Maryland Hunt Cup

Last updated

Win Picture of 2013 Maryland Hunt Cup winner Professor Maxwell, Mark Beecher aboard. Professormaxwellmarylandhuntcupwinner2013.jpg
Win Picture of 2013 Maryland Hunt Cup winner Professor Maxwell, Mark Beecher aboard.

The Maryland Hunt Cup is a Timber race, which is an American Steeplechase. It was first run on May 26 [1] 1894 [2] and won by Johnny Miller. Eight horses have won the race three times but no horse has won it four times. [3] It is considered one of the most difficult steeplechase races in the world. [4] Fred Winter, a famous English horse trainer who attended Jay Trump's 1966 race, was asked about bringing a horse over for the Maryland Hunt Cup, he responded "Why I wouldn't dare!" [5] Two undefeated winners, Jay Trump (1963, 1964 and 1966) and Ben Nevis II (1977, 1978), went on to win the Grand National in England. Both horses are in the Hall of Fame.

Contents

The Maryland Hunt Cup is four miles long with 22 timber fences. Its permanent home is in Worthington Valley, Maryland. [6] The 2013 edition of the race was the 117th running of the Maryland Hunt Cup. [7] The race has been run each year since 1894, except for three years during the Second World War, 1943 – 1945, and 2020, when the race was not held because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 127th running of the race took place on Saturday, April 27, 2024. It is now held on the last Saturday of April. [8]

History

Fence six of the Maryland Hunt Cup, 4-foot nine inches of solid timber. Fencesixmarylandhuntcup.jpg
Fence six of the Maryland Hunt Cup, 4-foot nine inches of solid timber.

The Maryland Hunt Cup was established in 1894 as a contest between two hunts, The Elkridge Fox Hunting Club and the Green Spring Fox Hunting Club, to determine the relative merits of the local hunting horses. In the first running of the race, the riders and owners had to come from either of the two hunt clubs. A year later the race was opened up to horses owned and ridden by members of any recognized Hunt Club in Maryland. In 1903 this was further expanded to horses owned and ridden by members of any Hunt Club in North America. Nowadays, there are no restrictions on where the horse and rider come from. Throughout its history, the Maryland Hunt Cup has been limited to amateur jockeys. [9]

In the late 1970s, women were allowed to ride in the race for the first time. The first female amateur jockey to win the race was Joy Slater on Cancottage in 1981. To prove this was no fluke, Slater and Cancottage repeated in 1982. Since then, other female riders to win this race included Blythe Miller and Anne Moran.

In 1922, a permanent location for the Maryland Hunt Cup was established in Worthington Valley, where it remains to this day. Prior to this date, the race was run at a variety of locations. [10]

The Maryland Hunt Cup is a timber race, which is a steeplechase run over solid timber fences. This form of steeplechasing is unique to North America. The timber fences mimic the hunt country over which many of these horses are prepared. The Maryland Hunt Cup is part of a series of timber races run in Maryland in the Spring, which also includes My Lady's Manor (second Saturday in April), and the Grand National (third Saturday in April). The Maryland Hunt Cup is known for the size of its timber fences, some of which are close to 5 feet tall. The third fence (4 feet and six inches) and 16th fence (4 feet and ten inches) are particularly challenging. [11]

Rivalry

During the 1960s, two horses dominated the Maryland Hunt Cup, Mountain Dew and Jay Trump. In 1962 Mountain Dew won the race, only to finish second the following year to Jay Trump. In 1964, Jay Trump was a repeat winner and Mountain Dew was again second. In 1965, Jay Trump went to England and won the English Grand National, which allowed Mountain Dew to regain his Maryland Hunt Cup crown. Jay Trump returned to the Maryland Hunt Cup in 1966 and won his third Cup, Mountain Dew was runner-up again. Jay Trump was retired after his 1966 victory, which allowed Mountain Dew the opportunity to win his third Cup in 1967, which he did. The rivalry between the two horses was not limited to the Maryland Hunt Cup. Mountain Dew also won six Grand National Point to Points (1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968), Jay Trump was second to Mountain Dew in this race in 1963 and 1966. Jay Trump won the 1964 edition of the Grand National Point to Point, Mountain Dew was third in that race. In the My Lady's Manor, the first of the three race timber series, Jay Trump won the 1964 and 1966 editions. In 1964 his rival, Mountain Dew, was second. [12]

Records

Leading horse:


Leading jockey:


Time:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arkle</span> Irish-bred Thoroughbred champion racehorse

Arkle was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. A bay gelding by Archive out of Bright Cherry, he was the grandson of the unbeaten flat racehorse and prepotent sire Nearco. Arkle was bred by Mary Baker of Malahow House, near Naul, County Dublin, Ireland, and was born at Ballymacoll Stud, County Meath. He was owned by Anne Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster, who named him after the mountain Arkle in Sutherland, Scotland, that bordered her Sutherland estate. Trained by Tom Dreaper at Greenogue, Kilsallaghan, in County Dublin, he was ridden during his steeplechasing career by Pat Taaffe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Miller</span> Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Golden Miller (1927–1957) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who is the most successful Cheltenham Gold Cup horse ever, winning the race in five consecutive years between 1932 and 1936. He also is the only horse to win both of the United Kingdom's premier steeplechase races - the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National - in the same year (1934).

In horse racing in Great Britain, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: hurdles and steeplechases. Alongside these there are "bumpers", which are National Hunt flat races. In a hurdles race, the horses jump over obstacles called hurdles; in a steeplechase the horses jump over a variety of obstacles that can include plain fences, water jump or an open ditch. In the UK, the biggest National Hunt events of the year are generally considered to be the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The Coral Gold Cup is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Newbury over a distance of about 3 miles and 2 furlongs, and during its running there are twenty-one fences to be jumped. It is a handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year in late November or early December.

