This Is Horse Racing

Jump jockey Jack Doyle has ridden horses all his life, and made a career of it in Ireland and England. He moved to the United States in 2014 and has found a spot near the top of the standings and leads the way in 2018. 

Jump jockey Jack Doyle has ridden horses all his life, and made a career of it in Ireland and England. He moved to the United States in 2014 and has found a spot near the top of the standings and leads the way in 2018. 

In this edition, we talk about Temple Gwathmey (the man) and the Temple Gwathmey (the race) with Ned and Temple Grassi, get an update on the National Steeplechase Foundation with Charlie Fenwick and check in on the Middleburg Spring Races with Doug Fout. 

Bill Gallo started working at the National Steeplechase Association in 1977 and has seen the sport go through a variety of cycles. He talks about the competitive race for the 2017 Eclipse Award, takes a look ahead at the 2018 season and even goes way back to his favorite jumper of all-time – a late-1970s underdog from the barn of Jonathan Sheppard.

Bill Gallo started working at the National Steeplechase Association in 1977 and has seen the sport go through a variety of cycles. He talks about the competitive race for the 2017 Eclipse Award, takes a look ahead at the 2018 season and even goes way back to his favorite jumper of all-time – a late-1970s underdog from the barn of Jonathan Sheppard.

When it comes to horses, Fair Hill is home to plenty – racing, eventing, showing, fox hunting and more. The iconic Maryland property hosted its first races more than 80 years ago, and it's back in the news again with plans to overhaul the outdoor event space into a world-class facility. Two of the people behind that effort, Terry Hasseltine and Ross Peddicord, sat down to talk about the progress.

Hadden Frost, whose father Jimmy Frost was a top jump jockey in the day, grew up in England riding ponies and took the experience all the way to careers on the flat, over jumps and in the show ring. He came over to the U.S. this spring, won a few timber races and nearly pulled off the Maryland Hunt Cup.

You know him as the guy behind 2014 steeplechase champion Demonstrative and some other stars to come off Whitewood Farm in Virginia. He grew up in a family with little or no horse background, but dove in and now operates one of the country's most successful stables.

An experienced jockey in his native Ireland, Sean McDermott is in his third full American season and got off to a big start to 2017 with two major stakes wins aboad Scorpiancer. And to think he started out riding a donkey and a horse named Flamenco Fury. We talk to him about horses, Ireland, America and what it's like to "get it right" in a race.

An experienced jockey in his native Ireland, Sean McDermott is in his third full American season and got off to a big start to 2017 with two major stakes wins aboad Scorpiancer. And to think he started out riding a donkey and a horse named Flamenco Fury. We talk to him about horses, Ireland, America and what it's like to "get it right" in a race.