Steeplechase: Tomgarrow Captures International Gold Cup, Bedrock Finally Enjoys His Breakthrough Moment

Saturday was a day of mostly “twos” at the International Gold Cup Races at Great Meadow Race Course in The Plains, Va. Tennessee owner Gill Johnston captured two races, as did jockey Gerard Galligan. Trainer Leslie Young padded her lead with a pair of victories on the eight-race card, too. And two riders, Stefan Tobin and Teddy Davies, won their first National Steeplechase Association hurdle races. The only one to throw off the balance was Tom Garner, who found the winner's circle a lofty three times.

In the opener, a $25,000 maiden hurdle run at 2 ⅛ miles (the distance of all hurdle races at Great Meadow), Johnston's State of Affair, a five-year-old son of Giant's Causeway, went wire to wire for Tom Garner and trainer Todd Todd Wyatt, drawing off by 5 ½ lengths. State of Affair was coming off of a third-place finish in a maiden at Shawan Downs in September, his first NSA start since his stateside debut at the Middleburg Spring Races in 2020. Mason Hardaway Lampton's Ace Ventura was second; Riverdee Stable's Twenty Years On was third.

In the second division of the maiden hurdle, first-time starter Merry Maker turned heads, running like an old pro, in his career debut for trainer Arch Kingsley. Owned by Hurricana Farm, the four-year-old Irish-bred soared over the last fence all alone under Galligan, winning by 2 lengths. Straylight Racing's Frontline Citizen, another Irish-bred making his second lifetime start, was second with Alex Leventhal aboard. Stewart Strawbridge's Lap of the Gods was third. Jockey Richie Condon, regular rider of leading 2021 Eclipse Award contender The Mean Queen, suffered a back injury in a fall and will be out of action for a while.

The $30,000 Steeplethon Stakes over mixed obstacles — hurdles, natural brush fences, timber, and through water — drew a field of five, and Silverton Hill's Bodes Well, winner of the Jonathan Kiser novice hurdle stakes at Saratoga last summer, led almost every step of the way for Garner and Young, demonstrating his prowess over a very different type of course. At the wire, Bodes Well held a 5 ½ length advantage over Irv Naylor's A Silent Player. Turks Head Turf's Brooklyn Speights finished third.

The fourth race proved a milestone for young Irish rider Stefan Tobin, who piloted Holwood Stable's Decisive Triumph to victory in the $30,000 allowance contest for non-winners of two. Coming off of two sharp seconds in the handicap ranks (for horses rated at 110 or less), Decisive Triumph held a short lead at the last fence over Melissa Cantacuzene's Yankee Doodle Boy and extended his advantage to 4 ¼ lengths at the finish.

In a win that was a long time coming, Irv Naylor's Bedrock prevailed in the co-featured G2 $75,000 David L. “Zeke” Ferguson Stakes. The highly regarded British-bred eight-year-old was a solid performer in Europe, winning eight times. The gelding finally enjoyed his breakthrough moment in the U.S., with an authoritative 7 ¾ length victory under Galligan for trainer Cyril Murphy. Content to sit back in the early going while Hudson River Farm's Iranistan, and Gill Johnston's Brianbakescookies set the pace, the eight-year-old rallied to draw off convincingly. Sharon Sheppard's Redicean was second; Brianbakescookies was third.

With the scratch of Dolly Fisher's Schoodic, the likely heavy favorite in the pari-mutuel wagering pool, the field for the $75,000 International Gold Cup timber stakes at 3 ½ miles was reduced to four, and got even smaller when Renegade River and Storm Team went off course in the early going. That turned the contest into a match race between Frank Bonsal's Stand Down and Leipers Fork Steeplechasers' Tomgarrow. But after a carefully measured ride, Tom Garner knew he had plenty of horse under him and drew away as he pleased, by 49 lengths for trainer Leslie Young. With three wins on the day, Garner spurted to a 19-16 lead over Graham Watters. And with her two wins, trainer Leslie Young took a 15-12 advantage over Jack Fisher and Neil Morris, the latter who has saddled only about half the number of starters this season compared to Young and Fisher.

