'Chasers Celebrate New Century at Tampa Bay Point-to-Points Begin, and Ninepins Heads for World's Richest 'Chase

By Laurel Scott Duncan

Opening day of the 2000 American steeplechasing season was a day for firsts -- first-time starters over fences, a first-time winner, and above all, the first steeplechase on Florida's western coast. Florida: the name conjures up visions of palm trees, warm sea breezes and tropical comfort -- especially in March, when the winter winds blow chill in steeplechasing's mid-Atlantic centers. Because of plummeting temperatures, the American 'chase season traditionally ends in November in sunny South Carolina and starts there again in late March, moving north as the mercury rises. Once in awhile, however, the "infield sport" ventures even further south.

Chuck Lawrence

The season opened in Florida in the mid-1980s, for example, with a modest meet at Palm Beach Polo & Country Club. And it ended last December with a grand finale at Miami's Calder Race Course. On March 4, the current season kicked off with a $25,000 Sport of Kings maiden hurdle race at laid-back Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Florida. It was a full three weeks before the traditional opener at Aiken, South Carolina, but there were seven 'chasers who were primed to run on the track's 2-year-old, 7/8-mile turf course. In the end, it was Brushwood Stable's first-timer Red Classic who stole the show. The well-bred, flashy red 6-year-old went wire-to-wire in his jumping debut, whipping favorite Banjo Man by 4 3/4 lengths. The winner was ridden by Pennsylvanian Sean Clancy and trained by former champion jump jockey James "Chuck" Lawrence II of Fair Hill, MD.

The new Tampa Bay 'chase was part of a "Florida steeplechase weekend" which also featured dinner that evening at the Pioneer Florida Museum, followed by the inaugural running of the Little Everglades Point- to-Point in nearby Dade City the next day. The morning of the sanctioned race, rider Sean Clancy also joined forces with Frank Hopkins and Bill Gallo Jr. of the National Steeplechase Association for an educational seminar at the track. As co-founder of the popular Steeplechase Times, Clancy feels it is his duty to promote the sport at every opportunity. "There were probably 50 people there; they had a lot of interesting questions, and they were very enthusiastic," he commented.

Sean Clancy

In fact, the track's pre-race publicity seemed a study in the "right way" to boost 'chasing's image. There were radio spots and newspaper articles galore, which reportedly resulted in a near-record crowd of 63,000. "The race went great, and it was a very good weekend for steeplechasing," said jockey Sean Clancy. "They promoted it right, there was a big crowd, and they loved it." NSA director of racing Bill Gallo Jr agreed. "From my perspective, it was a huge success," he said. "It was our first venture in the Tampa area, and the race had a smaller field than expected, but we put on a pretty good show… and we're planning on going back." No Rush to Start Jumping The race itself couldn't have gone better from a promoter's perspective -- although it was a maiden event with several "unknown quantities," there were no fallers and only one pullup.

Seven horses faced the flag in this 2 1/16-mile contest; although the sky was overcast, the temperatures were in the 70s, and the turf was firm. Tampa Bay bettors favored Banjo Man, a 5-year-old son of Dixieland Band trained by Ricky Hendriks and ridden by two-time champion jockey Jonathan Kiser. And small wonder: Banjo Man had finished second at Aiken last fall, and looked ready to move up. Sharing the limelight was the Jack Fisher-trained Hall of Angels, fresh from a win at Virginia's Casanova Point-to-Point on Feb. 26 (see notes below).

Competitive in stakes as a 3-year-old, he enjoyed the services of apprentice Jonathan Thomas. Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard saddled two maidens at Tampa Bay, both of them relative outsiders. Tanan (Arch Kinsgley Jr.) had bolted in his jumping debut last fall, but had reportedly settled down for business. Then there was Irish-bred first-timer Austin Powers (Fenella O'Flynn), a 4-year-old son of noted sire Sadler's Wells.

