Temple Gwathmey Hurdle 2023

[Miss Woodford]

The feature race in this Saturday’s Middleburg Spring races and the first race of the year for the top horses in the division. Short field but that’s routine nowadays for US jumps stakes races (and to some extent US flat stakes races) that don’t get international entries. All eyes will be on last year’s should’ve-been-champion Snap Decision to see if he can return to his old form. He’s the highweight at 158lbs which is a bit lower than what he had to carry in New York last summer but will still give the others a fighting chance.
Others in the field: Redicean, Ask Paddington, Belfast Banter, Going Country.

Program for Saturday https://nationalsteeplechase.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Middleburg-Program-23.pdf or Equibase https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/MID042223USA-EQB.html
Lots of recognizable names for UK racing fans on the card, some interesting horses running in the maiden races.
Also two races of note besides the Temple Gwathmey:
-Middleburg Hunt Cup: unfortunately the timber horse shortage means the division really isn’t big enough for this race and the Maryland Grand National to both run on the same day. I would’ve liked to see Mystic Strike and especially last year’s timber champion Andi’amu run in the Maryland Grand National but oh well. Both of these veterans will most likely be headed to the Virginia Gold Cup at Great Meadow in two weeks time.
-The Alfred M. Hunt is raced, naturally, on the Alfred M. Hunt course which is the last remaining hedge course in the US. It’s a gorgeous course and it’s a shame only two races are ran on it each year. It attracts what would be considered cross-country horses in the UK, and they will likely race in the Steeplethon at Great Meadow in two weeks.

There is no official wagering on these races but there is a thing called StableDuel that apparently offers cash prizes though I haven’t tried it https://stableduel.com/jump-into-racing/ Notably, the Middleburg card will be broadcast by America’s Best Racing so it should have higher production value than our usual hunt meets. Live streaming will be on https://nationalsteeplechase.com/ and probably Youtube.

[Miss Woodford]

Even with ground softening after the thunderstorm delay Snap Decision won easily, jumped each fence effortlessly and seemed unbothered by the 12-18lbs he gave the field. Redicean did well to finish 2nd after bumbling through a few of the fences and Belfast Banter got up for 3rd. Can’t wait for the Iroquois in 3 weeks time, should see a bigger field with potential Irish invaders lured by an increased purse.

Edit: forgot to give extra props to the Middleburg course officials for maintaining safe ground as the course went from hard to good-soft in the span of about 15 minutes

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