Monday, March 8, 2010

Spring Steeplechase Season






In a few short weeks my Wife and I will attend the Radnor Hunt Preview Auction and Party. Each year this event is held at a different Farm in bucolic Chester County Horse Country. The Auction items are excellent...one year my Wife and I scored a condo in Steamboat for a tremendously low price! The food and cocktails do not suck either!
This event is also the harbringer of the Spring Steeplechase Season. This means tailgating with friends, spirited wagering, beautiful sylvan settings and supporting the preservation of open space. The Race locales which we attend range from Chester County to Delaware and thru Virginia. In my estimation, watching flat track thoroughbred racing is boring when matched against a 3 1/2 mile race over timber or brush jumps. The skill and stamina of both horse and jockey are astonishing at this distance and over the jumps. I am also excited to see which entry my friend Michael Moran will offer this season. Michael was the owner/breeder of McDynamo, one of the most successful Steeplechase horses of all time! See you at the races!

5 comments:

M.Lane said...

I love steeplechase and everything about it, especially the social scene! Your photos bring back great memories of spectating over in Charlottesville, Virginia.

A sign of spring! Thanks.

ML
mlanesepic.blogspot.com

JMW said...

You two make a dapper couple! I read about the start of steeplechase season in my latest Garden & Gun. Looks like such fun! I'm a Kentucky girl, so we're gearing up for the opening of Keeneland. I do love the thoroughbreds!

Main Line Sportsman said...

JMW...perhaps I was too pejorative about flat racing. I like thoroughbreds and can often be found with the other Rail-Birds at the Track...Monmouth and once per Summer up at Saratoga. I guess I just meant I do not find it as exciting. Actually, after the Radnor Hunt Races we all watch The Preakness at an after party at The Stewards Tower at the Finish line

Bumby Scott said...

They always take my breath away. My sport was and still is Polo. There is nothing that compares to the feel of the horse beneath you.

Thanks for the post.

Always Bumby

Brian said...

Each year I swear that between all of the booze and food I'll watch the horses go around. The family and myself always attend the local events, but I have to admit we put more of an effort into our tailgate at point to point. Which reminds me I still have to reserve my spot for this year. Maybe we will run into you there.