Kumin Joins The Steeplechase Community

If you check out the entries for the second race at Tennessee's Percy Warner Park, the Sloan maiden hurdle, and notice the connections of first-time starter Montmartre d'Ange (Fr) (Montmarte), they will look quite familiar. The 4-year-old is owned in part by prominent Thoroughbred owner Sol Kumin's Madakat Stable (along with Paul and Molly Willis, and CFC Stables).

Kumin has been involved in the likes of Triple Crown winner Justify, Monomoy Girl, Lady Eli, Midnight Bisou, Yoshida, Whitmore, Mind Your Biscuits, Authentic, Exaggerator, and Catholic Boy. So how did Kumin come to be involved with a jumper?

“I have a friend named Paul Willis from Boston that has been raving about Keri (Brion) and he owns jump horses and trains with her,” Kumin said. “I started doing some diligence on her operation and I liked what I saw and learned. I plan to send her a few flat horses as well to train. I love horses and I love racing. I truthfully don't know much about jump racing, but I feel like I am in good hands and will ease my way in and see if it's enjoyable. I expect it will be.”

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Steeplechasing Returns To Sunshine State With New Meet, New Venue

More than a decade has passed since the last steeplechase was run in Florida. The Little Everglades meet, in Dade City, had a checkered history, beginning as an National Steeplechase Association-assisted point-to-point in 2000 and continuing with and without sanctioning through 2009. Through its decade-long run, though, one thing was constant. The beautiful venue in sunny Florida gave horsemen hunkered down in wintry climes something to look forward to as a starting point for the season ahead.

On March 5, jump racing returns to the state in the form of a point-to-point – with backing and guidance from both the NSA and Temple Gwathmey Steeplechase Foundation – at the Florida Horse Park in Ocala. The meet is the brainchild of former NSA jockey Archie Macauley and his partner Jessica Berry. It also has generated strong support from Mason Lampton, who runs the Steeplechase at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Ga., and whose family has a rich history in the sport, along with Michael Hankin and Brown Advisory, one of steeplechasing's pre-eminent sponsors.

Tentative plans call for a six-race card, three over hurdles, with a 12:30 p.m. post time. Entries close 11:00 a.m., Monday, March 1. For ticketing and other information, visit www.Thefloridasteeplechase.com.

“We stand behind the meet and will support it in any way we can to create an exciting new event opportunity,” said NSA President Al Griffin. “The goal is to make it part of the calendar in 2023 as a properly sanctioned meet. For now, it's a nice opportunity for trainers and owners to school younger horses and for us to check out the facility.”

Berry, who serves as the meet's vice chair, said that the seeds for the event were planted when she and Macauley became friends with eventer Buck Davidson, who is on the board of the Horse Park. Davidson told the couple that the park would like to host a steeplechase and put them in touch with its director, Jason Reynolds. Reynolds invited the couple to visit. The team began putting the pieces together early in 2020, with the aim of scheduling it after the Steeplechase of Charleston in mid-November.

Then Covid struck, which put the project on hold until this past fall.

“The Horse Park had the first weekend in March available,” Berry said. “We knew it was ambitious to try and put this together in essentially three months. But we also believed that it was a good date because it fell at the beginning of the jump-racing season, it was still within the winter season of the other equestrian disciplines in Ocala, and it was just before the 2-year-old Ocala Breeders' Sale. It started to sink in that this was really happening when we launched the website in December, and from there we haven't had any time to question it because we've been flat out organizing it.”

Berry said the local community has been very supportive, as has the Horse Park itself.

“They've gone above and beyond to make this happen,” she said. “Jason and his team have used their machinery and expertise to help us design, create, and maintain the course. The Ocala Chamber of Commerce was also one of our first points of contact, and its Director of Equine Engagement Louisa Barton has been a tremendous help by introducing us to members of the local equine community and having us on her show to talk about the event back in December. The local businesses and horsemen we have spoken to are all looking forward to the event and we are hoping for a big turnout and to establish the steeplechase as an annual feature in the community's calendar.”

NSA horsemen have expressed their interest, too.

“Every owner and trainer we have spoken to so far has been supportive of the event and many have already offered to bring runners,” Berry added. “There are also some former steeplechase horsemen who live in the area who are keen to get involved and participate. In addition, we are also thankful for the support of the Temple Gwathmey Foundation, the NSA, and SOTA (Steeplechase Owners and Trainers Association).”

The steeplechase course is situated within the existing cross-country course. It's fully irrigated, about 1 1/16 miles around, and slightly undulating. It's not an oval, but there is a long straightaway leading into the stretch that offers spectators a great vantage point to view the final fence and race to the wire.