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In the seventh race, a handicap for horses rated at 115 or less, Gill Johnston's Contented completed his comeback to give Teddy Davies, the teen son of accomplished trainer-riders Joe Davies and Blythe Miller Davies, his first NSA hurdle win. After taking a novice weight-for-age hurdle at Sedgefield in 2017 and novice handicap steeplechase at Worcester in 2018, Contented came to the U.S. Following an off-the-board finish in his NSA debut in the 2019 Queens Cup, the Irish-bred son of Dalakhani went to the sidelines for more than two years. He re-emerged this spring, and after three starts, Contented finally shook off the rust to win Saturday's handicap by 5 lengths over Sara Collette's homebred, Eryx. Colette, of Casanova, Va., passed away on Oct. 11 at age 86.

The day's finale, a $20,000 maiden claimer, saw Riverdee Stable's Senor Seville make a seamless switch from flat racing to hurdles. Following 18 starts in maiden and open claiming races on the flat, mostly at Laurel Park, the Maryland-bred tried hurdles for the first time and came home a neck winner for jockey-turned-trainer Danielle Hodsdon.

Racing far back under Ross Geraghty approaching the last fence, Senior Seville unleashed a furious stretch rally to nip Happenstance Stable's Hero's Return, with Kiplin Hall's Real Good Man third. In an interesting aside, the horse's connections, owner Sean Clancy, trainer Hodsdon, and Geraghty were all champion NSA jockeys at one time or another.

The full results can be found HERE.

The race replay can be watched HERE.

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Jumpers Return To Virginia: International Gold Cup Highlights Great Meadow Card

For the third weekend this month, the jumpers return to Virginia to compete for purses and prestige, this time in the second richest card on the National Steeplechase Association Fall calendar.

This Saturday's stop, at Great Meadow Race Course in The Plains, has drawn 66 entries for eight races. Fans attending the races will be able to bet on their favorites as the meet will offer on-site pari-mutuel wagering. Overall, $305,000 in purses are up for grabs; that's a significant boost vs. the $230,000 offered at last year's event, which was severely impacted by Covid-19. And if the voice of the announcer calling the races at Great Meadow sounds familiar, you've got a good ear. Larry Collmus, the voice of the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup will be handling the duties once again, as he did at Far Hills last week.

Six of Saturday's races will be run over hurdles, all at 2 ⅛ miles, the headliner being the Grade 2 $75,000 David L. “Zeke” Ferguson Stakes. The $25,000 maiden hurdle, the first race of the day, drew so many entries that it was split into two divisions. Besides the stake and maiden contests, other hurdle events include an allowance event for non-winners of two; a maiden claimer; and an optional claiming handicap for horses rated at 120 or less. The eponymous International Gold Cup timber stakes, contested at 3 ½ miles for a purse of $75,000, has drawn a field of five, four of whom are stakes winners. Five horses were entered in the $30,000 Steeplethon Stakes over mixed obstacles, including Armata Stable's New Member and Silverton Hill's Bodes Well, who ran a thrilling one-two at a similar event at the Virginia Fall Races in Middleburg two weeks ago.

