-9-8-1 record for earnings of $991,895, will be making her turf debut in the Buffalo Trace Franklin County.

At Keeneland, Chalon has three runner-up finishes in four Grade 2 races on Keeneland's main track in her career. She was scratched from Saturday's Skipat (L) at Pimlico.

“We have always wanted to try her on the grass and there is no better place to try than here at Keeneland,” Delacour said.

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Fall Steeplechase Schedule, Starting Oct. 4, to Be Livestreamed

The National Steeplechase Association (NSA) announced Tuesday that the fall season’s first sanctioned race meet, The Foxfield Fall Races, will take place Sunday, Oct. 4 in Charlottesville, VA. While the races will run without spectators and under strict health and safety protocols, the NSA will livestream the races, feature commentary from the industry’s experts and strong competition by steeplechasing’s top horsemen.

In making the announcement, NSA President Al Griffin said, “This year has provided plenty of challenges for our sport, yet we continue to persevere. Despite the onerous regulations and protocols, we were able to run all of our races at Saratoga for the first time in a long while. We are in the process of indoctrinating a great group of young jockeys to American Steeplechasing this fall. Everyone is stepping up and making the most of our limited opportunities. Our fall live streaming opportunity is due to the generosity of our sponsors: Brown Advisory, Charleston Post and Courier Newspaper, Bruton Street (Charlie Fenwick, Charlie Noell, Mike Hankin) and The Virginia Equine Alliance. This unprecedented support will allow us all to view steeplechasing at a time when spectators are not allowed at the race meets.”

Steeplechasing enthusiasts are encouraged to livestream here at 12:30 p.m. EST. The races offer opportunities for a broad swath of the steeplechase community’s horses in training.

The Foxfield Fall Races will feature seven races with the sport’s prominent owner/trainer/jockey teams in the field. Although the races will be run without spectators, NSA owners and other essential horsemen and officials will be allowed on the property.

For more information about the National Steeplechase Association and the fall schedule, click here.

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Ghostbuster Colt Mystic Guide Could Jump From Jim Dandy Win To Preakness

Godolphin's Mystic Guide emerged from his triumph in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga in good order and shipped back to Fair Hill Training Center on Saturday evening, where trainer Michael Stidham is primarily stabled.

The sophomore Ghostzapper chestnut earned his first graded stakes victory in the 1 1/8-mile event over the Saratoga Race Course main track in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and arrived off a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Peter Pan on July 16 to Country Grammer.

Stidham said the Grade 1, $1 million Preakness Stakes on October 3 at Pimlico Race Course is a possibility for Mystic Guide.

“We're going to look at it and see how he trains these next couple of weeks,” Stidham said. “He's already back at Fair Hill and looked good this morning. He came out of the race in good shape.”

Never off the hoard in five career starts, Stidham said Mystic Guide had always touted himself as a horse with a bright future. Following a five-length maiden score at second asking in his two-turn debut in March at Fair Grounds, he finished third in a one-turn first level allowance race at Belmont Park which was won by Tap It to Win en route to the Peter Pan.

“He always showed us a lot of promise right from the beginning,” Stidham said. “We stayed patient with him. We didn't put him in spots that he wasn't ready for. We tried to do the right thing by the horse, and it paid off yesterday. There was temptation in thinking about the Derby, but he didn't advance quickly enough to be in that picture.”

Following Saturday's Grade 1 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, which was won by Authentic who kept heavy favorite Tiz the Law at bay, Stidham said the 3-year-old division appears to be wide open.

“I don't think that there's a big difference in a lot of the 3-year-olds,” Stidham said. “Tiz the Law was certainly the leader of the group, and then obviously he got beat yesterday. I think it opens the picture up and I think our horse is lightly raced and could be coming into his peak now and coming up to his best racing.”

A Kentucky homebred, Mystic Guide is out of the three-time Grade 1-winning A.P. Indy mare Music Note. Stidham currently has Mystic Guide's half-brother Gershwin in his barn. The unraced 2-year-old son of Distorted Humor has been training forwardly at Fair Hill and Stidham said he could make his career debut soon.

“He's showing some early promise. He hasn't started yet but he's had some nice works,” Stidham said. “There are a lot of similarities. They're big, strong colts and Gershwin has shown some early talent. He's another one that's going to be a two turn horse. We aren't in any rush with him. He'll make his first start in the month to six weeks.”

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