Far Hills Recap: Belisarius bounces back to win Foxbrook
The Grateful Dead coined one of the most iconic lines in rock and roll history, when they sang, “What a long, strange trip it’s been…”
Sean Clancy
Far Hills Recap: Caldbeck dominates Gladstone
Unlike lawyers, horse trainers ask a question when they don’t know the answer. Well, sometimes they might know the answer and ask the question anyway. Ricky Hendriks watched Irish import Caldbeck school three times leading up to Far Hills. Each time, Hendriks asked the same question to jockeys Mikey Mitchell, Ross Geraghty and Jack Kennedy.
Far Hills Recap: Invocation wins Appleton
Billy Santoro smiled, smirked, shrugged.
“That’s mega big,” Santoro said.
Far Hills Recap: Special is Special
If there was an award for the most impressive maiden winner of the year, there would be many choices. Boss Man at Queen’s Cup? Cite at Iroquois? Elucidation at Shawan? Belisarius at Monmouth Park? Add Special Relation at Far Hills.
The Jury is in at Far Hills
Robbie Power stood tall in his irons and pumped his right fist three times. A posse of Irishmen roared from the ground around him. It could have been Aintree. Cheltenham. Punchestown. Or Far Hills.
The 36-year-old Irish jockey has won the biggest races on the biggest stages. Saturday in New Jersey, he reached American steeplechasing’s biggest stage, guiding Jury Duty to an easy win the Grand National at the Far Hills Races.
Far Hills Epilogue
Well, they dropped the flag at Far Hills. Epic day at the sport’s biggest meet. American-breds went 0-for 33. Irish-breds won four, British-breds won two and a French-bred won the other. Yielding ground will do that.
The Day of Days – Far Hills
“Are you less nervous today than you were on Oct. 29, 1983?”
“Probably,” Dad answered.
“Definitely,” I answered.
Far Hills Spotlight: Wide Open Grand National
And the big one. The $450,000 Grand National. The richest race of the year. The puzzle of the year. An eclectic nine converge for the sport’s biggest prize. America’s premier race looks more like a handicap chase at Uttoxeter or a Ballinrobe as eight of the nine starters began their careers or still make their careers in Europe.
Far Hills Spotlight: Wide open Appleton
A dozen line up for the third race on the Far Hills Races card, the $50,000 Appleton ratings handicap hurdle and uncovering the winner could prove a difficult task. The cast includes recent last-out winners Osmoz, Indigo Heart and Wild Dynaformer, not-so-recent last-out winner Invocation, European import Winner Massagot and class droppers Mercoeur and Salix. Like we said, a tall order in 2 5/8-mile test.
Far Hills Spotlight: Veterans set for timber test
The finale to the card is the $50,000 New Jersey Hunt Cup timber stakes and for the second straight year features a field of seven to dissect. None of the seven from 2017 are in the field but plenty of timber veterans are, including Top Man Michael and Kings Apollo out of a useful prep last time at Shawan Downs.