The Irish Grand National is a National Hunt steeplechase in Ireland which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Fairyhouse over a distance of about 3 miles and 5 furlongs, and during its running there are twenty-four fences to be jumped. It is a handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year on Easter Monday.

The King George VI Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Kempton Park over a distance of about 3 miles, and during its running there are eighteen fences to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year on 26 December, and features as part of the course's Christmas Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steeplechase (horse racing)</span> Horse race form originally from Ireland, featuring jumps over fence and ditch obstacles

A steeplechase is a distance horse race in which competitors are required to jump diverse fence and ditch obstacles. Steeplechasing is primarily conducted in Ireland, Great Britain, Canada, United States, Australia, and France. The name is derived from early races in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple, jumping fences and ditches and generally traversing the many intervening obstacles in the countryside.

Foinavon (1958–1971) was an Irish racehorse. He won the Grand National in 1967 at odds of 100/1 after the rest of the field fell, refused or were hampered or brought down in a mêlée at the 23rd fence. The fence was officially named after Foinavon in 1984.

The Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris is a Group 1 steeplechase in France which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Auteuil over a distance of 6,000 metres, and during its running there are twenty-three fences to be jumped. It is the richest and most prestigious jumps race in France, and it is scheduled to take place each year in late May.

The Coral Trophy is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Kempton Park over a distance of about 3 miles, and during its running there are eighteen fences to be jumped. It is a handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year in late February.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yves Saint-Martin</span> Retired French champion jockey

Yves Saint-Martin is a retired champion jockey in French Thoroughbred horse racing. He is widely considered one of the greatest riders in French racing history.

Joseph Leiter Aitcheson Jr. was an American steeplechase jockey who won a record 440 timber races and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Winter</span> British racehorse trainer

Frederick Thomas Winter, was a British National Hunt racing racehorse jockey and trainer. He was British jump racing Champion Jockey four times and British jump racing Champion Trainer eight times. He is the only person to have won the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle and Grand National as both jockey and trainer. Winter won the Grand National four times, as a jockey in 1957 (Sundew) and 1962 (Kilmore), and as a trainer in 1965 and 1966 (Anglo).

The Punchestown Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Ireland which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Punchestown over a distance of about 3 miles and ½ furlong, and during its running there are seventeen fences to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year during the Punchestown Festival in late April or early May.

The Punchestown Champion Chase, currently known for sponsorship purposes as the William Hill Champion Chase, is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Ireland which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Punchestown over a distance of about 2 miles and half a furlong and during its running there are eleven fences to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year during the Punchestown Festival in late April.

The Thyestes Chase is a National Hunt handicap steeplechase run in Ireland. It takes place at Gowran Park, Gowran, County Kilkenny in January, over a distance of about 3 miles and 1 furlong and during the race there are 17 fences to be jumped. The race is usually contested by horses who go on to run in the Grand National and has been won in recent years by two horses who have gone on to win the Grand National, in Hedgehunter and Numbersixvalverde. The most famous winners of the race were Arkle (1964) and Flyingbolt (1966). It currently has a maximum field of 18 runners. The race is sponsored by bloodstock auctioneers Goffs.

The 1965 Grand National was the 119th running of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 27 March 1965.

Jay Trump (1957–1988) was an American thoroughbred racehorse and one of only two horses to win both the Maryland Hunt Cup and the Grand National steeplechase races. Jay Trump won three Maryland Hunt Cups, 1963, 1964, 1966. In 1965 he won the English Grand National.

Crompton Smith better known as Tommy Smith was an American jockey. He is best remembered as the first American jockey to win the prestigious Grand National steeplechase race while riding a horse born and trained in the United States. He accomplished the feat in 1965 with Jay Trump. A few months later, the same horse-jockey combination finished third in another important race: the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris. Other notable wins by the pair includes three victories in the Maryland Hunt Cup. In 1965, Smith appeared on the April 26th episode of the CBS game show To Tell the Truth. Despite considerable success, Smith quit jockeying in 1966 and began a career in the health-care industry. After his retirement in 1995, Smith moved to Maryland and started training thoroughbreds. Unfortunately, a riding accident in 2001 left him a quadriplegic. He died in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Forster</span>

Captain Timothy Arthur Forster, OBE commonly known as Tim Forster, was an English racehorse trainer and previously an amateur jockey. As a trainer he had 1,346 winners, including 3 Grand Nationals at Aintree in Liverpool. Forster's last runner as a Licensed Trainer came on 30 May 1998, when he won with Albermarle in a novice chase at Market Rasen.

References

  1. 100 Runnings of the Maryland Hunt Cup (Margaret Worrall, 1997)
  2. "100 Years of The Maryland Hunt Cup" Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Maryland Hunt Cup winners"
  4. "Sport: Maryland Hunt Cup"
  5. Steeplechasing in America (National Steeplechase Association, 1966)
  6. "Maryland Hunt Cup History"
  7. "Your Photos: Twill Do Wins 2nd Hunt Cup"
  8. "Maryland Hunt Cup FAQ"
  9. 100 Runnings of the Maryland Hunt Cup (Margaret Worrall, 1997)
  10. 100 Runnings of the Maryland Hunt Cup (Margaret Worrall, 1997)
  11. "Maryland Hunt Cup"
  12. Steeplechasing in America (National Steeplechase Association, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968)
  13. https://marylandhuntcup.com/wp-content/uploads/MHCwinnersList.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  14. 100 Runnings of the Maryland Hunt Cup (Margaret Worrall, 1997)
  15. https://marylandhuntcup.com/wp-content/uploads/MHCwinnersList.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  16. "Looking Back-Maryland Hunt Cup "