© Tod Marks By Tod Marks With a double at Radnor, Naylor becomes NSA’s all-time leading owner The Irv Naylor Stable, a powerhouse on the National Steeplechase Association circuit since 2010, became the sport’s leading purse earner with a pair of victories at Saturday’s Radnor Hunt Races in Malvern, Pa. Naylor, who captured his seventh leading owner crown in 2023 with a stable of sluggers under the care of Cyril Murphy, Kathy Neilson, and Neil Morris, surpassed George Strawbridge when Travesuras, trained by Murphy and ridden by Gerard Galligan, took the opener, the $30,000 Milfern Cup. He adde ..read more

Radnor Tower © Tod Marks By Tod Marks The curtain comes down on the National Steeplechase Association Spring season on Saturday with the 93rd running of the Radnor Hunt Races in the picturesque Brandywine Valley of Chester County, Pa. As has been the case for much of the Spring, there’s a chance of showers in the forecast; temperatures are expected to be comfortable, in the low to mid 60s. The six-race card, worth $150,000, has drawn 46 runners whose connections are looking for a final opportunity to pick up purse money before the inaugural $150,000 Beverly R. Steinman (Grade 1) at the Belmont ..read more

Snap Decision and Vae Patron © Tod Marks By Tod Marks Snap Decision, Abaan, and Right Tempo turn heads in Nashville, while Our Friend scores at Willowdale. Saturday’s steeplechasing doubleheader at the Iroquois in Nashville, and Willowdale Races some 800 miles away in Kennett Square, Pa., was nothing short of sensational, with three of the sports brightest stars putting on a show for the ages. With 14 races and $605,000 in purses, the two meets drew 105 hurdle and timber entries from maidens, claimers, and ratings handicappers, to novice, allowance, and stakes stars, looking to increase their ..read more

Iroquois Trophy Presentation 2023 © Tod Marks By Tod Marks The jumpers head to Tennessee for the richest and most significant meet of the Spring, while opportunities abound for timber and hurdle runners along with apprentice riders in Pennsylvania. On the penultimate weekend of the National Steeplechase Association spring calendar, many of the top horses in training head to Nashville for 83rd Iroquois Steeplechase, a seven-race card – three of which are stakes – worth $475,000. At 3 miles, the $200,000 Calvin Houghland Iroquois is the longest of the National Steeplechase Association Grade 1s ..read more

Welshman © Tod Marks By Tod Marks Saturday’s Virginia Gold Cup meet boasts the NSA’s newest Grade 1 stake, which has drawn a prospective field of 10. The Winterthur Point-to-Point on Sunday, outside of Wilmington, Del., will feature its traditional four-race card, three over timber. Though the 2024 Maryland Hunt Cup is in the history books, another major timber stake will share center stage with the inaugural running of the Grade 1 Commonwealth Cup at the Virginia Gold Cup Races in The Plains, the National Steeplechase Association’s second richest meet of the spring. The Gold Cup, first run in ..read more

Who’s Counting © Tod Marks By Tod Marks Blackhall, a maiden, takes Hunt Cup with the first Briton to capture America’s premiere timber race, while Total Joy, Who’s Counting earn first stakes wins at Foxfield.  This year’s Maryland Hunt Cup was filled with enough storylines to fill a book. The finish was one of the closest in memory with four within a length and a half of one other. Twenty-six-year-old Charlie Marshall became the first Englishman to win timber racing’s most demanding and challenging event at 4 miles over 22 imposing fences. And he did it in just his third National Steeplec ..read more

Withoutmoreado © Douglas Lees By Tod Marks This weekend promises to be a bonanza for jump racing fans with a pair of showcase National Steeplechase Association meets. In Glyndon, nine horses are expected to face the starter in the 127th Maryland Hunt Cup, America’s oldest, longest, and most challenging timber race. Meanwhile hurdlers will take center stage at Foxfield in Charlottesville, Va., where $260,000 in purses are on the line in a seven-race card highlighted by two stakes worth a combined $125,000. At four miles over 22 post-and-rail fences — some nearly five-feet tall — the Maryland Hu ..read more

Schoodic © Tod Marks By Tod Marks Saturday proved to be a banner day for two of the sport’s premier athletes, while the human side of the equation produced equally stellar heroics. At the Middleburg Spring Races in Virginia, a full house of approximately 8,000 fans witnessed Bruton Street-US’ perennial powerhouse Snap Decision begin his 10-year-old campaign with an exclamation mark in the Grade 2 $75,000 Temple Gwathmey Stakes, while Dolly Fisher’s Schoodic, last year’s timber champion, proved he hasn’t lost a step at 14 as he kicked off his quest for a second title with a victory in the $30,0 ..read more

Noah And The Ark © Tod Marks By Tod Marks Snap Decision, Noah and the Ark, and timber champion Schoodic return to action at the Middleburg Spring Races, while Maryland hosts the second leg of the Timber Triple in Butler featuring reigning Maryland Hunt Cup champion Withoutmoreado. Glenwood Park hosts stars and stakes action at the Middleburg Spring Races on Saturday with a nine-race, $285,000 card, anchored by the $75,000 Grade 2 Temple Gwathmey stakes and $30,000 Middleburg Hunt Cup stakes over timber. The third richest meet of the National Steeplechase Association spring season, Middleburg r ..read more

Teddy Davies on Our Friend (IRE) © Tod Marks By Tod Marks Our Friend notches first stakes victory at The Manor, while Go Poke the Bear scores in Tryon feature. Not only was it a big day for Armata Stable with Our Friend taking the featured $50,000 My Lady’s Manor timber stake, but there were plenty of cheers for Hyggelig Haven’s Druid’s Altar, trainer Willie Dowling and jockey Dan Nevin, who captured the first division of the Tom Voss Memorial maiden, along with Merriebelle Stables’ Wagner, a Maryland Hunt Cup hopeful for Blythe Miller and jockey Freddie Procter, who was very impressive in his ..read more