Racing

Little Trilby, trained by Ricky Hendriks, won the 4-year-old Hurdle Stakes at Aiken

Details: November 24, 2024; By SARA CAVANAGH

AIKEN, S.C.--Ricky Hendriks saddled Del Rio Racing's Little Trilby (GB) to score a runaway victory in the $50,000, 2 1/8 mile Four-Year-Old Hurdle Stakes on Saturday, Nov. 23 at the Aiken Fall Steeplechase.

Little Trilby leads early in Holiday Cup 3 Little Trilby, ridden by Gerard Galligan (Photo by Tod Marks)
Little Trlby, ridden by Gerard Galligan, went right to the front from the start and led by 20 to 30 lengths throughout, winning by 21 lengths over Sultan Pierji (Fr), trained by Tom Garner, and St. John's, trained by Jack Fisher, and finishing 3:51 4/5, the fastest race of the day.

"We bought him from Gordon Elliot," said Hendriks. "I got him in July and sent him straight to Saratoga where he had a bad fence that took him out of contention. We gave him a bit of a rest then and ran him again at Far Hills. The ground was probably too firm for him there."

"We changed tactics for Aiken and put blinkers on him," said Hendriks. "It didn't look like there was any pace in the race, so I said to Gerard, `If there's no pace, go ahead and make it.' He ran a big race."

"We'll give him a rest now and run him back in the spring in novice races."said Hendriks. "He's a nice, kind horse. I'm delighted for the Del Rio group."

Leslie Young saddled Too Friendly to win the G1 Colonial Cup

Details: November 19, 2024; By SARA CAVANAGH

CAMDEN, S.C.--Leslie Young saddled Irv Naylor's Too Friendly (GB), ridden by Jamie Bargary, to win the $150,000, G1 Colonial Cup in front of a large, enthusiastic crowd that welcomed the race meet back after a eight year hiatus.

Too Friendly left outduels Snap Decision center Quick Master over last in Col Cup 1 Too Friendly, left, outduels Snap Decision, center, and Quick Master over last in the Colonial Cup (Photo by Tod Marks)
Too Friendly won the 2 5/8 mile race by 1/2 length over Noah and the Ark (Ire), trained by Todd McKenna, and Snap Decision, trained by Jack Fisher, finishing in 5:09 2/5.

This was Too Friendly's third race in this country and his second over fences after finishing sixth in the G1 Jonathan Sheppard and third in the G1 Hurdle Stakes at Great Meadows.

"We bought him at the Tattersall Horses in Training sale last summer," said Young. "He was a very reasonable $55,000. He was rated 90 running on the flat, and he'd run over jumps. The Naylors wanted a horse to run at Saratoga."

"He hadn't run over fences for six months, but we ran him in the Jonathan Sheppard," said Young. "He was bumped over the first fence,and he grabbed a heel badly. We let the heel recover, the he ran a good race in the flat race at Far Hills. He was caught on the inside, and when he got out there were a lot of stakes horses in front of him. Then in the Gold Cup, he didn't like the ground. He loved the ground yesterday."

"Jamie just wanted to sit handy," said Young of their plan for the race. "There was plenty of pace, and he just kept creeping up. Snap is a wonderful horse. You never want to see a true champion beaten, but my horse ran great."

"He'll get a break over the winter, and then if all's well he'll run in the Temple Gwathmey next spring," said Young.

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Details: November 29, 2024; By Staff Writers

Jack Fisher won Trainer, Money Won, tied with Leslie Young in Trainer, Races Won

Details: November 27, 2024; By SARA CAVANAGH

AIKEN, S.C.--The top steeplechase trainers, owners, jockeys and horses were honored at an Awards Gala that showed the health of the sport.

Jack Fisher Fair Hill 2 Jack Fisher
The Gala was held after the Aiken Fall Steeplechase on Saturday, Nov. 23.

For the first time ever the National Steeplechase Association distributed over $7 million in purses at 27 races meets, Saratoga, Colonial Downs and Belmont at Aqueduct.

Four Grade 1 races were added, the Comonwealth Cup at the Virginia Gold Cup, the Beverly Steinman at Aqueduct, the Will Allison at the International Gold Cup and the return of the Colonial Cup.

The awards highlighted the depth of the trainers involved with steeplechasing, as along with Jack Fisher and Leslie Young who won the top awards, another four trainers conditioned horses that won in various categories.

And for the first time, two trainers earned over $1 million and a jockey earned over $1 million.

