Will There Be A 2010 Horse of the Year?
Private Attack with Mark Beecher up (left) and Twill Do with James Stierhoff up (right) at the Maryland Hunt Cup, which was won by Twill Do
We are post Hunt Cup, and yet we continue to see the ripple effect of Maryland’s record setting blizzards.
Usually by this point in the season, we know who the Maryland Governor’s Cup Steeplechase Horse of the Year is – or who the lead horses are. But here we are, beyond the Hunt Cup, with no lead horse, and plenty of doubt as to whether or not we will even have a Horse of the Year.
Steeplechase horses, particularly timber horses, get legged up for the season in the winter, often by foxhunting. The blizzards shut down many packs early and forced the cancelation or rescheduling of the critical timber warm-ups: the Foxhall Farm Trophy Team Chase and the Howard County-Iron Bridge Race Meet (the former canceled, the later will run this Saturday, May 1).
So, the season opened with the Green Spring Valley Point-to-Point on March 27, and organizers struggled with the perennial challenge of being the first race on the card. This challenge, familiar to the organizers of the traditional opening meet: thin entries, as trainers grappled with how to best start their horses pointed for the Hunt Cup.
Meanwhile, the “Big Melt” left a Big Mess, soggy bottoms and tender turf. Prudence being the better part of valor, the mirror image relays were canceled en toto, which effectively suspended The Equiery Hunt Club Relay Race Challenge Trophy for 2010.
Will There Be A 2010 Horse of the Year?
So, here we are, with only two races left and absolutely no clear front runners. The lead horses for Horse of the Year, except for Private Attack, each have one win and one start (to receive Horse of the Year, a horse has to have started in at least two and won at least one race). With six points each, the current contenders are: Delta Park (Aracadia Stables, trained by Jack Fisher), who won the Green Spring Valley Hunt Cup; Radio Flyer (owned by Augustin Stables, trained by Richard Valentine), winner of the $5,000 John Murray Begg Memorial; South Monarch (owned and trained by Sanna Hendricks), who won the $30,000 My Lady’s Manor; Across The Sky (Holbrooke Hollow Farm owned, Fisher trained), who won the $30,000 Grand National Timber Stakes; and, of course, Hunt Cup winner Twill Do (owned by Lucy Goelet, trained by Billy Meister).
Prospectors Strike/Justin Batoff up (left) and Delta Park/Fritz Boniface up (right) at Green Spring Valley
Private Attack (owned by Sportsman Hall, trained by Alicia Murphy) also has six points, and he has two starts (coming in second at the Grand National and Hunt Cup). Private Attack was the 2005 Maryland Novice Timber Horse of the Year and tied for Horse of the Year in 2008.
Despite having healthy entries for its open timber race, the Howard County Cup this Saturday features none of the Horse of the Year contenders. Bon Cado, owned by H. Bruce Fenwick and trained by Dawn Williams, with four points (second at Elkridge-Harford, third at the Grand National) was entered but scratched, so it will be up to the Potomac Races to determine a Steeplechase Horse of the Year.
Who Can Whack The Whacker?
At least with the Novice Timber Horse of the Year, we have a strong front runner with Bob Kinsley’s The Whacker, who handily won his novice timbers at Elkridge-Harford and the Grand National. Again, we’d have to leave it to Potomac to offer a challenge to Whacker, as none of the other Novice Timber contenders (Excellent Cut, Volle Nolle and Prospector’s Strike, each with one win) are entered in Howard’s Alda Clark novice timber.
The Whacker at Elkridge-Harford, ridden by Billy Santoro
Jockeying For Position
In 2009, Patrick Worrall scooped up all the awards to be had for riders…Timber, Amateur and Overall, he has some strong competition for this year, most notably with Paddy Young who has racked up 24 points overall, 15 for timber (while Worrall holds 11 points in each ranking). Darren Nagle is also in a good position overall, with 17.5 points. And let’s not forget the Grand National win aboard Across The Sky, followed by a commanding Hunt Cup lead, for former young rider and Governor’s Cup scholarship winner Fritz Boniface! That puts him in with the big dogs, with 12 points in each division.
Gypsey Beads with Diana Gillam up (left) and Volle Nolle with Patty Young, current leading jockey (right) at Marlborough
Juniors & Ponies
Always hot! And too hot to report until all the placings from Sunday’s Junior Hunt Cup are confirmed and points are tallied…so stay tuned.
And keep an eye on these kids… one of the goals for both the Maryland Steeplechase Association and the North American Point-to-Point Association is to foster future jockeys… Rosie Napriavnik (now on the flat track) and Fritz Boniface (riding in the big timbers) are just two of our former child stars we’ve seen go big time. Stay tuned for more!
Time for the Times
To read more in depth reports about all the thrills and the spills at Maryland’s big timbers, check out these fantastic Steeplechase Times stories:
Tracking The Timber Titans, Green Spring thru The Manor
Across The Sky into the Sun at the Grand National
Twill Do Steals Across The Sky at Hunt Cup
Coal Dust
End Notes
We are saddened to report that the 2009 Maryland Governor’s Cup Horse of the Year, Coal Dust (owned by Armata Stables, trained by Tom Voss) broke his leg in the paddock at the Maryland Hunt Cup and was immediately euthanized.
On a brighter note, our 2002 Maryland Junior Horse Rider of the Year, Rosie Napravnik, continues her rocking flat track career. Rosie will be a featured rider at the Lady Legends Day at the Black-Eyed Susan, May 14 at Pimilco. Join The Equiery Turfside!
The Stalking Horse
You gotta keep your eye on him…
We’ve not seen Irv Naylor much in the winner circle this season (only twice so far: with Kilbreen for the $5,000 John D. Schapiro Memorial Heavyweight Timber at My Lady’s Manor and then again the next day at Marlborough with Dubai Sunday, who captured the Annapolis Subscription amateur flat).
And his big timber horses, while in the running, finished out the Maryland big timbers inauspiciously: Askim running and placing in three timbers, finishing fifth at the Hunt Cup and 2009 Novice Timber Horse of the Year Patriot’s Path also finishing out fifth at the Grand National.
But ya gotta keep an eye on him…as he obviously has his eye cast on the horizon, bringing along future contenders, both the 4-legged type and the 2-legged type (trainer Brianna Slater). And while he may not be in the winner circle, his stable is deep and usually finishing in the money – and apparently he likes to sneak down to Southern Maryland to leg up these future stars:
- Colonial Kid, 3rd in Green Spring’s training flat
- Bag of Hammers, 4th behind stablemate Colonial Kid at Green Spring
- Salmo: 10th in the Green Spring training flat, 6th at the Marlborough ami-flat Annapolis Subscription Plate
- Lady Pith, 4th in Marlborough 2nd Division William H. Brooke Maiden Flat
- Sermonize, 4th in Marlborough’s John D. Bowling Maiden Hurdle
- Tax Ruling, 5th in Marlborough’s Annapolis Plate Open Flat
- Hot Springs (2008 tied Steeplechase Horse of the Year), 8th in the My Lady’s Manor
- Fieldview, 3rd at the Manor’s inaugural maiden timber Sham Asiss
- Gorgeous Charger, 6th in Grand National’s Benjamin Murray Allowance Timber
Click here to see all the results for the Maryland spring steeplechase season and to view Governor’s Cup standings for Horse of the Year, Novice Timber Horse of the Year, Rider of the Year, Trainer of the Year, Junior Horse & Pony Riders Of the Year – and more!
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