The rain stayed, mostly, at bay on the first Saturday in May this year as the Howard County Cup Races attracted a good crowd of steeplechase spectators. The ponies opened the day with race one, the Small/Medium Field Master’s Chase. Nina McKenna and her Fionna showed the crowd how is was done in the opener, Theo Sushko on Count Chocula was second. The $10,000 Howard County Cup Hunt Cup was second race on the card and Be Great proved that he was great! The Welcome Here Farm bay gelding bested a field of six entries by three lengths. Trained by Todd McKenna and piloted by Annie Yeager, this was Be Great’s second win this spring in the MSA Governor’s Cup Series.
Race three took it back to the ponies, the Large Pony Field Master’s Chase, with Tommy Fenwick and Millie first under the wire. Race four, The Alda Clark Plate, boasted a $2,500 purse and was won by Our RJ, owned by Wally Pinkard, ridden to victory by Roger Quinlan. The contest featured ten entries and the Regina Welsh trained entry won by one length over Undisputed Champ, who was ridden by a former Jonathan Kiser Scholarship winner John Brophy.
Rounding out the day in the Founder’s Cup, Steve Preller and Super Finneghan took first honors over Pacifica by only 1/2 length margin. The winning is owned by Steve and his wife Denise and trained by Dale Proctor. For full results of the Howard Count Cup Races click HERE. For Bob Keller’s photos from the day, click HERE.
The Governor’s Cup Series continues at the Potomac Hunt Races on Sunday, May 21st. This is the last stop in the Maryland spring steeplechase circuit and will determine the year end award winners for the series. For information on how to get tickets for the Potomac Hunt Races, click HERE.