Joe Clancy 
Happy Thanksgiving. Before we get to the turkey and the stuffing, put a bow on the 2023 National Steeplechase Association season. The circuit wrapped up its year with five races at Aiken Saturday, and the traditional South Carolina finale showcased a few fresh faces with promising futures. The featured Holiday Cup – a $35,000 hurdle … Read more
This isn’t the end of the steeplechase season, but you can see it from here. After carding 17 races last weekend, the circuit goes to South Carolina for the Steeplechase at Charleston Sunday afternoon. The five-race card starts at 1 p.m. and is the second-to-last meet of the season as Aiken finishes things up next … Read more
Where were you last week? While you were busy running a half-marathon, mowing the lawn, walking the dog, packing your bags for the Breeders’ Cup or sorting out a ride to basketball practice, Snap Decision was reminding everyone who he was. America’s top steeplechase horse over the last four – maybe five – seasons got back … Read more
Back on the horse. Back on the road. Back on the keyboard. A week after the biggest race meet on the steeplechase circuit, horses and people turn their attention to another major stop – Saturday’s International Gold Cup meeting at Great Meadow in The Plains, Va. It’s the companion to the spring Virginia Gold Cup … Read more
There’s nothing like Far Hills mud. After a day like Saturday, you find it everywhere – car tires and floor mats, shoes, pant legs, socks even a splotch on your binoculars. Sticky and reddish-brown, there’s something different about it, and I’m not even a horse. Saturday featured plenty of mud, dampness, rain and wind, even … Read more
American steeplechase fans get their moment in the sun – well, maybe rain; let’s hope not rain – at Saturday’s Far Hills Races in Far Hills, N.J. Held for the 102nd time, the races occupy a unique spot in local culture as THE can’t-miss fall event while at the same time standing atop the National … Read more
How was your fall break? American jump racing took a week off last week, we saw some jockeys in line for pit beef sandwiches at Timonium, but gets back on the proverbial horse in two locales Saturday. Stately Glenwood Park hosts the Virginia Fall Races for an eight-race card of hurdle, timber and flat races … Read more
Finish Line. The Special wraps up its 2023 season with our final big Saturday edition. We preview the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Flower Bowl, Prioress and Harvey Pack (about time he got a race) plus cover Wednesday, Thursday, Friday racing and take one of our favorite Fasig-Tipton Stable Tours of the season with Hall of … Read more
Travers Dude. Arcangelo adds the Grade 1 Travers Stakes to his win in the Belmont Stakes in June to take control of the 3-year-old division. He’s won four in a row. Plus we cover the rest of a bittersweet Travers Day which included a Grade 1 double by trainer Steve Asmussen and more. We take … Read more
It was 2008. Jonathan Sheppard was in yet another chapter of his storied career and The Blood-Horse magazine wanted a feature story. Steeplechase Times still existed, and I still wrote freelance articles for other racing publications.
