The stock market may be on a roller coaster ride, but Bubble Economy is a sure thing.

By winning two of the most expensive timber races in the same season, Arcadia Stable’s Bubble Economy is entering territory where few horses have galloped, his latest victory coming in the $50,000 International Gold Cup in The Plains, Va., Oct. 18.

Having already earned the $100,000 Virginia Gold Cup victory at the same site in May, Bubble Economy joins an elite few like Ann Stern’s Saluter, who did the feat twice (1998, 1999) and more recently, Kinross Farm’s Lord Kenneth (2003).

Ridden by Robert Walsh and trained by Jack Fisher, of Monkton, Md., Bubble Economy was the clear favorite entering the International Gold Cup feature.

One of his challengers was his former stablemate, Irv Naylor’s Salmo (Darren Nagle), who won the 2007 Virginia Gold Cup when Fisher had trained him. But after Salmo’s big win a tendon injury sidelined him, and he returned to Naylor’s barn, under the guise of trainer Desmond Fogarty for a long recovery program. The lanky chestnut had not been seen over timber since last year.
 
No Tricks
As expected, Salmo went to the lead, getting a two- to three-length advantage on the field. Walsh tucked Bubble Economy in behind Salmo, making sure the frontrunner did not get too far ahead. Walsh, who was riding Bubble Economy for just the second time this year, was under strict instructions not to go to the stick and not become a frontrunner.

By the last, Salmo had come back to Bubble Economy, and with the last fence behind them Walsh asked for a little more from the 9-year-old Maryland-bred (by Rakeen) and had it. Not done, Salmo stayed with them, but in the end, a neck would separate the two and place Bubble Economy in the record books.

Walsh won the race last year on Arthur Arundel’s Seeyouattheevent for Fisher. He rode Bubble Economy at the Virginia Fall Races, Oct. 4, but said he got caught napping and had to settle for fourth. He wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

“This time we tracked the pace, and he was a lot sharper here,” said Walsh. “He likes this course. It was an honest pace. We got in long and tight to a few fences, but he’s so clever he moved quickly away from them.”

But Bubble Economy has a few nasty tricks in his repertoire, and he has showcased them for unsuspecting jockeys.

“You can’t ask him too soon to go to the front, and you can’t hit him with the stick or he will flat-out stop,”
Walsh said.

This was Bubble Economy’s problem last year at the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup. He never got past the first fence, ducking out and pitching his jockey into the wing.

Fisher said his quirks have kept him from being the best timber horse for the past four years. In 2004, a young Bubble Economy looked like he was on top of his game. He was the National Steeplechase Association timber horse of the year, but since then he has picked up only a few choice wins here and there.

Last year Bubble Economy looked like he would be back after a decisive win in the $35,000 Grand National (Md.), one of the toughest timber races in the season, but he had several failures in between, including a fall in the Virginia Gold Cup. He ended on a high note with a timber win at the Colonial Cup (S.C.).

“He’s inconsistent,” Fisher said. “Obviously he’s a good jumper, but you have to leave him alone. The only ground he doesn’t like is soft.”

To date, no horse has won both the Gold Cup races and gone on to win the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup, but that’s what Fisher is planning to try on Nov. 2.

Even if he doesn’t win, Bubble Economy is sitting at the top of the NSA timber standings with $98,700 and well on his way to being timber horse of the year.

His Kind Of Race
Trainer Kathy McKenna has worked to find the right kind of course for Perry Bolton’s Scuba Steve. And the steeplethon—with its timber, hurdles, stonewalls, ditches, banks and a large swath of water—was just the answer.

A quirky horse with a better than average intelligence and a few starting issues, Scuba Steve has not had the best of luck lately. But this time, with James Slater aboard, Scuba Steve bounded out of the pack at the start and never looked back. He galloped along, handily jumping each of the different elements with ease. Pretty soon there was only Scuba Steve, and the rest of the pack were some 44 lengths behind by the wire.

Slater exercises horses for the Unionville, Pa., trainer and has ridden the tough 8-year-old many times.

“He really took to the fences,” said Slater. “He seemed very interested in what was next. I think he didn’t think I knew where I was going because of the twists and turns, but he let me make the decisions for him for a change.

“He really seemed to like it. It was hard to pull him up; he could have gone on for another mile,” he added. “That’s a tribute to Kathy and the time and effort she puts in her horses.”

For years Slater has ridden some of the best horses in some of the toughest races as an amateur. But in May, he decided to give up his amateur status. He said it was a tough decision but one McKenna applauds.

“This is great for me,” said McKenna, who was pleased with Slater’s ride on Scuba Steve. “He absolutely smoked the start and kind of bunny hopped the first fence, but after that he was perfect,” she said. “He just skipped around the course like he had done it 20 times before.”

McKenna—and a few of her exercise riders—is happy to let Slater ride the horse in the morning. “The last time I rode him, I had to go to the chiropractor,” McKenna said. “He’s very tough and very smart. He is always thinking. This kind of course keeps him busy.”

Sarah Libbey Greenhalgh