Point to Point racing in Virginia

Also entered were longshots Pelagos (Toby Edwards), who was bred in France and was winless in four starts; and Without A Song (Gus Brown), who was trained by Virginian Susan Cooney. That left only Red Classic. Acquired as a 2-year-old, he was the spitting image of his sire Sky Classic, who was Canadian champion at ages two, four and five. At six, he was the oldest jumper in this maiden field. But he'd already paid his dues on the flat, where he was a stakes-placed allowance winner with earnings of nearly $170,000. "He's a pretty nice horse on the flat," Lawrence admitted. "The problem was, they just don't write enough races long enough for him! Lawrence started teaching "Red" to jump last summer. But he took his time, and the horse sat out the fall season due to hard ground. "He was running well on the flat… so we weren't too pressed to make him into the jumper," the trainer continued. Tampa Bay looked ideal for "Red"'s jumping debut, but late winter snows totaling nearly two feet made training unusually difficult.

Once the horse was jumping fit, Lawrence sent him to 'chasing's southern base at Camden, South Carolina, for a final tune-up. "He was under the supervision down there of Micky Preger Jr. and Jonathan Smart, and they kept him going, putting a couple of good schools in him and a couple of works. And that really helped; made a big difference," he said. 'It was Easy' Although the horse had been a come-from-behind type on the flat, Lawrence thought a change in style might be justified. "The fences seem to pick his head up a bit, and make him more into the race," Lawrence explained. So he told Clancy to head for the front. Though Clancy had never ridden the horse before, he had no trouble abiding by Lawrence's request. "Sean's instructions were to be forwardly placed or on the lead, and to be in the middle of the fences -- because I wanted 'Red' to have a good experience," Lawrence said. "He's never once hesitated at a fence…. and I knew he was a good enough horse that his jumping and his ability would keep him right up (front)."

Red Classic broke alertly, opening up a three-length lead by the second of nine fences. In his shadow were Hall of Angels and Banjo Man, with Austin Powers in fourth. By the second circuit, Banjo Man had jumped into second with Pelagos also a factor. But still Red Classic maintained his lead, striding easily and jumping with care. The race came down to the turn for home, and that critical last fence. Hall of Angels challenged Pelagos for third, while Banjo Man attempted a late assault on the leader. "I felt that Banjo Man would run pretty well; he had had a race last fall," Clancy recalled. "But when he tried to come to me a little bit leaving the backside, I put him away there -- and I got all the way around the turn without using my horse up at all, so I felt like I was in pretty good position." At the last, Red Classic had a comfortable two-length lead over Banjo Man. One glance back, and Clancy realized he was almost "home free." Indeed, Banjo Man's hopes were dashed when he skipped through the fence and lost ground on recovery. "At that point, I was pretty sure I was on the winner," Clancy said.

Point to Point racing in Virginia

Red Classic crossed the wire unchallenged, in 3:43 4/5. Banjo Man held on for second, while Hall of Angels got up for third. As Clancy noted, "It was easy, really… the horse is very intelligent, and he made the right decisions the whole trip. He was looking around a lot, but Chuck told me that he'd do that… he went about it the way I expected him to, knowing what I knew about him. "And he was still looking around at the end; he was a fresh horse at the wire." Although flat horses are now Lawrence's bread and butter, he likes to keep his hand in steeplechasing, the sport that gave him his start. And for one bright moment, the trainer said, Red Classic "…made me want to come out of retirement!" But "Lawrence the trainer" soon took over from "Lawrence the ex-jump jockey," amid speculation about the horse's future. "I might point him for the non-winners of two at Colonial Downs, and then, if he does well there, the novice series at Pimlico and Belmont," he said.

The weekend concluded on Sunday with the Little Everglades Point-to-Point at Little Everglades Ranch near Dade City, Florida. NSA officials assisted with the event, which is unassociated with any circuit and is shooting for NSA sanctioning. "It worked very well, and they had about 5,000 people -- which is an enormous crowd for a first point-to- point," Gallo said. "They race on a sandy surface, which is very forgiving for the horses. The fields were small by design, but the races were very competitive, and the crowd loved it."

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