At $50,000, the International Gold Cup’s featured timber race, Oct. 21 in The Plains, Va., filled up quickly and included last year’s winner Fields Of Omagh (Tom Foley).

But it was Augustin Stables’ Ghost Valley (Jody Petty) who wired the race easily to get his name etched on the large gold trophy.

In 2005, Ghost Valley was trucking along and appeared to have the race in hand when he fell only a few fences from home. This year Petty and the 7-year-old son of Valley Crossing jumped flawlessly ahead of the others with an honest pace while the large field whittled down behind them.

The first to come to grief was Lucy Horner, who popped off Make It Easy after the horse made an awkward jump at fence 6. Horner was unhurt. The next mishap came when Kingfisher Farm’s Sharp Face fell with Paddy Young. Both were unhurt.

As they turned for home, Gregory Bentley’s Bulawayo (Richard Boucher), Arthur Arundel’s Seeyouattheevent (William Dowling), Emery Taylor’s Hall Of Angels (Robert Walsh) and Straight Gin (Chip Miller) started to pressure Petty. Bulawayo tried to out jump his opponents but fell at the last, causing horses to scatter to avoid him.

Ghost Valley found yet another gear and zeroed in on the finish with Seeyouattheevent close at hand. The pair roared down the stretch, but it was Ghost Valley half a length at the wire, winning in 7:241�5.

Straight Gin and Miller took third place, 3 lengths back, and Hall Of Angels placed fourth.

Ghost Valley might have looked like perfection as he galloped around the course, but trainer Sanna Hendriks said he is far from easy. Banned by her choice from the paddock after the horse ran through the lunch tent at another meet, Hendriks keeps him quiet, away from the press of the crowd with a pony horse until time for “jockeys up.”

“He’s mental,” Hendriks said. “He’s a little better this year and at home. He’s getting more confidence in himself. It was more of a panic with him, like, ‘Oh my God I can’t do this.’ In a race, I think he’s better out in front than dealing with lots of horses racing all around him.”

A bridesmaid all year, Ghost Valley has four second-placed finishes to his name. His win at the Gold Cup gives him $48,500 for the year and a strong leg on the National Steeplechase Association timber horse of the year title. One more good finish and he could snatch the title from Irv Naylor’s Allimac, who has had it since May and is now injured.

The battle to win over Ghost Valley’s inner demons started last winter with plenty of foxhunting. This year Petty and Hendriks decided more work was the answer.

“He stays out 24/7, just comes in to eat,” Petty said. “Keep him happy, that is the plan. Since he is a little bit of a weirdo we changed the training this year. Last year we were pretty light with him; this year we really put the screws to him and he’s performing so much better. He’s focused now.”

Hendriks credited Petty’s riding ability: “Jody does a great job on him. He picks his head up and makes him pay attention to his fences.”

After last year’s spring meet at the same Great Meadow venue, which ended up only having three starters in the timber feature, the Virginia Gold Cup Association decided to put a little more money into the fall event, increasing all the hurdle, flat races and the steeplethon to give the meet $185,000. Their decision paid off, and they had 77 starters for the seven-race card.


Null And Void
There is one race that seems to baffle many a good jockey–the steeplethon.

Not just timber, the steeplethon includes hurdles, stone walls, large logs, ditches, Irish banks and a stretch of water. A horse must be clever enough to be able to jump all kinds of obstacles, and a jockey needs to walk the course several times.

Unlike most courses, the steeple-thon is the same tricky course every year, but this year, the jockeys decided to add a fence to the 31�4 mile race, and that was their downfall.

The first infraction came when leader Robert Walsh guided the spring steeplethon winner, Acorn Farm’s Northern Thinking, outside a beacon and took Richard Boucher on Class Crimson and Tom Foley on Shady Valley with him. Carl Rafter, who came in fourth on Cat Walkin, saw the mistake, knew he was on course, and claimed foul on the others. After deliberation, the stewards ruled that the other three were off course and unplaced in the race.

But the controversy did not end there. After further review, it was announced three races later that the steeplethon was a non-race as all of the jockeys had jumped an extra timber fence.

Rafter was mad but understood why they were all disqualified.

“Everybody goes off course sometimes,” Rafter said. “This course is very difficult. I saw the fence but was already committed to it. I figured since we all jumped it, it might not be an issue. That’s happened before. It was not like when they went to the outside of a beacon.”

Walsh, Rafter, Boucher and Foley were fined $500 each for going off course. Like all NSA fines, the money goes to the injured jockey fund. The unclaimed $25,000 will revert back to the Virginia Gold Cup Association.


Sitting Pretty
Trainer Jonathan Sheppard and jockey Danielle Hodsdon are moving closer to a few NSA titles. The pair burst onto the scene at Little Everglades (Fla.) in March and have not been out of the running since.

They picked up two more wins at the Gold Cup. The first came with Melinda Bass’ John Law in the $25,000 maiden hurdle over Brigadoon Stable’s School Boy (Matt McCarron).

Hodsdon then won the next race with Cortright Wetherill’s Mattssutterrun in the $25,000 optional allowance claiming hurdle with McCarron placing second again in a stretch battle. This gives Sheppard 22 wins for the season and places Hodsdon in the clear lead in the NSA races-won category with 19 first-placed finishes. McCarron is second with 15 wins.

Hodsdon and McCarron have been dating for several years, but this is the first year Hodsdon has led the standings for most of the year.

“Well I’m sure it does smart a little,” Hodsdon said of her boyfriend getting beat in the stretch twice in a row. “I’m sure he’s not going to be in the best mood, but he’s a very good sport about it. He’s a much better sport than I am.”

McCarron agreed: “If it was the other way around? Look out!”

At first glance, trainer Tom Voss was a little unsure of his assigned jockey, Germany’s Stefanie Hofer, in the $20,000 International FEGENTRI flat race. But her diminutive stature seemed to have worked well with Armata Stables’ Orsay, as the pair beat Colvin “Gregg” Ryan and Leioa in the stretch by more than 2 lengths.

Hofer came into the race with 33 wins and 77 placings out of 245 starts on the flat. At 108 pounds, she had to add 55 pounds of extra weight, which was a little unexpected for both her and the trainer as they scrambled to find enough lead. Earlier in the week, she rode at Laurel Race Course (Md.) but said she prefers the scenery at Great Meadow.

“There are so many more people,” Hofer said. “I really like this course. It is very different, very pretty here. Mr. Voss said to just stay behind, and he will do the rest. He is a very nice horse.”

Sarah L. Greenhalgh