Far Hills: The Mean Queen, Snap Decision Prepared For Rematch In American Grand National

After last year's cancellation due to Covid-19, the Far Hills Race Meeting in New Jersey will celebrate its centennial on Saturday with a six-race, all-stakes hurdle card showcasing the best of American steeplechase racing — including the highly anticipated rematch between The Mean Queen and Snap Decision in the main event, the American Grand National. The meet, with a first-race post time of 1:20 p.m., offers a total of $405,000 in purses, making it the richest on the National Steeplechase Association 2021 calendar.

It also will be the most visible. For the first time, the races will be on national television as part of America's Day at the Races, a show produced by the New York Racing Association and broadcast on Fox Sports' FS2. Larry Collmus, the voice of the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup, will be on hand to call the action. Live coverage on FS2 begins at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time, and concludes at 3:30 p.m. For information on how to access FS2, which is part of a paid subscription service to Fox Sports Networks, click here. Once the FS2 broadcast ends, the rest of the card will be telecast via the America's Day at the Races program. (Note: As usual, you can watch the Far Hills Races via the live stream network on the National Steeplechase Association website.)

“This is one of the best things to happen to us since NBC Sports covered the Grand National when it was the Breeders' Cup Steeplechase,” said NSA Director of Racing Bill Gallo. “They're covering all six races. It's just the kind of industry recognition we need. And it all came about because of our strong working relationship with the NYRA management team.”

Gallo added that The Mean Queen's success in the Jonathan Sheppard Stakes at Saratoga played a significant role in piquing NYRA's interest, especially when trainer Keri Brion finished first, second, and third in the race named for her Hall of Fame mentor. And when the magnificent mare upset jump racing's brightest star, Snap Decision, in the Lonesome Glory at Belmont Park, it sparked further enthusiasm to broadcast the races from Far Hills.

A rare wagering opportunity

Outside of events held at the flat tracks, pari-mutuel wagering on steeplechasing is a rarity, but on Saturday, fans have the chance to bet on all their favorites through 4NJBets, which is partnered with TVG. To sign up, deposit, and wager, you'll need to download the 4NJBets app or visit tvg.com/farhills250. Fans are encouraged to sign up in advance and can use promo code FARHILLS250 to get a 50 percent deposit match up to $250 on their first deposit. Note that there will not be mutuels tellers onsite for wagering.

Anchoring the event is the race that has helped crown so many champions, the $150,000 Grand National, the fifth and final Grade 1 stake of the year, which will be run as race three. The day begins with the $50,000 Harry Harris for four-year-olds, followed by the $75,000 Foxbrook Champion, open to novice competitors in the early stages of their careers. After the Grand National comes the $50,000 Appleton, a top-class handicap for jumpers rated at 130 or less. The fifth race is the $30,000 Gladstone, restricted to three-year-olds. The day concludes with the $50,000 Peapack for fillies and mares. Here's a link to the complete list of entries.

A closer look at the National

What the Grand National field lacks in size — only four will go to the post in the 2 ⅝-mile classic — it makes up for in quality and sheer electricity. In past years, the race has had a pronounced international flavor. This year, there's only one European, but eight-year-old Chosen Mate, from trainer Gordon Elliott's powerhouse County Meath, Ireland-based stable, is a five-time winner whose crowning moment came at the prestigious 2020 Cheltenham Festival in England when he captured the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup. Champion jockey Davy Russell, who was aboard Chosen Mate that day, has made the trip across the Atlantic to ride him for the horse's new American owner, Meadow Run Farm. Russell has additional mounts on the card for both Elliott and other conditioners.

Irv Naylor's Amschel has acquitted himself well in the U.S., following a successful career in Ireland — three wins and a second in four starts — and he finished a solid third in his NSA debut, in the 2018 Foxbrook Champion Hurdle at Far Hills. He has chased Snap Decision three times this season (and The Mean Queen once), and the closest he's come to him is 3 ½ lengths, in the G1 Iroquois last spring. He was well beaten in the other two. As a weight-for-age contest, Amschel carries 156 pounds in the Grand National, the same as Snap Decision, but eight more than The Mean Queen. Barry Foley has the mount for trainer Cyril Murphy.

Of course, all eyes will be glued to the showdown between Bruton Street-US' Snap Decision and Buttonwood Farm's The Mean Queen, who stopped her rival's record-tying nine-race win streak in the G1 $150,000 Lonesome Glory at Belmont Park one month ago. Sent off as the odds-on favorite, the Jack Fisher-trainee rallied outside of The Mean Queen on the final turn of the 2 ½-mile race, and the pair drew clear of the field and dueled to the sixteenth pole, when the five-year-old Irish-bred mare pulled away by two lengths. For The Mean Queen, it was her sixth victory in eight starts in a career that began less than a year ago. Her record might very well have included a seventh win had she not thrown jockey Tom Garner with a big lead nearing the wire in the Jonathan Kiser novice stakes at Saratoga — a bizarre occurrence that only added to her mystique.

If Snap Decision has one advantage at Far Hills it's that he's raced over the Moorland Farm course successfully, scoring by 4 ¾ lengths in the 2019 Foxbrook Champion Hurdle. That's no small feat, as many horses either love the going or don't.

In the Grand National, regular rider Graham Watters pilots Snap Decision while Richie Condon, who was aboard The Mean Queen in the Lonesome Glory, has the return mount.

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NYRA Partners With Far Hills For Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5

The New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday featuring graded-stakes action from Far Hills and Belmont Park.

