News

As a sports writer for the Cecil Whig, perhaps the world’s smallest daily newspaper, in 1991 I picked up a rare horse assignment and headed to Fair Hill to see the foreign horses in town for the Breeders’ Cup Steeplechase. Cheering News and Morley Street walked in a circle with their “lads” and headed out … Read more

John Thigpen and son Andy at the 2006 Carolina Cup.

John Fleming Thigpen Jr., who graced steeplechase meets as an official, volunteer and fan for more than 50 years, died Feb. 7 at Martha Jefferson House in Charlottesville, Va.

Sonny Via traded sandy beaches for sanded roads Tuesday, but the winter chill that greeted him back home in Free Union, Va., did little to diminish his spirits. After all, he was fresh from accepting Good Night Shirt’s second consecutive Eclipse Award as champion steeplechaser.

The inevitable became reality Monday night as Sonny Via's Good Night Shirt received the 2008 Eclipse Award to repeat as champion steeplechaser. The ceremony at the Fountainebleau in Miami Beach, Fla., provided the final stamp on the chestnut's perfect 5-for-5 season, but provided little in the way of drama – for their was no denying Good Night Shirt in 2008.

The National Steeplechase Association Board of Directors named Guy J. Torsilieri as President for 2009 and approved a slate of officers for 2009 at a board meeting Thursday, Jan. 15, in Baltimore.

Reprinted from the December 19 Steeplechase Times. I’ll be honest, I never thought he’d make it this far. But I never told him. A flat rider trapped in a jump jockey’s body, Matt McCarron showed up in steeplechasing like he got off at the wrong bus stop. He rode a handful of races in 1992 … Read more

Elizabeth C. “Betty” Bird, 81, an internationally acclaimed horsewoman known for her touch with difficult horses and her elegant personal style, died Dec. 30 at her home in Unionville, Pa. Born in Baltimore, Md., she was a daughter of the late John Bosley II and Elizabeth Cromwell Bosley.

NOTE: Republished from the December 19 edition of Steeplechase Times. “Don’t slam the door. Whatever you do, don’t slam the door.” My father rented a cottage from Bob Witham one winter in Camden, S.C. and those were the only instructions. Bob didn’t like the door to bang closed. He also didn’t like dirt, too many … Read more

In his eloquent classic “All Things Must Pass,” George Harrison sang “Sunrise doesn’t last all morning . . . sunset doesn’t last all evening . . . all things must pass, all things must pass away.”

Seth Klarman always names horses after economic terms – good or bad. His stable has campaigned horses whose names fit better in The Wall Street Journal than the Racing Form: Outperformance, Phantom Income, Subprime Lending, Market Psychology and Bubble Economy to name a few.