Jack Fisher led in Trainer, Money Won with $1,274,600 over Leslie Young with $1,197,300 and Keri Brion with $724,400.

This was Fisher's 13th time leading in Money Won and his seventh time winning over $1 million.

Fisher also tied with Young for Races Won, with each winning 29 races, while Brion again was third with 13 races won,

"I guess the Races Won title s considered the most important, but I'd rather win the Money Won title," said Fisher. "I thought it was good to tie with Leslie for Races Won. I was so far behind after the spring races, But I don't think Leslie won anything over the summer, so that helped us."

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Details: November 29, 2024; By Staff Writers

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Leslie Young reaches over $1 million in purses with four wins on Nov. 2

Details: November 6, 2024; By SARA CAVANAGH

MONTPELIER STATION, Va.--With a win at the Montpelier Hunt Races on Saturday, Nov. 2 and three at Callaway Gardens on the same day, Leslie Young made history as the second person in the same year to make over $1million in purses and also tied with Jack Fisher in Trainer, Races Won.

Leslie YoungTodd McKenna saddled Keystone Thoroughbreds' Noah and the Ark (Ire) to win the featured G2, $75,000 Hurdle Handicap Stakes, but that win was overshadowed by Young's historic achievement.

While Fisher now has reached over $1 million in purses seven times, only one other person had previously won over $1million, and that was Keri Brion in 2022.

But to have two trainers reach that pinnacle of success in one year is not only historic but also is a tribute to the strength of steeplechasing in this country and the huge increase in purses over the years.

Fisher leads in Trainer, Money Won with $1,194,600 and Young is second with $1,078,650, followed by Brion with $703,000, Arch Kingsley with $424,450 and Kathy Neilson with $304,200.

Fisher and Young are tied in Trainer, Races Won with 27wins each, and Brion is third with 13.

"That's great," said Young. "It's a huge feat. Two years ago we just missed making $1million by a couple of hundred dollars. We did it this year without any heavy hitters. We only had one stakes winner."

Young saddled Sharon E. Sheppard''s Rucker Road (Ire), ridden by Paddy O'Hanlon, to win the $40,000 Maiden Hurdle by 1 length over Avakate, trained by Neil Morris, and Fouroneohsmokesh, trained by Brion.

"He's a beautiful horse," said Young. "We got him at the Tattersalls Cheltenham sale. He s a lovely, athletic, leggy horse."

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Details: November 30, 2024; By Staff Writers

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Westerland, trained by Kathy Neilson, won the Novice Hurdle Stakes at Callaway Gardens

Details: November 4, 2024; By SARA CAVANAGH

PINE MOUNTAIN, Ga.--Kathy Neilson saddled Irv Naylor's Westerland, ridden by Parker Hendriks, to win the $75,000, 2 3/8 miles Novice Hurdle Stakes on Saturday, Nov. 2 at the Steeplechase at Callaway Gardens.

Westerland takes jump 2nd pass Aflac 2 Westerland, ridden by Parker Hendriks (Photo by Tod Marks)
Westerland won by 2 1/4 lengths over Walk the Warrior, trained by Leslie Young, and Beat Le Bon, trained by Jack Fisher.

"When I got Westerland, he'd been on the track and he had sore feet," said Neilson, who got the 8-year-old gelding four years ago. "He struggled with foot issues. Finally, I began to watch what Larry Smith was doing."

Westerland ran over fences from 2020 through 2023 without a win.

"This winter I decided I have to do something different," said Neilson. "I'd tried every kind of shoes you could think of. So I trained him out of the field with no shoes. He thrived on it. He got really sound."

Westerland broke his maiden at Colonial Downs in August and then was third in the Michael Walsh Novice Stakes in Saratoga and has now won a novice stakes.

"I have very patient owners," said Neilson. "I said I believe in the horse. It just took longer than I'd expected."

Withoutmoreado won theTimber Stakes at Genesee Hunt Races

Details: October 13, 2024; By SARA CAVANAGH

GENESSEO, N.Y.--Kathy Neilson saddled Irv Naylor's Withoutmoreado (Ire), ridden by Eric Poretz, to win the $25,000, 3 1/2 mile Genessee Valley Hunt Club Timber Stakes at the Genessee Valley Hunt Races on Saturday, Oct.12.

