The fifth annual North American Point-to-Point Association Championships, held at Morven Park, Leesburg, Va., May 27, was blessed with good weather and lots of happy spectators. A large crowd turned up to cheer the young, aspiring jockeys, along with the game adult amateurs around the courses and down the stretch.

An event that is designed to foster interest in racing over fences in young riders, starts its recruiting program at quite a young age. The race card included a stick horse race, in which youngsters, age 7 and under, were encouraged to “gallop” their mounts down the stretch and to the wire. The field of entries was large enough to warrant an age division, and young Tim Conlan literally ran away with the group for riders aged 4 to 7. He crossed the wire and continued down the course, a pack of adults trailing behind, trying to get him to pull his “mount” up.

The first race on the day’s card was the leadline trot, which Pongo, from Hound’s Cry Farm with John Kirlin up, won by a close neck. The adorable little Appaloosa pony gave it his best to make sure he crossed the line first, ahead of the 32-year-old Boogie At Midnight (Cambell Holloway).

The junior field master’s chase for horses had five starters, and Jane Terryberry, 14, and her horse Bomb Site found the wire first. This was their third start in a NAPPA race and their third win. The eighth grader from Elizabeth City, N.C., has been riding “Bomber” for two years.
“He was great,” Terryberry said. “He loves to run.”

Bomber sold for $227,000 as a yearling at the Keeneland sales in Kentucky. At the end of his career on the track, he was turned over to Kim Smith, of Louisville, Ky., to help him find a new home. She listed him online, and the Terryberrys came from North Carolina to pick him up.

“He was supposed to be a horse for my dad,” said Terryberry, “but I ended up riding him instead.”

In addition to the NAPPA events, the two also hunt with Middleburg and Orange County in Virginia and aspire to do low level horse trials.

Terryberry named a full list of people who have helped her to compete, including Cammie Eaton, Iona Pillion, Dot Smithwick and Will Russell, showing what a community effort it is to help get these kids and horses out to run and jump.

In the senior field master’s chase, Karin Chapman and her new mount Loui bested a field of nine to be first at the wire. Based out of Fox n Hound Farm, Poolesville, Md., Chapman has been riding the 6-year-old Thoroughbred for about a month. This was their first NAPPA race.

“He was fantastic,” Chapman said. “It was a lot of fun.”

In addition to racing, Chapman has already competed Loui at training level events and intends to hunt him.

She admitted after the race that, although not many people saw it, she came off of her mount after the finish.

“I lost both stirrups coming down the stretch, kicking him to the wire,” she said. “After we passed the announcer’s stand and went down the slope, I was trying to pull him up and lost my balance. I think the outrider was the only one that saw me hit the ground.”

Reunited with her horse, she came back to the winner’s circle to the cheers of the onlookers, dignity still intact.

Of course, the NAPPA Championships would not be complete without the running of the Beat Up Cup, an invitational flat race, “aged” amateur riders preferred, who haven’t ridden in a sanctioned timber race in the last five years.

This year’s winner was John Gray on Exclusive Slew, whose sleek lines and streamlined way of running made him look like a bit of a ringer next to the polo ponies generously loaned by German Noguera for the other three riders. Newly retired editor of the Chronicle, John Strassburger, came in a game second on the aptly named Pension Plan, followed by Mitchell Jacobs on Destroyer and Chronicle publisher and race chairman Rob Banner on Popular Gigalo III.