Pennsylvania Hunt Cup Races 2010

This post is certainly late in terms of time lapse since the event: The running of the Penna. Hunt Cup Steeplechase Races in late October. We had our traditional tailgate space along the homestretch near the finish line. We used my Ford F-150 Pick-Up to stage the tailgate food offerings and had the bar set up along the rail.
It was a fairly cold but sunny Fall day in Southern Chester County: a perfect day for Steeplechase racing, wagering and consuming cocktails in a field.You can tell by my friend Suzanne's bundled up presentation that some of the ladies present felt it to be a little too cold for outdoor socializing. Suzanne was a trooper and indeed brought along a thermos of hot buttered rum to compliment our bar.(Note the vintage Rolls behind her in that shot.)
The PA Hunt cup is a rigorous course set up to approximate what a rider would experience in a day's fox-hunting in Chester County. The rail fences are unforgiving and it is not a race for untested mounts or jockeys.
Of course our crew offered the requisite betting pool and pictured above is my friends 4 year old daughter getting an early schooling in the finer points of betting timber jumpers. Personally, I bet with our Pool and slipped in a few wagers with the "Punters"...private bookmakers who set up along the course with an easel depicting their offered odds who take bets on a more parimutuel basis. The Pa Hunt Cup closes the Steeplechase season and we will now wait until the Maryland races start in April and the Radnor Hunt Races in May.