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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Randy Rouse, of Arlington, Va., dies at 100

Randolph D. “Randy” Rouse, 100 of Arlington, Va., whose latest steeplechase winner, High Soar, ridden by Gerard Gilligan, had crossed the finish line first in the open hurdle race at the Orange County Point-to-Point just one week earlier, died April 7.

DSC 6139 1Randy Rouse, top amateur steeplechase rider - photo provided by Liz CallarJust the year before, Rouse had saddled High Soar to win the same race at Orange County, thus becoming, at 99, the oldest trainer ever to saddle a winner.

Rouse was born in Smithfield on Dec. 30, 1916 and raised on a farm in Newport News, but he didn’t grow up riding, only discovering his love for horses in the 1940s, after graduating from Washington & Lee in 1939 with a B.S. in commerce and serving in the Navy during World War II.

He was invited to hunt with Fairfax, and was hooked, joining the hunt in the late 1940s and becoming Joint Master of Foxhounds in the mid-50s, a position he held for 55 years until his death. After first joining Fairfax Hunt, Rouse built a clubhouse for the group while it was located in Reston at Sunset Hills Farm and owned by the Bowman family.

He also built a steeplechase course in Reston and later at Belmont along Route 7 in Fairfax.

Due to creeping civilization and development, the hunt, along with many others, eventually migrated west. It is now known as the Loudoun-Fairfax Hunt.

 

AS AN amateur steeplechase jockey, he won all 11 races in which he rode his Cinzano, and his wife, Michelle, also rode in steeplechase races as an amateur.

He owned and trained many racehorses, including Ricacho winner of the 1960 Virginia Gold Cup, ridden by the great Joe Aitchenson Jr.

As a rider, Rouse was one of the most successful amateur steeplechase and point-to-point jockeys.

DSC 6165 1Randy Rouse, top amateur steeplechase rider - photo provided by Liz CallarHe supported steeplechasing through his sponsorship of the Virginia Professional Horseman Benefit races, the Gold Cup races at Great Meadow and Colonial Downs.

He recently was honored with the F. Ambrose Clarke award from the National Steeplechase Association as one who has “improved, encouraged and promoted the sport’s growth and welfare.”

Rouse was also a successful businessman who began building houses in 1947, and his firm, Randolph D. Rouse Enterprises, developed the Seven Corners Shopping Center and others in the Northern Virginia area, and he owned a gas station, an auto parts shop and the Middleburg Training Track.

He donated the Middleburg Training Track, which he’d owned since 2006, to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation.

He signed the papers on Dec. 29, the day before he turned 100, and told the Fauquier Times “at my age, you have to start thinking about the future.”

Rouse’s first wife was the late actress Audrey Meadows, a co-star with the late comedian Jackie Gleason in "The Honeymooners,” the wildly popular 1950s television series.

They divorced in 1958 after two years.

His widow, Michele Rouse, whom he married in 1983, told the Washington Post in 1998: "He's just amazing. He attacks every day with enormous passion."

He and Michele have a farm in Lenah, Va., and a 10 acre home in Arlington, Va., where he entertained, often playing his beloved saxophone for his guests.

Between wives, Rouse escorted many high society women. He loved dancing and, with his good looks and maners was a sought-after partner.

He had many friends, including the late Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke.

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