And just like that, the Ferris wheel reaches the top. The spring season hits its zenith and starts its descent with the 84th running of the Iroquois Steeplechase. The bullseye, the fulcrum, the main event. Seven races worth $730,000.
I’m watching Sportscenter and trying to decide when I need to leave the hotel to beat the traffic on Old Hickory Blvd. Might already be too late.
The Grade 1 Iroquois – 3 miles, twice around Percy Warner Park, a $250,000 purse – anchors the sport’s richest spring card. Toss in a six-race menu at the Willowdale Steeplechase in Pennsylvania and the action will be thick and fast. The professionals shine at Nashville while the amateurs and apprentices get a chance to shine at Willowdale. Different levels, same meaning. Win and your spring is made. Probably, your year. Possibly, your career.
It’s been 42 years since my first trip to the Iroquois. Red Raven won the large pony race, I was the only jockey wearing silks, hell, the only jockey riding English. Yeah, western saddles and cowboy hats, lassos and belt buckles. Red Raven, a race horse of a race pony, he changed my life. Things have changed at the Iroquois, but the hook hasn’t come unset. A decade or so later, To Ridley won a titanic battle over Rowdy Irishman, we needed every jump, every jig, every step, every stride. In 2000, my last time up Heartbreak Hill, Pinkie Swear slid through the inside, slithered over the last and nabbed it on the line. Pin stickers on the map of my life.
Check out these old photos of the Iroquois.
If you’re really bored, you can watch Pinkie Swear win (36 minute mark).
Riverdee launches six runners at the Iroquois and two at Willowdale. Let’s roll.
Tuddenham Green gets back to work against a deep field in the apprentice hurdle at Willowdale. Showing the need for opportunity in our sport, the $15,000 apprentice hurdle race attracted a Grade 1 winner, a Grade 2 placed competitor and two novice-stakes placed horses. With them come a couple of maiden claiming winners and Tuddenham Green, who just needs to get started after a long hiatus. James Wyatt rides for Jack Fisher.
Post time: 1 p.m. (times are all Eastern Standard Time).
Vintage Year steps up to a 120 handicap and stretches to 2 ¾ miles in the Bright Hour to open the Iroquois card. The son of Point Of Entry finished second beyond Riverdee’s Roja Redemption at Foxfield two weeks ago. This race was always on our minds. Jamie Bargary takes the return call for Jack Fisher. Vintage Year is 10-1 on the morning line.
“He’s had such an easy race because I needed someone to take me to (Roja), nothing took me to him, so I was in no man’s land,” Bargary said after Foxfield. “He grabbed a hold of it coming down the hill, but I was racing on my own, he doesn’t want that. He’s had a super easy race, and he’ll go on and win next time. He’ll stay, he settles, he jumps, he’s so straightforward.”
Post time: 2 p.m.
Fulmineo makes his Riverdee debut against nine rivals in the second race, the Louis Brown McMillan Memorial. With a $60,000 purse, the 2 ¼-mile race is the richest maiden event of the season. The son of Bolt d’Oro won two stakes on soft turf on the flat and finished second in his hurdle debut at Foxfield. Jamie Bargary rides for Julie Gomena. Fulmineo is 4-1.
Come on lightning, strike.
Post time: 2:40 p.m.
Cyber Ninja faces seven rivals in the first division of the Green Pastures Novice Stakes. Full credit and a round of applause to the Iroquois team who managed to split the $125,000 stakes with a full purse in both divisions. Wow. Cyber Ninja tries to make it two novice stakes wins in a row after winning the Daniel Van Clief at Foxfield. Jamie Bargary returns for Jack Fisher. Cyber Ninja is 2-1 on the morning line.
“The last time, he was caught in no-man’s land, everyone had a target on my back. The two went off in front, they were a non-issue. I winged the first and I thought, ‘Do I want to take back?’ It didn’t suit the horse, he just didn’t travel well with all that daylight,” Bargary said. “Once I got after him and got going, he was straight as a die and jumped well. Class prevailed. He didn’t have a hard race. He wants a fast-run 2 miles and cover. He’s one of the best I’ve sat on.”
Post time: 3:20 p.m.
This is where the split novice really comes into play, Rocket One leads Riverdee into the second division of the Green Pastures. Second to Cyber Ninja at Foxfield, the son of Into Mischief should benefit from that run, coming back from a nearly two-year layoff. Jamie Bargary rides the 2-1 morning-line favorite for Jack Fisher.
Post time 4 p.m.
Include It tackles five rivals in the Willard Speakman Memorial Foxhunter’s Chase at Willowdale. The 11-year-old finished second at the Grand National for Todd, Blair and James Wyatt three weeks ago. James has the return call on the Maryland-bred son of Include, surely, the last son of Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Include and the last Robert Meyerhoff-bred horse to compete. James gave the veteran a perfect ride at the Grand National.
Post time: 4 p.m.
Fresh off upsetting the Grade 2 Temple Gwathmey at Middleburg three weeks ago, Zabeel Champion clashes with nine rivals in the big one. The 9-year-old makes his third attempt at the Iroquois. He was a closing third behind a track-record setting Snap Decision and Vae Patron two years ago and fell while in contention at the second-to-last in last year’s renewal. This year’s edition attracted a star-studded group that includes Grand National winner Zanahiyr, Iroquois winner Abaan, Colonial Cup winner Fil Dor, upstart novice Swore, Grade 1 winner Ziggle Pops and others. Build it and they will come. Freddie Procter returns on the 10-1 shot for Jack Fisher.
“He was unbelievable. Unbelievable. Coming down to the last, I thought the other two were going to kick clear and I was just going to be hands and heels to the line and that would put him spot on for Nashville. I looked up and thought, ‘Hang on, I’m gaining on these here.’ I gave him a flick and he took off like a rocket,” Procter said after the Gwathmey. “Astonishing. At no point in the race until after the line did I think I was going to win it. He wasn’t really traveling on the hard ground early, so I sort of thought, ‘School him around and set him for Nashville.’ Coming to the elbow, I thought, ‘Sean is going to kill me. I’ve given him too hard a race and I’m not going to get there.’ I didn’t know he had that many gears. He absolutely took off.”
Here’s hoping he can take off again.
Post time 4:40 p.m.
Potus seeks his third consecutive win in the allowance timber to close the card. Trained by Jack Fisher and ridden by Jamie Bargary, the son of Lemon Drop Kid graduated at Virginia Fall in October and tacked an allowance timber at the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup to close 2025. This is his seasonal debut for Jamie Bargary and Jack Fisher. Potus is 3-1.
Post time: 6 p.m.
You can watch all the action live.
Check out the picks & preview from the TIHR Handicappers.