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‘She Was The One You Counted On’: NSA’s Nancy Dougherty Retires After 26 Years

For 26 years, Nancy Dougherty was the unofficial voice of the National Steeplechase Association, almost always the first person you'd talk to when you rang the NSA's Fair Hill, Maryland office.

Dougherty retired this spring, but she stayed on a full six months to share her quarter-century of knowledge and experience to help transition new business administrator Emery Taylor and assistant to the racing director Harper McVey.

Her former co-workers say Dougherty. 79, leaves a legacy of kindness, always a calm voice and a steady hand in what can be a pressure-filled role.

“Nancy is not average in any way shape or form,” Taylor says. “She kept a wealth of knowledge in her head as well as on the shared files. We really benefited from her generosity while we transitioned into our new roles.”

“Nan was always the 'rock' within the office,” says NSA director of racing Bill Gallo. “She was omnipresent and willing to tackle any task no matter how big or small. She was usually the first voice you heard from the NSA and that voice was welcoming, helpful and willing to assist. If she didn't know the answer she was quick to find out who did.”

Retired now but for 25 years working alongside Dougherty in the role of assistant racing secretary and office manager, Peter McGivney agrees that “Nan” was important to the association.

“As the NSA's executive secretary, Nancy answered 90 percent of the calls that came in to the office,” McGivney recalls. “Whenever I would pick up the phone and say 'National Steeplechase, this is Pete,' the usual response from the person on the other end was 'where's Nan?' ”

How it started

Born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1942, Dougherty graduated from Wilmington's Goldey-Beacom College's School of Business in 1961.

She worked as senior secretary at DuPont, then as secretary for a bank subsidiary president in North Carolina when she moved there with her first husband. When they divorced, and Dougherty moved to Chester County, Pennsylvania, working for an attorney for several years before returning to DuPont.

She married Jack Dougherty in 1979, a natural partnership, she says. “We shared a great love for horses and hounds. His family had the Lewisville Hunt, generations before him.

“Jack put the pack back together when he was a teenager and hunted the hounds up until a few years ago when his health deteriorated.”

They kept 30-40 couple and half a dozen field hunters when the private pack was most active in the old Foxcatcher Hunt territory.

“I like to think we had the best years of hunting,” Dougherty says, open fixtures and lots of sport. Today's hunting, she says, is increasingly limited by development. “I applaud those who keep soldiering on.

“Foxhunting has always been in my blood: I started hunting at age 11. The only relative who shared that was my great-uncle Charlie, whom I never knew. My mother would tell me that Uncle Charlie on more than one occasion would jump up from the dinner table to turn his hounds out when (he could hear that) neighboring farmers had a chase going.”

From the beginning, there was a direct link from foxhunting to steeplechasing. They attended all the local meets, and Nancy rode some flat races at the point-to-points. She freely admits she “was never brave enough to race over fences – I like to make the excuse that I was wise not to.”

It was a natural step, she says, to make steeplechase a vocation as well as avocation.

In 1995, someone – she doesn't remember who, told Dougherty NSA was looking to hire a secretary and that she'd be great at it.

“The office was 4 minutes down the road from me, so I sent a resume.

“I went for an interview and started the next day.”

Though initially it was to be part-time, “that idea didn't last long,” Dougherty adds with a chuckle.

It turned into a 26-year career.

She worked with Charlie Colgan, Bill Gallo, Peter McGivney and one other secretary (Patt Rhinesmith, who worked for Colgan). It was interesting work, she says, usually fun but often frenetic and sometimes highly pressurized.

“I don't think most people realize the amount of work that comes out of the NSA office,” Dougherty says. “We worked together like a well-oiled machine for many years with many a late night. But the work had to be done, and we just had to do it.

“I never minded those late hours (because) everything has to be correct and in order for a race meet to run. There's no walking away until the work is finished.”

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“Nancy is a tireless worker and has a great work ethic,” McGivney notes. “It was a rare occurrence when she was not in the office. She's like the Eveready Energizer bunny, she just keeps going and going.

“She'd get things done, even if it meant staying late or coming in on the weekend. She was a valuable asset to the NSA.”

“Nan never shied away from work,” Gallo adds. “She was never satisfied until the job was done.”

Three-meet weeks were where Dougherty's dedication was showcased, though they were long days.

“But, we ate lunch at our desks and went right on working,” she recalls the energy of the team focused on what had to get done. “It was a great atmosphere as we were in constant communication, and I always thought we all really enjoyed our work.

“Bill always said we were family. They were good times.”

