American 'Chasers: A Busy Season at Home and Abroad

by Laurel Scott Duncan

Construe and Deccharao at Carolina

After an early kickoff at Florida's Tampa Bay Downs, American steeplechasing resumed its usual spring schedule with the Aiken, South Carolina meet on March 25. Hurdle action was the primary focus, although the timber-toppers would take center stage later in the season.

The Carolina Meets

The weather was unusually hot at Aiken, even for this lovely southern resort with its many graceful pine trees. But Green Stripe Stable's Aggro Crag (Gus Brown) had no trouble shutting the door on favorite Hudson Bay to win the featured Grade III, $30,000 Regions Bank Imperial Cup. The Brooks Durkee trainee -- who was on the comeback trail -- dogged the pace, shooting to the lead three fences from home to register his third career score over fences.

Ironfist at Carolina

On April 1, the action moved north to the small town of Camden, South Carolina for the first Grade I stakes of the season. The setting was the sweeping, sand-based Springdale Race Course. Once again, the day was warm, and a record crowd of 71,000 turned up to honor American 'chasing's elite. But the object of their attentions -- the $100,000 Bank of America Carolina Cup -- was a study in both extreme disappointment and out-of-this-world elation. Gregory Hawkins' Campanile crossed the wire first, after rider Jonathan Kiser unleashed the Janet Elliot trainee at the last. But three foul claims later, Campanile was disqualified to 3rd place for interference entering the final turn.

At the heart of this disqualification was a beacon left over from the earlier timber race (which Kiser won, with Ironfist). Unsure of whether to pass the beacon on the left or the right in this race, Kiser suddenly veered right, accidentally steering Campanile right over the beacon and into the New Zealand horse, Snuggle, and Invest West.

Then, in another dramatic reversal of fortune, officials declared the Janet Elliot trainee unplaced on the grounds that Kiser had allegedly failed to weigh in after the race.

Invest West

In the meantime, however, second-placed Invest West -- an entry of Augustin Stables who is trained by Jonathan Sheppard and ridden by Arch Kingsley Jr. -- was declared the winner of the venerable 2 1/4-mile stake. "In this sport, we have a saying: that a win's a win, and it's sweet in this kind of race, no matter how you get it," Kingsley commented.

One week later, on April 8, American 'chase fans were delighted to hear that an American-owned horse, Betty Moran's Papillon, won the English Grand National. But for those horsemen based stateside, it was back to more domestic sport the following weekend.

A Busy 15th

April 15 is usually the busiest day on the National Steeplechase Association circuit -- and this year was no exception. Three meets took place on this day, two of them geared towards the plastic "National Fences." Of prime importance was the Atlanta Steeplechase, a popular meet recently transplanted to a new course near Kingston, Georgia. The day was warm and overcast, with the sun piercing through the clouds in late afternoon. Here, horses trained by Pennsylvanian F. Bruce Miller and ridden by his daughter Blythe swept the two graded stakes.

Their first triumph came with Kay Jeffords' Turkish Corner, who outran a crowd in the stretch to defeat Red Hills in the Grade II, $50,000 Beaulieu of American Spring Novice Stakes for the Sport of Kings. But their piece de resistence came with Calvin Houghland's British-bred newcomer All Gong, who toughed it out against speedster Darn Tipalarm and late closer Allan Prell to take the Grade I, $100,000 Coca- Cola/UPS Atlanta Cup by half a length. Though All Gong has come a long way since last fall, and has proven to be speedier than many other British-bred imports, both trainer and rider agree that there's work still to be done. "He's just not as efficient a jumper as I hope he will become," Blythe Miller said. Her father concurred, noting, "He's very fit, and a nice horse… but once he gets his jumping down, he could be a REALLY nice horse!"