Top steeplechase owner George Strawbridge flew his airplane from Pennsylvania onto the Airlie airstrip, just a stone’s throw from the Warrenton Hunt Point-To-Point, Warrenton, Va., on March 19, to see two of his hurdlers, Thari and Senor Melchor, make their first starts over timber. He was also there to see son Stewart Strawbridge finish fifth in a flat race.

The big gray Senor Melchor is no stranger to the winner’s circle–he won three consecutive hurdle races in 2003–but a tendon injury left him out of the game for 2004. Thari, an elegant, 8-year-old Irish-bred, had spectators and trainers talking as he stepped into the paddock before the novice timber race. Strawbridge’s stepdaughter, Sanna N. Hendriks, trains both horses.

Thari lived up to the hype, sitting comfortably in the middle of the eight-horse field with New Zealand jockey Clayton Chipperfield aboard. Stablemate Senor Melchor (Jody Petty) kept safe in his shadow as several horses bobbled, struggled, and pulled up.

By the last fence, the stablemates had hooked up, and it looked more like the final stretch of a sanctioned race than a point-to-point. After reviewing the tape, the placing judges appointed Thari the winner by a nose.

Strawbridge was excited about his newest timber prospects taking top honors. “[My wife] Nina is rather keen on timber racing so that is why we are turning these hurdle horses into timber horses,” he said. “This is obviously Thari’s first race in the United States. He ran great; I do not think we could have asked for a better first race. Senor Melchor has always been a surprise to us because he does not look like much of a horse. He has an enormous amount of enthusiasm and heart.”

This was Chipperfield’s first win over timber too. The jockey has won 57 races in the United States and New Zealand but had only started once over timber. He did not finish that start after getting run away with.

“He jumped beautifully,” Chipperfield said. “He did 3 miles very easily.”

Senor Melchor is a personal favorite of Petty’s. “He is like a big Thelwell pony,” Petty said. “He looks round and fat like a pony, he’s smart like a pony, he eats all day long like a pony and he jumps clean and neat like a pony. I just love him and I am so glad to be able to ride him. I knew he would take to timber racing.”

Hendriks was not so pleased that her jockeys went hell-bent at the wire but was still happy to see both horses produce so early in the season.

“I told both jockeys to keep a hold on their horses, but they didn’t listen,” she said. “But that’s all right. They ran really well and both horses probably needed it.”

Pennsylvania trainer Bruce Miller also brought out a few ex-hurdlers for a try over timber. Hurdle stakes winners Turkish Corner and Pelagos both ran well for Miller. Pelagos took third behind the Hendriks horses, and Turkish Corner made the open timber a thrilling finish, almost catching the winner, Words And Music at the wire.

Veteran Words And Music (Rick Laimbeer) knows the Warrenton course well, having run here many times. The frontrunner took the seven-horse field on a merry chase, sometimes leading by 20 lengths during the 3 miles.

By the turn for home, Turkish Corner (Zach Miller), pressured the pair, and at the last it looked like Laimbeer would have to settle for second. Laimbeer asked Words And Music for just one more gear, and the 9-year-old gelding dug in and shot ahead to win by a length.

“I could not believe it,” Laimbeer said. “He has such heart. It’s a real family affair. My sister trains him; my brother helps me. My wife and kids are here and my horse hunts. This is the first time he finished so strong. We had enough bottom [on him] this year, last year here he got tired. I was worried I wouldn’t come home.”

Molly Forlano rarely worries she won’t make it home. Last year in her first season of racing over jumps, she scored nine consecutive timber wins. This year she is continuing her reign, winning her second hurdle race in a row for trainer Don Yovanovich.

The 26-year-old Pennsylvanian won with Two Wire in the amateur novice hurdle. Up against the veteran pair of Action Man and Gregg Ryan, she waited until the very end to make her move.

“I think it is more important to let them have their heads because they need to reach for the fence and take it in stride,” Forlano said. “I was very worried about Gregg Ryan; he is a veteran at this and I am just not good at riding a finish.”

Owner Ray Moffett Jr. is very happy with his newest jumper, Ghost Fever, who took the open hurdle with authority. The son of Silver Ghost out of Pennant Fever, by Seattle Slew, he made his steeplechase debut under trainer Doug Fout in 2003. A free-running horse who made things difficult for himself by insisting on running on the front-end, Ghost Fever was his own worst enemy.

Trainer Dorothy “Dot” Smithwick took over the training last year, and with Smithwick, the gelding just ran a few flat races. This was his first hurdle race under his new ownership. Moffett loves to see a difficult horse do well, and he wasn’t about to turn down a well-bred prospect just because he had a few issues.

“He had seven races as a 7-year-old, two on the flat, and I think they kind of gave up on him because he’s hard to figure,” Moffett said. “When Dot brings me a problem horse with all kinds of class, I go with her because she is usually right. This is the first race where he has finished strong, and he was in good company today.”