Withoutmoreado leads Boutonniere over last in 2nd 2 Withoutmoreado in a file photo from an earlier race
Withoutmoreado won by 1 length over Goodoldtimes (Ire), trained by Mark Beecher, and Queens Empire (Ire), trained by Jack Fisher.

Withoutmoreado won the 2023 Maryland Hunt Cup but didn't finish this year in either the Grand National or the Maryland Hunt Cup.

"Last spring, he just wasn't as confident as he'd been the year before,"said Nelson. "So we made some changes."

"Eric Poretz really wanted to ride him, so we put him upon Ado on Shawan schooling day," said Neilson. "They got along like peas and carrots. Ado loved Eric. Eric gave him a forward ride,"

"Ado ran and jumped for Eric at Genessee," she said. "He saved his energy and kicked on after the last fence."

Jack Fisher won two, including the Stakes, at Foxfield Fall Steeplechase

Details: October 7, 2024; By SARA CAVANAGH

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.--Jack Fisher saddled two winners and a second placed horse at Foxfield Fall Races on Sunday, Oct. 6 and moved into the lead in Trainer, Money Won and into a tie in Trainers, Races Won.

Jack Fisher Fair Hill 2 Jack Fisher
As most expected, Fisher trained the winner of the featured, G3, $75,000, 2 1/8 mile Mariann De Tejeda Hurdle Stakes, but he didn't win it with the horse most people had expected it to be.

C and C Boultbee Brooks' Sebastopol (Ire), ridden by Parker Hendriks, won the Stakes by 1 3/14 lengths over Who's Counting, trained and ridden by Sean McDermott, while Snap Decision, trained by Fisher and the clear favorite in the race, finished third.

The going was very deep in places, going that Snap hates, plus he was giving anywhere from 12 to 20 pounds to the other five horses.

Snap Decision went straight to the start and led through much of the race until he was challenged by Who's Counting, who was then passed by Sebastopol.

"I thought he ran great," said Fisher. "This sets him up well for Far Hills. But he won't run there if it's soft."

Snap, who has won 15 hurdle races, most of them graded stakes, has been beaten at Far Hills for the past two years when the going was very deep and holding.

"If not Far Hills, it was a perfect set up for the Gold Cup," said Fisher.

"It was a really straight forward race," said Hendriks of his ride on Sebastopol. "I just followed the best horse, Snap. He jumped really nicely. I had ridden him in a schooling race at Shawan Downs. He's very nice horse, a very cool horse. Everyone in the barn loves him. Hopefully, I'll ride him back."

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Details: November 30, 2024; By Staff Writers

Snap Decision to run at Foxfield

Details: October 3, 2024; By Staff Writers

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.--The National Steeplechase Association returns to Charlottesville on Sunday, Oct. 5 for the Foxfield Races, a seven-race card worth $240,000 -- $100,000 more than last year's event.

Snap Decison winning the Iroquois Steeplechase (Photo by Tod Marks)
Anchoring the card is the G3 Mariann De Tejada Memorial, a handicap hurdle, which like all jump races at Foxfield is at 2 1/8 miles.

And the star of the show is Bruton Street-US' Snap Decision, a 12-time stakes winner and a leading contender for the Eclipse Award.

The Jack Fisher-trainee returns to the races for the first time since capturing his third G1 Iroquois at Percy Warner Park in Nashville in May.

Snap Decision is one of six different runners to win an NSA G1 in 2024, and the only one of the six to have been victorious in another graded stakes as well, the G2 Temple Gwathmey at Middleburg Spring.

Michael Matz saddled three winners, including a Stakes winner, son Alex on Nations Cup Final team

Details: September 25, 2024; By SARA CAVANAGH

COATESVILLE, Pa.--Michael Matz just enjoyed a few weeks that might be unequaled in equestrian sport.

Late Frost winning over Lady Liberty Belle (Photo by Mary Lyons)Not only did he train three winners, including a stakes winner and the first and second placed horses in a $100,000 Allowance race, but also his son Alex was named to the team to compete in the Barcelona Nations Cup Finals.

And to make it even better, Alex will be competing in the same arena in Barcelona in which Michael competed in the Olympics.

It's very rare to have a father and son both so excellent in show jumping that they make an Olympic team and a team in a major competition like the Nations Cup Finals.

Only Nelson and Rodrigo Pessoa come to mind as another father son combination that has so excelled.

