The 2022 Aiken Spring Steeplechase. ©Tod Marks by Tod Marks The National Steeplechase Association Spring campaign gets underway Saturday in South Carolina at Aiken’s sprawling new showcase racecourse on Richland Avenue, while the Mid-Atlantic timber season begins with a family-fun day at Cheshire in Pennsylvania on Sunday. Both events will be streamed live for free on the NSA website. Steeplechase racing resumes this weekend after a four-month winter break, beginning with a six-race card in Aiken on Saturday and four sanctioned timber contests as part of the Cheshire Hunt Races in Unionville ..read more

by Tod Marks This spring, jump-racing enthusiasts can play an exciting contest on their phones that offers cash prizes at each of 10 National Steeplechase Association meets. Player driven contests have become wildly popular among fans of football and baseball, but until now, followers of American steeplechasing have pretty much been left out of the mix. That’s about to change. Beginning April 15 – and running for six consecutive weeks – both experienced handicappers and those who want to feel more connected to the sport will be able to compete for $2,000 in cash prizes at each of 10 meets tha ..read more

By Tod Marks, Photos by Tod Marks The National Steeplechase Association has filled the remaining two vacancies on its board of directors with a familiar name from the Maryland timber circuit and a top executive with one of the NSA’s historic Southern meets. The appointments of James Stierhoff and Frank Mullins, made by NSA President Al Griffin and his executive committee, restore the board to its full complement of 15 members, who are charged with overseeing the regulation of steeplechase racing in the U.S., and managing the business side of the Association. The duo was named to fill out the t ..read more

by Tod Marks National Steeplechase Association horsemen will have the opportunity to compete for purse money with the addition of three sanctioned races worth $65,000 on the April 8 card in the eastern foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains. Located at Ben Venue Farm in Washington, Va., the Old Dominion Hounds Point-to-Point is one of seven spring point-to-points in the state between March 4 and April 30. The three NSA races at Old Dominion include a pair of $25,000 maiden hurdle races at 2 miles, one of which is restricted to fillies and mares, and a $15,000 open timber race at 3 miles. Entri ..read more

Keri Brion with 2021 Eclipse Award-winning steeplechase horse The Mean Queen © Tod Marks by Paulick Report Staff Trainer Keri Brion is this week’s guest on the Friday Show, where she advocates for steeplechase racing and for Eclipse Awards voters not to skip over that category and abstain in year-end voting for racing’s annual championships. Brion, who opened a public stable in 2021 that includes horses racing over jumps and on the flat, is a former assistant to Hall of Fame conditioner Jonathan Sheppard, who retired from training in 2021. She campaigned steeplechase Eclipse Award winner The M ..read more

By Tod Marks, Photos by Tod Marks Two recognizable names on the National Steeplechase Association circuit have been elected to the organization’s board of directors, the governing body of jump racing in America. Alexander Leventhal is both an owner (Straylight Racing) and stakes-placed amateur rider, boasting seven victories in 86 career mounts. His top horse to date was steeplethon standout Invocation, a nine-time winner of $213,000. A partner in the law firm of Harkins, Kovler & Leventhal, Leventhal’s experience includes proxy contests, contentious consent solicitations, and restructuri ..read more

By Tod Marks A critical job in any office rests on the shoulders of its business manager, and effective Dec. 1, the National Steeplechase Association has a new one in Rosella Hunter, a native Californian who now makes the NSA’s base of Fair Hill, MD., her home. Besides running the office, Hunter, an equestrian with an eclectic background, will shoulder all financial matters, including general and horseman’s bookkeeping, and insurance. In addition, she will act as liaison, servicing all licensed owners, trainers, and riders. Rosella can be reached via e-mail at rosella@nationalsteeplechase.com ..read more

Bruton Street clinches earnings title at season finale Neotropic (far left, with Graham Watters, up) won the maiden hurdle at the Steeplechase of Charleston, clinching the leading owner title for Bruton Street-US. ©Grace Beahm Alford / The Post and Courier By Tod Marks With most key championships already locked up, the final meet of the 2022 National Steeplechase Association season lacked the high drama of previous years. But it did decide the title of leading owner when Bruton Street-US’ Neotropic captured the $30,000 maiden hurdle, giving the stable the crown over Irv Naylor by just $27,000 ..read more

Racing at Steeplechase of Charleston By Tod Marks After nearly eight months and 42 meets and race dates in 10 states, the 2022 National Steeplechase season comes to a conclusion on Sunday with the Steeplechase of Charleston at Stono Ferry Race Course in Hollywood, S.C.  In the first full year of “normalcy” following two abbreviated seasons of tumult caused by the Covid-19, the Charleston meet brings down the curtain on a solid bounce-back year in which enthusiastic crowds returned to the races, purses were on the upswing, and a bevy of new owners foreshadowed an even brighter season ahead ..read more

Cheers and tears at Montpelier; Old warrior triumphs in Hunt Cup; Young and Hendriks wrap up trainer and jockey crowns Mystic Strike and Gerard Galligan lead over the last in the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup timber stakes. ©Tod Marks By Tod Marks There were enough storylines in this weekend’s National Steeplechase Association 16-race tripleheader in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Georgia to fill a full chapter in the NSA’s 2022 yearbook. At the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup Races in Unionville, veteran timber star Mystic Strike made magic one more time, capturing his third Hunt Cup and topping the $300,000 care ..read more