4 minute read
TIMBER! A DREAM COME TRUE
TIMBER! A DREAM COME TRUE
By Leonard Shapiro
On the morning of Saturday, April 27th, Lisa Ben-Dov woke up early at Kinross Farm outside of Middleburg and told her husband, Zohar Ben-Dov, “I have a good feeling. I have a good feeling today.”
Blackhall, their ten-year-old chestnut gelding, was entered that afternoon to run in the 127th edition of the $100,00 Maryland Hunt Cup, America’s most important timber race. They had previously entered a horse in the prestigious event three times, with their best showing a second place finish in 2013.
The fourth time was a charm, though it surely didn’t start out that way.
Early on, two-time Hunt Cup winner Vintage Vinnie, trained by Joseph Davies with Teddy Davies up, had opened a 30-length lead over the field of eight others. By the time the race entered the final stretch, Blackhall, ridden by British jockey Charlie Marshall, had made up all of that ground, then jumped past Vintage Vinnie over the last hurdle and prevailed by a narrow neck.
Blackhall was also trained by Joseph Davies, who has experienced this race from all angles throughout the years, riding winners and training them, as well. He has taken Blackhall out hunting from Kinross, and after his recent victory, brought him back to the farm for some down time.
Charlie Marshall, 26, has an impressive point-to-point record in England. But when Davies called him and asked him to ride Blackhall in the Maryland race, it would mark Marshall’s first ever trip over timber.
He came to the U.S. ten days early to practice, and admitted after winning the Hunt Cup that he initially had his doubts about whether he was doing the right thing. But the more he practiced on Blackhall, the more his confidence increased, and a second place finish in a warm- up race the week before the Hunt Cup convinced him he was on the right horse and in a race he could handle.
The four-mile Maryland Hunt Cup course includes 22 rock-solid timber fences, most set at four feet, with the third jump a towering five feet. The trip around the course at Worthington Farm has been described by former jockeys as “intimidating” and requires unerring accuracy from the horse and its rider.
Zohar Ben-Dov watched it all unfold from the hill near the farm’s main house overlooking the entire race course. He had what he described as a perfect vantage point as his horse inexorably rallied from far behind to pull out the victory in the final few yards.
“What a thrill, and I’m still thrilled” he told ZEST two weeks after the race. “I always wanted to do it since we first came to Virginia. It’s been my dream, and it’s been a long journey.”
Lisa Ben-Dov said as she watched a filmed replay of the race ten days later, “I was still nervous, even though I knew he’d won. In our horse racing career, this is the one to have, the race you want to win. It’s just a wonderful, wonderful dream, our heart’s desire really.”
And definitely a very good feeling, as well.
Crowell Hadden is a staff photographer for Country ZEST and Douglas Lees is a winner of The Maryland Hunt Cup Association’s S. Bryce Wing trophy and a two-time Eclipse Award honoree.