Keri Brion saddled Freddy Flintshire to win the $150,000 Lonesome Glory Stakes

Details: September 20, 2024; By Staff Writers

OZONE PARK, N.Y.--Keri Brion saddled Upland Flats Racing’s Freddy Flintshire, ridden by Steve Nulqueen, to win his first graded stakes victory in the G1, $150,000 Lonesome Glory, a 2 1/2-mile steeplechase handicap, at Belmont at the Big A on Thursday, Sept.19.

Freddy Flintshire takes jump 2nd pass Lonesome Glory REMOTE 3 Freddy Flintshire over a fence on the second lap (Photo by Tod Marks)
L’Imperator, trained by Arch Kingsley, finished second, with Hidden Path, trained by Ricky Hendriks, third.

Freddy Flintshire raced third behind the battle between front running stablemate Going Country and Evie’s Prince, moving up in the final turn and going into the lead in the stretch.

He held off the late run of post-time favorite L’Imperator to win by 1 length,

"He had a great trip," Brion said. "That was kind of the plan because Going Country just kind of stays, he doesn't have a big turn of foot. Our thought was there's not much pace in the race, so just go out to the front and we wanted Freddy to sit in behind where he was comfortable. It just worked out well that he was sitting in behind the pace and had a nice lead the whole way around.”

'I'm so happy for his owner Patrick Lewis," said Brion."He bought him off my recommendation, and he's been very patient."

"These races are hard on them," said Brion of the races at Sratoga and Belmont in which the last hurdle is on the backside, not in the stretch. "The sprint to the end is not what they're used to."

Gold Charm won the $100,000 Life's Illusion Stakes at Colonial

Details: September 5, 2024; By SARA CAVANAGH

NEW KENT, Va.--Cyril Murphy saddled Irv Naylor's Gold Charm, ridden by Harry Beswick to win the $100,000, 2 1/4 mile Life's Illusion Stakes for fillies and mares on Thursday, Sept. 5, the last day of his year's steeplechase racing at Colonial Downs.

Gold Charm Coady Media Maddy Becker Gold Charm (Photo by Coady Media, Maddy Becker)"We bought her as a 3-year-old at a hoes in training sale in England and brought her here," said Murphy. "She's a nice filly. She ran second to the boys at Malvern and then broke her maiden at Colonial last year. She won the Randolph Rouse Stakes at Colonial and then was third in the stakes at Far Hills."

"The plan was always to come back to Colonial, but horses don't pay bills standing in their stalls, so we had to run her this spring in a couple of races that didn't suit her," said Murphy. "Today she showed what she can do. She's very honest, she jumps well and she got a nice ride from Harry."

"Our whole year was geared to Colonial, and today was the last day, so I'm not sure what we're going to do next." said Murphy. "October at Far Hills is a possibility. There aren't that many opportunities for fillies and mares. But for now, we've achieved what we came to do."

Gold Charm ran off the pace in the back half of the seven horse field for the first six fences and then steadily improved her position, caught the leader, Exculpate, turning for home and pulled clear to win by 2 3/4 lengths over Exculpate, trained by Arch Kingsley and ridden by Parker Hendriks, with My Forever Annie, trained by Leslie Young, third,

Evie's Prince won the $100,000 Michael G. Walsh Novice Stakes

Details: August 28, 2024; By SARA CAVANAGH

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--Shannon Hill Farm's Evie's Prince won the $100,000 Michael G. Walsh Novice Stakes at Saratoga on Wednesday, Aug. 28.

Graham Watters celebrates near wire in the Walsh Novice Stakes (Photo by Tod Marks)
Graham Watters got the ride on the horse trained by Neil Morris when Jack Fisher had no horse entered in the race.

This was Evie's Pince's seventh start over fences and his third win, all of which came this year.

Evie's Prince had previously run on the flat for three years, mainly in claiming races.

Watters gave the 7-year-old gelding a good ride, tracking the leader, Hold Hard, until after the last fence and then taking command, drawing clear around the final turn and into in the stretch to win by 2 1/4 lengths.

Hidden Path.trained by Ricky Hendriks and ridden by Parker Hendriks was second with Westerland, trained by Kathy Neilson and ridden by Jamie Bargary third in the eight horse field.

This win brings Evie's Prince's record to five wins, two seconds and six thirds from 26 starts and earnings of $214,341.

The win extended Watters lead in Riders, Races Won to15, with Bargarys econd with 11 wins.

Watters also leadsin Money Won with $711,550 over Bargary with $561,700.

Leslie Young leads Trainer, Races Won with 22 wins to Fisher's 14 wins and Keri Brion's seven wins.