“For sure, we had a family relationship within the office,” Gallo agrees. “We worked hard, side by side, and supported each other in every way. Occasionally we would celebrate with a glass of wine after work, or have a nice staff dinner in Saratoga if the girls came up for a board meeting. It was always fun, filled with laughter and fond memories.”

“Those two- and three-meet weeks were extra high-pressure,” Dougherty recalls, “but it just got done. We worked great together.”

The spring hunt meet season spilled into summer racing at the major tracks, then back into the fall season.

“The only time we had some time to relax a little bit was after the last race meet” in November, Dougherty says. But just as quickly, they'd get into awards-party planning and yearbook production, then it was January and time to get ready for the next spring season.

McGivney points out that steeplechase wasn't Dougherty's only passion – she also pursued dog showing and judging at the national level.

“One thing I was always amazed at about Nan was, as busy as she was during the week, she would be on the road on the weekends traveling to dog shows around the country either showing or judging,” McGivney says. “I don't know where she gets her energy, but she certainly has plenty of it.”

Last year, Dougherty slowed down a notch as she began to prepare for retirement. So when she wrote a helpful guide to her duties for whoever would fill her role, she was a little surprised when it ran to pages and pages, and still wasn't complete.

“When I looked at the job description, it was mind-boggling to think 'how will one person be able to do it?'

“There's a lot to this job,” Dougherty says. “You don't realize it when you're in it – you just sort of slog away and do it. But when you write it down, you see there's a lot of detail.”

Many NSA records have been digitized – searchable database and lots of online accounting, but some details can't be handled that way, Dougherty stresses. “A lot of it requires a person, interaction, conversation.”

NSA business administrator Emery Taylor calls Dougherty “a rock star. She was kind enough to stay on when Harper and I started at NSA in January so we could benefit from her knowledge and expertise.

“Nancy had everything completely organized for us, of course, on a shared file on our server, and she was generous sharing everything she knew, everything she'd learned over the years.”

From Monday entry-taking to Wednesday scratches, from licensing to planning, and from drawing races to providing updated race meet information for horsemen, a lot goes into the daily schedule, adds Harper McVey, assistant to the director of racing.

“Thursday and Friday is for final details and getting documents ready to go to the Saturday races. Sundays, we archive videos and post results.

“Really, Nancy was like a den mother in the office, super-organized, very supportive, really nice.

“I know we miss her, and the horsemen miss her.”

Dougherty misses it, too. “Honestly, I guess I do, and I don't. It was such a routine for such a long time. I miss the NSA and the staff, the contact with owners, trainers, jockeys, officials and the race meet people.

“The main difference is that now I don't have to get up and do my own (farm work) early, 'before work.' These days, I can just start an hour later if that's what I feel like.”

McGivney says he's glad for Dougherty's retirement, but for another reason. “Nancy and I retired at about the same time,” he explains. “For me, it wouldn't be the same if I had to go into the office and Nancy wasn't there sitting at her desk.”

Retirement isn't about sitting around

Ironically, in retirement Dougherty is as busy as ever, refueling her passion for dog showing and judging. She keeps seven couple of the original Lewisville hounds – PennMarydels, in the kennels.

“My whole life has been a love affair with hunting dogs – my family's sporting dogs, foxhounds and my own dogs – American Foxhounds, Parson Russell Terriers and Dachshunds,” Dougherty says. “Through foxhunting friends in Great Britain, I was introduced to the Parson Russell Terrier and was able to import the finest bloodlines which have produced many champions over the past 28 years. I've worked all my breeds in the field to natural quarry and have special appreciation for a dog of outstanding quality that can do the job for which it was intended.”

One of her Dachshunds won first award of merit at Westminster, and Dougherty is co-chair of the breed specialty show at the National Dog Show in Oaks, Pennsylvania.

She also has an American Foxhound, now retired from the AKC show circuit, a tri-colored Walker bitch hound and grand champion, Kiarry Says When. Dougherty calls her “Savvy.”

Dougherty is a licensed AKC judge for hound breeds. She likens the dog show community to the steeplechase community, “great people, completely dedicated to the sport.”

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Graham Watters, Jack Fisher Claim Steeplechase Titles In Season Finale

The 2021 National Steeplechase Association season ended on Sunday much as it began in March, with high drama. Only this time the drama had nothing to do with the pandemic and everything to do with racing.

On the final day of the season, Graham Watters and Jack Fisher teamed up for two victories on the five-race card to lock up the hard-fought titles of leading jockey and trainer, respectively, following a thrilling battle with Tom Garner and Leslie Young. By day's end, Watters finished the year with 21 victories, two more than Garner, while Fisher edged Young by the same margin, 17 to 15. For the Irish rider, in his fifth year on the NSA circuit, it was his first title. For Fisher, who entered the Hall of Fame in Saratoga this summer, it was his 14th championship.

