The heralded Colonial Cup, the first hundred-thousand-dollar steeplechase in the U.S., returns to the fall calendar at Springdale Race Course in Camden, S.C., after an eight-year hiatus, giving the National Steeplechase Association a thrilling second championship day to help decide year-end honors for horses and humans.
Last run in the fall in 2016 (it was contested in 2018 in the spring as part of the Carolina Cup card), the now $150,000 Grade 1 often served as a tiebreaker for the championship following the Grand National at Far Hills a month earlier.
This year, however, the 2 ⅝-mile fixture, in which all seven entries will carry 156 pounds, is likely to be a coronation for Bruton Street-US' spectacular Snap Decision. A marquee name on the NSA circuit for six years, the 10-year-old has won three of his four 2024 starts including two of its biggest Grade 1 events, the Grand National and Iroquois in Nashville. With his victory in the $250,000 Grand National —his first in four tries—Snap Decision put himself at the front of the line for his first Eclipse Award, and became steeplechasing's second leading all-time money earner, vaulting past Lonesome Glory and Good Night Shirt, and trailing only McDynamo (by $193,204). In his illustrious career, Snap Decision has amassed 15 victories and 13 stakes while facing top-flight competition year in and year out, often giving away hefty amounts of weight. He is the only two-time Grade 1 winner this season.
The $150,000 he earned at Far Hills raised his NSA earnings to $1,116,900, and also catapulted trainer Jack Fisher over the million-dollar mark in 2024 earnings.
Unlike McDynamo, who competed at Springdale five times, Snap Decision has never run over the course. On Sunday, he'll face six challengers, three of whom are also G1 winners.
Keystone Thoroughbreds' Noah and the Ark, who upset Snap Decision in the 2023 Grand National and 2022 Lonesome Glory (G1), has finished behind his rival three times this season, but enters the Colonial Cup off of a victory in the Grade 3 Noel Laing at Montpelier two weeks ago. Madaket Stables and Paul and Molly Willis' Jimmy P broke through with a 34-length romp in the G1 Jonathan Sheppard at Saratoga, but was no factor in the Grand National. Hudson River Farms' L'Imperator earned his first stakes victory over hurdles in the inaugural G1 Beverly Steinman in June, finished a close second as the favorite to Freddy Flintshire in the Lonesome Glory in September, and put in a belated rally to finish fourth, beaten just about three lengths in the Grand National. Irv Naylor's Too Friendly, a seven-time winner overseas, seeks his first NSA score following a sixth in his debut in the Sheppard and third to Carloun in the G1 Will Allison at the International Gold Cup Races last month. Besides Snap Decision, Fisher saddles two other contenders in Sonny Via's Welshman, a Grade 2 winner in 2023, who was second in both the Allison and G1 Commonwealth Cup (to Rampoldi Plan) at the Virginia Gold Cup Races last spring. The other, also owned by Bruton Street-US, is Quick Master, who makes his stakes debut following a recent 115 handicap victory.
The rest of the card consists of the $72,000 Hobkirk Hill stakes for horses who have never won an open stake; $50,000 Raymond G. Wolfe Memorial three-year-old stakes; $30,000 filly and mare maiden special weights hurdle; $30,000 optional starter allowance; and a training flat event restricted to apprentice riders.
Win or lose, there may be more racing in Snap Decision's future. When asked if retirement was imminent, owner Michael Hankin was non committal. "As always, we are taking one race at a time," he said on Friday. "Hoping for the best."
There's reason to think, however, that we haven't seen the last of the future Hall of Famer. The Iroquois Steeplechase recently announced a collaborative venture with the Jockey Club UK, offering the 2025 Iroquois winner a free entry, travel incentive, and invitation to compete in the Stayers' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2026. And as part of the initiative, Snap Decision—a three-time winner of the Iroquois, has been invited to race at Cheltenham in 2025.
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