Cup of COFFEE
“View from the Start” 18 x 24, 2022 © Linda Volrath. Private collection. This painting served as the official artwork for the 2022 Montpelier Hunt Races which was auctioned that year to support the Montpelier Steeplechase & Equestrian Foundation. James Madison’s historic house can be seen atop the hill as a backdrop to the start of an exciting race. More of the artist’s work can be seen at www.LindaVolrath.com.
A Day at the Montpelier Races
T
By Sean Clancy
he historic, iconic, beautiful Montpelier Racecourse. Once a year, the steeplechase tour makes its stop at the southern Virginia venue. Flat racing has its first Saturday in May. Steeplechasing has its first Saturday in November. James Madison, the president, lived here. Marion duPont Scott created the races 88 years ago, a community event. Back then, it was free, a day out, a day in the country, come one, come all. Now, it’s rail-side parking and tailgates. Two kids kick a soccer ball, a young couple hold hands, horses emerge from below a canopy of trees and bend toward the paddock. God, I love race day. The proceeds go to the Montpelier Foundation, the non-profit that helps preserve the grounds. Oh, the grounds. Rolling hills, changing trees, the last place to run over natural hedges. I tell the boys in the jockey’s room they used to run all the races over the hedges. Now, it’s just for the older, more experienced, better jumpers in the $75,000 Noel Laing stakes. Their eyes say it all when I tell them about the old days, thankful they’re not riding inexperienced horses over the testing fences. Phones don’t work here. Leave them in the
car, don’t fight the machine, enjoy the solace, the silence. I throw my binoculars over my right shoulder. Just out of habit, I guess. They stay there, as the rolling hills and changing trees are beautiful to the eye but stifling to the view. I listen to the announcer as he calls Potus, our first runner of the day, in front early in the first hurdle race. I walk toward the hurdle closest to the paddock and wait for the field. Potus launches and lands with ease. Jamie Bargary hovers over his hands, I know when he has horse and he’s comfortable. He has a horse and he’s comfortable. I nod a knowing nod. A circuit later, Potus turns for home in front, his closest rival, Frontline Citizen, challenges from the inside and they bump. The other jockey slides off the side. The crowd gasps. Potus wins easily. One on the board. A steward’s inquiry and claim of foul, oh, don’t take this off the board. They do the right thing—the eyes of the beholder. We snap a photo with a silver trophy. With horses running at Callaway Gardens in Georgia, I go to my car and try to use a hotspot to catch Cool Jet’s race. It spins and sputters, teases and seizes. I go back to the paddock. My phone rings. It hasn’t rung all day. I catch every other word. Cool…won…late….inside… Cool Jet won the big one with a late inside rally.
Two on the board. An hour later, I give a leg up to four jockeys in the seven-horse field of the Noel Laing. College student Teddy Davies rides Gordon’s Jet, our final runner. They make it to the first. That’s it. Gordon’s Jet buckles and Davies catapults. They’re off. You lose. Gordon’s Jet runs free in front of the field for a circuit, then disappears. I start to run after him, then stop, knowing that’s futile. Minutes later, as Zabeel Champion heads to the winners’ circle, I hear on a walkie talkie, “He’s going west on Route 20.” I take off at a run, jump in my car and go west on Route 20. I pass the spent outriders who point down the road. Over the crest of a hill, before a bridge and miles later, a cop stands on the double yellow line, cars pull over and everyone looks down and to the right. I take a deep breath, preparing for what I’m about to see, jump out of my car and run to where everyone is looking. Around a hedge and up a driveway, there’s Gordon’s Jet. And his big, wide, beautiful, white face. He looks at me like, “Where the hell have you been?” We pull off the tack, pour a bottle of water down his neck and call for a trailer to take him home. He’s unharmed, unscathed. Our third win of the day.
Country ZEST & Style | Holiday 2023
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