In the Gold Cup, Hall of Famer Jack Fisher saddles Storm Team for his mother-in-law, Sheila Williams, and Northwoods Stable, and Schoodic, who runs in the colors of Jack's mom, Dolly Fisher. Storm Team, an accomplished seven-year-old son of Candy Ride who has earned more than a quarter-million dollars in his career, comes into the race off of his first timber stakes score, in the National Sporting Library & Museum Cup two weeks ago at Middleburg, where he defeated Leipers Fork Steeplechasers' Tomgarrow by five lengths. Since switching to timber, Tomgarrow, who is trained by leading conditioner Leslie Young, has a maiden victory and four straight seconds. He was the runner up in May's Virginia Gold Cup, also at Great Meadow. The Gold Cup winner that day, Schoodic, is a multiple stakes winner of nearly a half-million dollars. He's seven for 12 with three seconds over timber, and captured the International Gold Cup in 2019. He was beaten a head on Oct. 9 by arch rival Mystic Strike in the Genesee Valley Hunt Cup. Rounding out the field are Kiplin Hall's Renegade River, winner of the Willowdale Steeplechase in April, and Frank Bonsal's Stand Down, winner of the 2018 Pennsylvania Hunt Cup. Both Renegade River and Stand Down ran against Storm Team at Middleburg, but proved no match.

In the Ferguson, six horses will face starter Graham Alcott, led by Hudson River Farm's stakes winner Iranistan, coming off a layoff of more than a year following two straight handicap triumphs at Saratoga in 2020. Iranistan prepped for the Ferguson with a win on the flat at Shawan Downs in September. Sharon Sheppard's Redicean, a novice stakes winner who has also hit the board multiple times in Grade 1 competition, recently finished far back in third to powerhouses The Mean Queen and Snap Decision in the Lonesome Glory at Belmont Park.

Owner Irv Naylor sends out Bedrock, who finished third, beaten less than a half length, in the David Semmes Memorial Stakes over the Great Meadow course in May. Sempre Medici, who used be in the Naylor Stable but now runs for Straylight Racing, steps up to stakes competition for the first time in two years. Gill Johnston's Brianbakescookies took the Queens Cup novice stakes in Mineral Springs, N.C., in April, but has struggled in two starts in open stakes competition since then.

Completing the field is Chosen Mate, who came to the U.S. to run in last Saturday's American Grand National at Far Hills for then-owner Meadow Run Farm and Irish trainer Gordon Elliott. A distant fourth at Far Hills to The Mean Queen and Snap Decision, Chosen Mate, a winner at Cheltenham in 2020, returns in the colors of Armata Stable and new trainer Ricky Hendriks.

For all the entries, click here.

Post time for the races is 12:30 p.m., and you can watch via live stream from the NSA website. The live stream is sponsored by Brown Advisory, the Temple Gwathmey Steeplechase Foundation, Charleston's Post & Courier, and the Virginia Equine Alliance.

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Quartet Of Steeplechase Events To Be Streamed Live For Free This Fall

With COVID-19 eliminating, or severely limiting, live spectators at fall steeplechase races from Pennsylvania to Georgia, race organizers were struggling with decisions on whether or not to continue with their race plans.  Since the pandemic, and with events not allowed to have spectators in much of the U.S., there has been a large decrease in equestrian events. Many of those employed in the industry face potential unemployment and financial hardship. Additionally, many non-profits usually receive funding and increased awareness through relationships with steeplechase race meets.

In an effort to help alleviate the hardship on the industry and their partners, the National Steeplechase Association has stepped up and is livestreaming several fall race meets.  These efforts by NSA allow the horses to race, while spectators enjoy the sport from their homes, and associated non-profits – including land conservation organizations, community hospitals and food banks— continue to have a spotlight on their great work. Over the past years, steeplechase events have contributed millions to community nonprofits.

“We wanted to provide a venue for the steeplechase/racing industry to be able to get horses out and receive some financial support in the form of purse money while continuing to create exposure for non-profit beneficiaries,” explained Dr. William Allison, co-chairman of the Virginia Gold Cup Association, the organization that oversees the Virginia Gold Cup and the International Gold Cup. “Thanks to the NSA, horsemen have been able to continue training their equine athletes and fans can still enjoy the racing through Live Stream viewing.”

