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If you know the name Temple Gwathmey, chances are it’s the steeplechase race that comes to mind. But long before the race, the man (James Temple Gwathmey) was a major owner, sportsman and businessman. When he died in 1924, his friends created a race and a memorial fund in his name. Both continue today. We … Read more
Bill Gallo started working at the National Steeplechase Association in 1977 and has seen the sport go through a variety of cycles. He talks about the competitive race for the 2017 Eclipse Award between All The Way Jose, Mr. Hot Stuff and Scorpiancer, takes a look ahead at the 2018 season and even goes way … Read more
Part of Thoroughbred racing in one way or another since the 1930s, Maryland’s iconic Fair Hill property is home to plenty of horse activity – racing, training, eventing, showing, fox hunting, trail riding and everything else in between. New efforts are underway to substantially upgrade the outdoor event space at Fair Hill to host a … Read more
Englishman Hadden Frost, 26, came to the United States this spring and rode several jump races. He picked up wins at My Lady’s Manor and Willowdale and nearly won the Maryland Hunt Cup. Before all of that, he won “50-odd” races on the flat and another 70 or so over jumps while following his father … Read more
You know him as the guy behind 2014 steeplechase champion Demonstrative and some other stars to come off Whitewood Farm in Virginia. He grew up in a family with little or no horse background, but dove in and now operates one of the country’s most successful stables. We caught up to him by telephone last … Read more
An experienced jockey in his native Ireland, Sean McDermott is in his third full American season and got off to a big start to 2017 with two major stakes wins aboad Scorpiancer. And to think he started out riding a donkey and eventually a horse named Flamenco Fury. We talk to him about horses, Ireland, … Read more
He’s won six of the last seven National Steeplechase Association owners’ championships, just missed passing $1 million in seasonal earnings in 2016, campaigned the last two steeplechase champions in Dawalan and Rawnaq, and started 2016 by retiring the Virginia Gold Cup trophy with Ebanour. Irv Naylor discussed his origins in the sport and more in … Read more
This was all supposed to be newsworthy, timely and dramatic, but – as anyone in racing knows – it doesn’t always work that way. We talked to Ruby Walsh last week about Nichols Canyon and his chances at the historic TVV Capital Challenge of sweeping Cheltenham’s Stayers Hurdle and America’s Iroquois Steeplechase. Walsh was ready, … Read more
Joe Davies has trained plenty of horses. Senior Senator is nothing like the others. A flop (and something of a rogue) on the flat at Penn National for Flint Stites, the now 7-year-old has bloomed into a star over timber. He’s crossed the finish line first or second in every timber race he’s started with … Read more
Jack Fisher got his Horse of a Lifetime when Good Night Shirt showed up in 2005. The big, raw Maryland-bred’s meteoric career wound up one of the best ever with eight Grade 1 wins and more than $1 million in earnings, joining McDynamo and Lonesome Glory in the seven-figure club. In August, Good Night Shirt … Read more
