Steeplechase Bonus Program Launched By Maryland Horse Breeders Association

The Maryland Horse Breeders Association (MHBA) Board of Directors recently voted unanimously to begin an award program for Breeder, Owner and Stallion bonuses for registered Maryland-breds at sanctioned steeplechase race meets in Maryland. The MHBA will pay these bonus awards for those participants that qualify.

Beginning in 2022, registered Maryland-bred horses that run first, second or third will receive 30 percent on purses earned at National Steeplechase Association-sanctioned meets in Maryland. This program is modeled on the current bonuses paid to Maryland-breds that run at Laurel Park, Pimlico Race Course and Timonium.

The five meets that qualify for this program this year are: My Lady's Manor, Grand National, Maryland Hunt Cup, Fair Hill, and Legacy Chase at Shawan Downs. The bonus applies to NSA-sanctioned steeplechase and flat races with listed purses at Maryland meets. Bonuses will not apply to training flat races.

“We believe this program rewards those Maryland-bred horses that have successful careers over jumps and the people who breed, own and race them here,” said Richie Blue, Jr., MHBA president. “This community is an important part of Maryland's horse industry. Much of the land that is called 'horse country' is due to their vision and efforts to preserve green space.”

The bonuses provide another avenue for owners and breeders of Maryland-breds, while also offering another incentive to campaign Maryland-bred horses in the state. Monkton-based trainer Todd Wyatt, president of the Steeplechase Owners and Trainers Association, called it a positive step for all. Wyatt won the 2015 Maryland Hunt Cup with Maryland-bred Raven's Choice, who raced for owners/breeders Cary and Ann Jackson, and won two steeplechase races with Maryland-bred Include It in 2021.

“It gives incentive to people to keep participating, there are people in Maryland who breed horses that are in steeplechasing,” said Wyatt. “It would have been very cool to have that when Raven's Choice was running. We got Include It from the Meyerhoffs and getting those breeder bonuses to somebody that might not even be aware is a good thing. It has to help jump racing, and it's a nice thing for breeders who aren't necessarily in jump racing too.”

Wyatt said owners and trainers don't necessarily count on state-bred incentives when searching for steeplechase prospects to purchase, but he could see that changing.

“If it comes down to selling a horse to someone who's going to keep the horse in Maryland or someone who is going to take the horse somewhere else, a breeder might consider selling to a steeplechase person,” he said. “And if you're looking for a horse as a steeplechase prospect, you might look start looking for Maryland-breds because of something like this.”

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MHBA Announces New Incentives, Awards for Steeplechase Horses

The Maryland Horse Breeders Association (MHBA) Board of Directors recently voted unanimously to begin an award program for Breeder, Owner and Stallion bonuses for registered Maryland-breds at sanctioned steeplechase race meets in Maryland. Beginning in 2022, registered Maryland-bred horses that run first, second or third will receive 30% on purses earned at National Steeplechase Association-sanctioned meets in Maryland. This program is modeled on the current bonuses paid to Maryland-breds that run at Laurel Park, Pimlico Race Course and Timonium.

The five meets that qualify for this program this year are: My Lady's Manor, Grand National, Maryland Hunt Cup, Fair Hill, and Legacy Chase at Shawan Downs. The bonus applies to NSA-sanctioned steeplechase and flat races with listed purses at Maryland meets. Bonuses will not apply to training flat races.

“We believe this program rewards those Maryland-bred horses that have successful careers over jumps and the people who breed, own and race them here,” said Richie Blue, Jr., MHBA president. “This community is an important part of Maryland's horse industry. Much of the land that is called 'horse country' is due to their vision and efforts to preserve green space.”

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Maryland Breeders Elect New Officers

The Maryland Horse Breeders Association Board of Directors elected Richard F. Blue, Jr. as president, Christy Holden as vice president and Michael Horning as secretary/treasurer during its July 14 meeting.

Blue, President of Blue & Obrecht Realty LLC, served on the MHBA board in 2001 and 2002, again from 2011 to 2017 and was re-elected for another three-year term in 2019. He is a past president of Maryland Million and serves as co-chair of the Maryland Horse Library & Education Center Capital Campaign Committee and on the board of the Maryland State Fair.

Holden is the general manager of Country Life and Merryland Farms. She is serving her second term on the board after being elected in 2018.

Horning is a retired insurance executive and current board member of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association. He was a presidential appointee to the MHBA board in 2018 and elected to another three-year term in 2019.

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MHBA Elects 2021 Board of Directors

The Maryland Horse Breeders Association membership has selected two incumbent members, a 2019 presidential appointee and two new members to the 2021 Board of Directors. Those elected will serve for the next three years. Michael J. Harrison DVM, a presidential appointee to the board in 2009 to 2010 who has since served from 2011 to 2016 and as the president of the board from 2018 to 2020, and Christy Holden, a board member for the past three years and general manager of Country Life Farm, are this year's incumbents.

Also elected was George Adams, owner and manager of Housatonic Bloodstock, who was a presidential appointee to the MHBA board in 2019; Ann B. Jackson, owner of Foxharbor Farm in White Hall, who serves her first term; and Adair B. Stifel, co-owner with her parents of Mantua Farm, who also serves for the first time.

Of the five directors whose terms expired this year, David Wade and Kent Murray were ineligible to stand for reelection because of having served six consecutive years as a member of the MHBA Board. Those whose terms have not expired are Richard F. Blue Jr., Ellen M. Charles, Michael D. Golden DVM, Michael Horning, Louis Merryman, Sabrina Moore, A. Leonard Pineau VMD, William Reightler, Thomas J. Rooney and James B. Steele.

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