'Jump': Snap Decision Targets Legendary Third Triumph: Chasing Uncle Edwin's Record at Percy Warner. Racing at Willowdale + Get Today's Top Racing Insights and Selections for Every Race!
'Jump': Snap Decision Targets Legendary Third Triumph: Chasing Uncle Edwin's Record at Percy Warner. Racing at Willowdale + Get Today's Top Racing Insights and Selections for Every Race!
Saturday May 11th, Edition #37
In Case You Missed It: This Weekends Top 5 USA Jump Racing Stories
Contents
Saturday Preview - Iroquois meet highlights double steeplechase weekend
This Weekends Entries - Percy Warner and Willowdale Steeplechase
Saturday Focus - The $200,000 Calvin Houghland Iroquois Stakes
Willowdale Steeplechase - Race Day!
NSA Ratings - Rampoldi Plan up 9lbs to break into the Top 10
“The ‘Jump newsletter’ is an absolute boon to me. Now domiciled in the UK, it keeps me updated on US jump racing. Thank you.” - Barbara Shaw (Facebook)
WEEKEND PREVIEW
Iroquois meet highlights double steeplechase weekend
Photo - Alan Poizner - The Tennessean
May 11, 2024 - News - Joe Clancy
“Pack up the traps and hit the road, again. The jump circuit goes on the road Saturday – north to Pennsylvania for Willowdale and south to Tennessee for the Iroquois. Fourteen races make up the schedule. Post time is 1 p.m. (central for Iroquois; eastern for Willowdale). Watch them via livestream on the NSA website”
Iroquois Steeplechase. It’s a Nashville fixture dating to 1941. The city’s Percy Warner Park plays host to one day of world-class jump racing each year and the 2024 card goes seven races headlined by the Grade 1 Calvin Houghland Iroquois. The 3-miler is worth $200,000 and counts among its past winners Hall of Famers Flatterer, Lonesome Glory, Good Night Shirt and McDynamo.
The area got blasted with rain early in the week, though the flood warning ended Friday at 1 p.m. Course conditions will play a factor, but it’s difficult to know without seeing a race first. It was dry Friday and expected to be dry Saturday.
Willowdale. The Pennsylvania meet used to run on Sunday, playing host to the fast-traveling Iroquois winners along the way. Seven timber, hurdle and flat races make up the Saturday card, which helps local attendance but hurts some of the racing lineups, with a first post of 1 p.m. eastern.
Read all of today's racing insights along with picks for each race at thisishorseracing.com
WEEKEND ENTRIES
Percy Warner
Willowdale Steeplechase
The $200,000 Calvin Houghland Iroquois
Snap Decision Aims for Historic Third Win: Can He Match Uncle Edwin's Legendary Record?
Snap Decision seeks to become just the second horse
to win the Iroquois Steeplechase. Tod Marks photo
By Tod Marks
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. And with each horse carrying 158 pounds, it assures that weight won’t be either an excuse or an advantage for the eventual outcome.
Towering over the field of six is Bruton Street-US’ Snap Decision, a two-time winner of the event. Now, 10, Snap Decision made his 2024 debut at Middleburg three weeks ago, putting on another head-turning display, taking his third Grade 2 Temple Gwathmey in four years while giving away 10 to 20 pounds to his opponents. With regular rider Graham Watters aboard, the Phipps-bred sensation sat behind the leader for most of the 2 1/2 miles and exploded heading toward the final fence, drawing clear of a solid field by 8 lengths.
Snap Decision’s victory added another $45,000 to his bankroll. A millionaire in combined earnings on the flat and over jumps, Snap has now amassed $839,400 in his heralded NSA career. That moved him into fifth place all time, $100,000 behind Demonstrative. Ahead of those two are McDynamo, with $1.310 million, Good Night Shirt, with $1.006 million, and Lonesome Glory, with $965,809. A victory in the Iroquois would put the 12-time stakes winner within a few thousand dollars of Lonesome Glory.
Read the Full article at nationalsteeplechase.com
WILLOWDALE STEEPLECHASE
Race Day!
Jockey Charlie Marshall, WINNER of The Maryland Hunt Cup a couple weeks ago, has four rides on Saturday at Willowdale! One of those rides is for Willowdale board member Kathy Neilson, riding last year's Hunt Cup winner, WITHOUTMOREADO, in our feature race, the Buttonwood / Sycamore Farms Willowdale Steeplechase. Welcome back to America, Charlie, and good luck today!!
Join us on Saturday May 11! Tickets are available right through race day at Willowdale.org.
NSA STANDINGS
Rampoldi Plan up 9lbs to break into the Top 10
The latest NSA ratings have just been released, and Leslie Young's Rampoldi Plan is the biggest mover soaring up 9lbs after clinching the Grade 1 Commonwealth Cup. This weekend's action in the Calvin Houghland Iroquois is not something you'll want to miss, featuring 5 of the top 7 rated horses in the USA. Adding to that, the 4th ranked High Definition will be taking on the 8th ranked Abaan in the Green Pastures Stakes. It promises to be a cracking day of racing!
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Check back on Monday for more USA Steeplechase news and insights!
Steve
@USASteeplechase - Twitter, Facebook and Instagram