The centennial running of the Far Hills Race Meeting will be featured on Saturday's edition of America's Day at the Races, the acclaimed national television show produced by NYRA, with live coverage on FS2 from 12:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Eastern.

Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/cross-country-wagers.

Saturday's sequence kicks off at Far Hills with the Grade 1, $150,000 Grand National Hurdle in Race 3 at 2:34 p.m., a 2 5/8-mile test for older horses that will feature a rematch between 5-year-old mare The Mean Queen and 7-year-old gelding Snap Decision, who ran one-two in last month's Grade 1 Lonesome Glory Handicap at Belmont.

Trained by Keri Brion, The Mean Queen ended Snap Decision's nine-race winning streak with a two-length score in the 2 1/2-mile Lonesome Glory, while carrying 154 pounds – seven pounds less than her returning rival.

Snap Decision, trained by Hall of Famer Jack Fisher, won the Grade 1 Iroquois in June at Percy Warner and has been assigned 156 pounds for the Grant National, eight pounds more than The Mean Queen.

Action switches to Belmont for the next two legs, beginning with Race 5 at 2:43 p.m., which offers a field of 11 New York-bred fillies and mares 3-years-old and up sprinting seven furlongs on the turf.

The middle leg – the Grade 2, $200,000 Sands Point [Race 6, 3:15 p.m.] – will see a field of eight sophomore fillies contest at nine-furlongs on the inner turf led by a pair of top contenders for trainer Chad Brown in Fluffy Socks and Higher Truth.

Fluffy Socks, a Grade 3-winner, cuts back in distance after rallying to finish third last out in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks.

The Grade 1-placed Higher Truth contested all three legs of NYRA's Turf Triple series for fillies, including a third in the 10-furlong Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational in July; a second to Belmont Oaks runner-up Con Lima in the 1 3/16-mile Grade 3 Saratoga Oaks Invitational; and a prominent second last out in the 11-furlong Jockey Club Oaks Invitational. Steep opposition will be provided by group/graded stakes winners Plum Ali and Harajuku.

The sequence concludes with a pair of steeplechase stakes from Far Hills, including the $50,000 Appleton [Race 4, 3:22 p.m.], featuring a field of six older horses in a 2 5/8-mile event over national fences. Ya Boy Ya [158 pounds] ships in from his native Ireland as the field high weight for trainer Julie Gomena to battle with fellow Irish-bred Galway Kid, who won the Grade 3 David Semmes Memorial at Great Meadow in May for Brion.

Closing out the action is the $30,000 Gladstone [Race 5, 4:09 p.m.], a 2 1/8-mile event for sophomores that features the Leslie Young-trained French-bred shipper Fast Vision [151 pounds], by Vision d'Etat, who arrives from a two-length score in the Prix Soldat contested at the Gladstone distance in June at Dieppe.

Young will also saddle the Irish-bred Project Two [148], who adds blinkers following a runner-up effort in a maiden tilt in August at Ballinrobe in Ireland. Brion will send out Irish-bred maiden Parish Delight [148], while Elizabeth Voss will saddle maiden winner Circus [151] – a dark bay son of Runhappy.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

America's Day at the Races is presented by America's Best Racing, Runhappy, and Claiborne Farm. For the complete broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, October 16:
Leg A: Far Hills – Race 3, G1 Grand National (2:34 p.m.)
Leg B: Belmont – Race 5 (2:43 p.m.)
Leg C: Belmont – Race 6, G2 Sands Point (3:15 p.m.)
Leg D: Far Hills – Race 4, Appleton (3:22 p.m.)
Leg E: Far Hills – Race 5, Gladstone (4:09 p.m.)

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Far Hills’ Centennial Race Meeting To Be Featured On America’s Day At The Races

For its centennial running on Oct. 16, 2021, the Far Hills Race Meeting will be featured on Saturday's edition of America's Day at the Races, the acclaimed national television show produced by the New York Racing Association (NYRA). The not-for-profit corporation operates the three largest thoroughbred horse racing tracks in New York, and appears on the networks of FOX Sports.

FS2 will present live coverage starting at 12:30 p.m. ET and concluding at 3:30 p.m. ET—marking the first time the event will be featured on FOX Sports.

“We're so excited to share the thrills and majesty of steeplechase with a national audience,” said Guy Torsilieri, chairman of the Far Hills Race Meeting. “While cancelling last year's race was disappointing, being able to celebrate our centennial with a nationwide audience is even more amazing than we could have ever hoped.”

Larry Collmus, the famed announcer for the Triple Crown and Breeder's Cup, will be calling the races for the running of the Far Hills Race Meeting. Collmus called for NBC on June 6, 2015, when American Pharoah won the 147th running of the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.

The 100th celebration of the Far Hills Race Meeting will be the richest of the year on the National Steeplechase Association tour, with $400,000 in total purses for its six races, the highlight of which is the $150,000 Grand National, or race 3.

For more information on the Far Hills Race Meeting, visit farhillsrace.org.

About Far Hills Race Meeting
Far Hills Race Meeting is New Jersey's premier social and sporting event. For a century, the annual gathering has attracted a large fan base with audiences locally, nationally and globally who return, year after year, to watch the world's finest steeplechases, reconnect with family and friends, network, support worthy causes and make memories to last a lifetime. Over the years, Far Hills Race Meeting has given more than $18 million to support local health-care organizations. For more information, visit www.farhillsrace.org.

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