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Sean Clancy 
The seventh week of the spring season. Already? Can that be right? Saratoga will be here before you know it. And, sure, the Colonial Cup, too. Time flies when you’re… The Virginia Gold Cup holds its traditional spot on the first Saturday in May while Winterthur crosses its calendar block on the first Sunday of … Read more
Steeplechase Saturday. A six-race menu at Foxfield and a one-race fete at the Maryland Hunt Cup offer a little of everything this weekend as the steeplechase tour hits high speed in the heat of the spring season. Last week, the Middleburg Spring Races provided one of those days when you’ll look back and say you … Read more
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame welcomed its newest member yesterday. Smarty Jones. The Pennsylvania wunderkind. Moments like this make you wade into the archives, all the way back to his Triple Crown run. Twenty-years ago. The Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred. Trainer John Servis gave Stewart Elliott a leg up on Smarty Jones for … Read more
A standard and a hybrid. My Lady’s Manor and Blue Ridge provide Saturday’s steeplechase menu. The former, a four-race card, serves yet again as the long-standing traditional opener to the Maryland timber circuit. The latter, a longtime point-to-point, has transformed into a hybrid meet with four NSA races and five unsanctioned races. Thank you to … Read more
Steeplechase action heads to Virginia this week for a three-race card at Old Dominion. Kate and Bernie Dalton aren’t going anywhere. And why would they? The Camden-based trainer/jockey duo won their second consecutive Carolina Cup Saturday. The home team won the novice stakes with Abaan last year. This year, China Beach upset the $75,000 stakes … Read more
Week one is in the books. Stephen Mulqueen burst back on the scene after breaking his hand in the fall to win two races on opening day at Aiken last weekend. He guided Porte Jaune to win the filly and mare maiden for Leipers Fork, Madaket and Layton Register and took the Imperial Cup aboard … Read more
Whoa, where did the time go? Seems like yesterday, the sport was celebrating the return of the Colonial Cup and crowning champions on the final day. It’s been 119 days, to be exact, between the final National Steeplechase Association stop of 2024 and the first of 2025. Thank you, Aiken Steeplechase, for both. The 58th … Read more
Leaving the Cotswolds Saturday morning, wedged into the back of a red Range Rover on the most roundabout way to Heathrow ever choreographed. Waze would not approve. Not that I notice, or care. Hat boxes, croissant wrappers, rolling bags, overcoats, dog-eared racecards, a betting slip or 10, empty ginger shot bottles, hole-punched badges, a pile … Read more
Once more. Golden Miller…Arkle…Best Mate…Kauto Star. Today, Galopin Des Champs tries to cross into the ethereal. The French-bred, Irish-trained 9-year-old seeks his third consecutive win in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup. Trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Paul Townend, Galopin Des Champs is the 4/7 favorite to achieve jump racing’s ultimate hat trick. Hats … Read more
Michael O’Sullivan guided Marine Nationale and Jazzy Matty to wins at the Cheltenham Festival in 2023. A rising phenom, a respected young man, at the cusp of a burgeoning career, a beautiful life. Two years later, those two horses won again at Cheltenham and all we could do is look at the sky and wonder … Read more