Race fans and equestrian enthusiasts can easily “Jump into Fall!” and view the Live Stream at http://nsa.network.video/ on the following dates:

  • Saturday, Oct. 24 – International Gold Cup; The Plains, Virginia
  • Sunday, Nov. 1 – Pennsylvania Hunt Cup; Unionville, Pennsylvania
  • Saturday, Nov. 7 – Steeplechase at Callaway; Pine Mountain, Georgia
  • Sunday, Nov. 15 – Steeplechase of Charleston; Hollywood, South Carolina

Race day start times generally kick off at 12:30 pm; final start times will be posted on the NSA website 48 hours before each race meet.  Expert commentary will be provided by industry insiders Megan Connolly and Joe Clancy, with guest appearances from other sporting notables.

Unlike flat track racing, steeplechase racing provides the thrills and excitement of Thoroughbred horses racing over fences. By most accounts, the first steeplechase race was held in 1752 in Ireland. Today's sport is a true celebration of the long and close relationship between man and the horse. Riders depend on the athleticism, strength, speed and sure-footedness of their horses to carry them safely over varied fences.

“While COVID restrictions have made race meets challenging this year, we hope to be able to bring in new spectators who may want to see and learn about steeplechase racing,” said Al Griffin, president of the NSA. “It's an exciting sport that relies on a partnership between riders and horses—not something you see with other sports. The live stream provides an opportunity for the public to see what it's all about, free of charge.”

This year, the Live Stream will capture that excitement as well as gorgeous fall scenery in some of the country's most beautiful equestrian regions. The complimentary Live Stream productions have been sponsored by Brown Advisory, Charleston's The Post & Courier, Bruton Street-US and the Virginia Equine Alliance.

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Steeplechase: International Gold Cup Will Be Livestreamed On Oct. 24

It takes a huge team to feed, care for and train steeplechase horses. Since the pandemic, and with events not allowed to have spectators, there has been a large decrease in equestrian events. Due to this, many of those employed in the industry face potential unemployment and financial hardship.

In an effort to help alleviate the hardship, the National Steeplechase Association has stepped up and is livestreaming events so that the horses may run and may still collect winnings, while spectators enjoy the sport from their homes.

“We wanted to provide a venue for the steeplechase/racing industry to be able to get horses out and receive some financial support in the form of purse money,” explained Dr. William Allison, co-chairman of the Virginia Gold Cup Association, the organization that oversees the Virginia Gold Cup and the International Gold Cup. “Thanks to the NSA, jockeys and trainers have been able to continue training their horses and have some livestreaming venues where they can compete.”

Earlier this year and throughout the spring, race meets were cancelled leaving the horse industry with unprecedented hardship. The steeplechase community came together to try to maintain the employment of more than 1,000 jockeys, trainers and many others on farms who exercise and care for the horses. The International Gold Cup will provide purse money for participants. Even more importantly, it will provide a viable and tangible boost to keep many working in the equine industry employed.

The equine industry is important to Virginia's economy. A 2018/19 report by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services reported that the horse industry brings more than $2 billion annually in economic development to the Commonwealth. The report noted that there are more than 183,643 horses in the state that provide approximately 38,874 jobs. It also stated that there are 30.5% or one million households that contain horse enthusiasts.

“The viability of the horse industry is an important component for the Commonwealth's economy,” Allison added.

The International Gold Cup will be held with limited people on-site—participants and essential personnel only.

“We've worked closely with the National Steeplechase Association and Virginia Equine Alliance to be able to successfully run the Virginia Gold Cup this past June and it was successful. They are now assisting us in running the International Gold Cup,” Allison added. “It will be a bittersweet day without our loyal fans in attendance, but ultimately being able to host race day is a victory for us. We are hopeful racegoers will tune into the livestream.”

The International Gold Cup encourages race fans to tune in and celebrate with appropriate socially- distanced watch parties. Tailgate recipes and hat photos, in honor of the annual Hat and Tailgate Contests, can be shared on the VGCA facebook, Instagram, and twitter. Viewers can tune in to http://nsa.network.video/ to live stream the event on October 24 at 12:30 p.m. EST.

For more information visit vagoldcup.com.

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