U.S. Steeplechase Championships
Fantastic News from the National Steeplechase Association. This will be my betting substitute for the synthetic Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita. Here is the press release -
U.S. STEEPLECHASE CHAMPIONSHIPS TO FEATURE 12 RACES FROM TWO PREMIER MEETS ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17 NBC UNIVERSAL SPORTS TO TELEVISE INAUGURAL EVENT
FAIR HILL, MD. 08-19-09
---The National Steeplechase Association (NSA) today announced the inaugural running of the U.S. Steeplechase Championships on Saturday, October 17, 2009. The event will consist of 12 races contested for $700,000 in purse money at two different race meets on the steeplechase schedule: the Far Hills Race Meet in Far Hills, New Jersey and the International Gold Cup at Great Meadows in The Plains, Virginia.To add to the excitement and glamour of the U.S. Steeplechase Championships, the NSA has entered into a 3-year multimedia deal with NBC Universal Sports to televise five hours of live coverage of the event, as well as to provide online and broadband coverage, beginning at noon (Eastern). The agreement also includes coverage of additional NSA events in 2010.
“We’re very excited to add this great new event to the Universal Sports stable, and to promote U.S. Steeplechase competition to our wide audience,” said Carlos Silva, President and Chief Operating Officer of Universal Sports. “We look forward to having a long-term relationship with the NSA for years to come.”
Far Hills will conduct a six-race program headlined by the $250,000 Grand National. The six races from the International Gold Cup will be highlighted by the 3 1/2 mile Gold Cup. The races will be run on an alternating basis at 20-25 minute intervals from meet to meet with the first race at Far Hills scheduled to begin at 12:45 p.m. The 89
th annual Far Hills Race Meeting draws more than 50,000 spectators to Moorland Farms in central New Jersey. The 72nd International Gold Cup Race Meet is expected to bring more than 35,000 fans to the northern Virginia countryside."We are extremely excited about the opportunity to showcase the glamour and excitement of steeplechase racing on Universal Sports,” said Lou Raffetto, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of the National Steeplechase Association. “The beauty and grace of a thoroughbred running and jumping will be brought to a new level as our partnership enables us to take center stage before a national audience."
The Far Hills race card will include five other stakes races in addition to the Grade I Grand National. The premier novices, three-year-olds, and fillies and mares will all compete along with the best open hurdlers in the sport. Two time defending champion, Good Night Shirt, is slated to run, as well as Pierrot Lunaire, who upset the champ at Nashville this past spring.
The inaugural championship day will also mark the first time that these two premier steeplechase venues will be simulcast and pari-mutuel wagering offered on their races. Plans are in the works for an international site to establish wagering pools and to offer betting to various outlets around the globe. The details regarding all aspects of the wagering component of the day will be announced in the near future.
As a prelude to the event, the NSA will conduct a Fall Steeplechase Festival at Monmouth Park on Saturday, September 26, becoming the first pari-mutuel facility in the U.S. to ever offer a full card of steeplechase races integrated with four races on the flat. The card will act as a preview day for the U.S. Championships, as it will showcase many of the same thoroughbreds that will be racing three weeks later.
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