“Jack and I both needed the same winners to take our individual championships, which was strange but nice,” said Watters. “We were both celebrating each other's success.”

Steeplechase of Charleston recap

In the opener, a $15,000 maiden claiming hurdle, Watters came oh-so-close to breaking the deadlock, as he finished a head short to Mason Hardaway Lampton's Three O One. Three O One, ridden and trained by the husband-and-wife team of Lilith and Richard Boucher, led from the start-to-finish of the 2 ⅜-mile contest over 12 fences. Port Lairge Stable's Make A Stand, with Watters aboard, stalked the pace in second early, then retreated as Three O One showed the way. Make A Stand came on again at the last, but came up just short of the winner. Baltimore Stables' Homerhayes finished third.

In the second, a $25,000 maiden special weights hurdle, Kiplin Hall's Gearhead, coming off a sharp second in a maiden effort at Montpelier two weeks ago, rallied under Jamie Bargary just past the last fence to win going away by a length over Irv Naylor's Westerland and Gerard Galligan. With one fence to go, Westerland had taken over from longtime leaders Maranto Manner's Duckett's Grove, ridden by Garner and trained by Young, and Frank Bonsal's Profiteer, with Eddie Keating aboard for trainer Casey Pinkard Savin. Heading to the last, Westerland looked to be home free until Gearhead, trained by Willie Dowling, unfurled his late bid.

The jockey and trainer battles effectively ended in the third, when Watters and Fisher captured the $20,000 handicap for horses rated at 110 or less with Riverdee Stable's Gostisbehere. Well-placed throughout, the seven-year-old son of Gio Ponti took charge with one fence to go, pulling away to a 3 ½-length victory over Atlantic Friends Racing's Peat Moss. MRQ Racing's Argentic was third. For much of the going, it appeared as if Garner and Young would be the ones to break the tie with Potter Group USA's Don't Shout, who maintained a lead of about a length three fences from home, when Gostibehere began to make his move.

Watters and Fisher finished the year with an exclamation point in the fourth, the $25,000 Alston Cup allowance for three-year-olds, in a nail-biting finish with Bruton Street-US' Ghostlighter. The high drama came as a result of loose horse Project Two, who was weaving his way through the stretch, nearly causing chaos, as the field streaked to the wire. Despite the dangerous going, Ghoslighter prevailed over Leipers Fork Steeplechasers' Fast Vision and jockey Garner, who picked up the mount just before the race in an attempt to catch Watters in the jockey's race.

The curtain closed on the season with a training flat race for apprentice riders. The winner was Upland Flat Racing's Pleasecallemeback for jockey Parker Hendriks and trainer Keri Brion. Though the race didn't count in the standings, it shone a spotlight on two newcomers who enjoyed tremendous success in 2021. Hendriks ended the year in seventh place in wins among jockeys with seven to go along with a total of 36 in-the-money finishes in 79 starts. It was only his second year riding on the circuit. In her first year of training, Brion finished third in wins, but first in earnings, largely as a result of her stable star, Buttonwood Farm's The Mean Queen, the overwhelming choice to be voted the Eclipse Award as champion steeplechaser.

Watters reflects on his championship season

The NSA caught up with Watters shortly after he clinched the title, and here's what he had to say about the award:

“It's great to have something to put on my career like champion jockey. I really couldn't have done it without the support of Mark Beecher, Neil Morris and, of course, Jack Fisher, and all of their very supporting owners and staff.

“I wasn't too pushed on whether or not I won the championship as I had a fantastic season in winning my first Grade 1 on Snap Decision and a number of stakes races, and creating a strong partnership with Jack Fisher and his owners. The championship had been pretty exciting all year with not many wins separating close friend Tom Garner and I, giving each other some stick along the way.

“Jack and I had a terrible (International) Gold Cup, losing New Member and not a lot going right that day, but we bounced back quickly with four winners together over the next two weekends, which was exciting.

“When it came to Charleston, Jack only ran the two horses, and Mark Beecher the one, which really showed their confidence and class in not running what didn't belong there, and just throwing the kitchen sink at the championship and risking horses and riders.

“The season is now over and we usually stay in the U.S. over winter, hunting and getting the horses started back for the spring racing. But this December, Rosie (Allen) and I are getting married at her parent's hotel in Scotland, which we had postponed due to COVID.

“It has been two-and-a half years since I was home so it will be great to see the family again, and I might even bring my racing gear and try to scrub a few rides together for good old times.

“Next season should be exciting as Jack, Mark and Neil have done a large restock of horses with some fresh winning legs, which makes my job easier.”

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