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It’s an NSA triple-header on Saturday with meets at Foxfield and Charlotte (Queen’s Cup) but the spotlight is on a field in the outer suburbs of Baltimore where a single race will be run: the Maryland Hunt Cup. The greatest jumps race in America and one of the greatest in the world.
For the uninitiated: the Maryland Hunt Cup was inaugurated in 1894 but moved to its permanent location in 1922. Its “fair hunting country” course has not changed since then. Open a Hunt Cup program and you will see the 1931 course map https://marylandhuntcup.com/pdf/CourseMap.pdf which is still accurate plus or minus a few trees and some barriers to hold in the spectators. The timber fences have frangible pins so the rails will fall if hit hard enough, but hitting them will cost a horse significant momentum. The water jump is over an actual brook. The course goes across a public roadway, Tufton Avenue; on the afternoon of the race they close off the road and cover the crossings with mulch. Commercial activity and advertising at the meeting is prohibited to the point where the riders cannot wear any sponsor logos. All riders must be amateurs.Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GLN042923USA1-EQB.html
The race this year features 8 horses, all of whom have raced at either the Butler Md (Grand National) meet last week or the Monkton Md (My Lady’s Manor) meet the week before that. Or both, in the case of Royal Ruse. Oddly none of the horses won at either meeting, the winners of the last two segments of the Maryland Hunt Triple apparently pointing towards the Virginia Gold Cup next weekend. Still it should be a great race as Vintage Vinnie (a Rebecca Curtis trainee and decent handicap chaser in his previous life) goes for his 3rd MHC victory at the grand age of 14. He won the last two by 90+ and 62 lengths, respectively, and holds the race record. He ran 2nd in the My Lady’s Manor last out but the Hunt Cup seems to be his true calling. Rocket Star Red and Goodoldtimes finished 2nd and 3rd behind Vintage Vinnie in last year’s MHC. Several other horses in the race are making their Hunt Cup debut along with British rider Frederick Tett (who has been riding timber this season with the MHC as a goal).The race will be livestreamed on the NSA website along with the Foxfield and Queen’s Cup races. https://nationalsteeplechase.com/ Post time is 4pm eastern or 8pm (I think) British time. Camera work and commentary for the MHC is always shoddy, but it’s almost charming to me lol. If Vinnie has a furlong lead again we likely won’t see much of him in the shot. And no, there is no betting, but a good horse race is a good horse race and what else will you be doing on Saturday evening?
Withoutmoreado won the MHC by 10 lengths over Royal Ruse. Vinnie led for the first 3 miles but his age plus the tiring ground caught up to him. Only 2 finishers (2 falls 1 lost rider 3 pulled up) which isn’t unusual but the new announcer they got was especially awful as he failed to mention either fallen horse. All horses and riders are home safe thankfully.
Only replay available right now is on Facebook https://fb.watch/kdvnywgdLT/ though it should be on the NSA website sometime this week.Also of note on this side of the pond: Queen-bred West Newton won the Daniel Val Clief Memorial at Foxfield (<130 ratings handicap) and the sharp 5yo Freddy Flintshire won the Queens’ Cup novice stakes.
Missed the race but watched the replay. It’s lovely country seen to good effect with the drone shots. Takes a certain talent for a horse to jump all those timber fences at speed. I bet if you put the entire Cheltenham Gold Cup field round that course with no schooling, there would have been about the same number of finishers!
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