Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 23 · column 1 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
By CLIVE CARNIE
Aranwl N»w«pap»m Special Writer
After years of creeping along in the shadow of flat racing, steeplechuHing has come into its own in 1986, picking up speed like a rolling freight train.
In recent years as crowds at hunt meets have grown, so have the number of race sponsors and the amount of money for purses. With larger purses, hunt meets have been seeing bigger and better quality fields and several new meets — such as Great Meadow in The Plains and Calloway Gardens in Georgia — have sprung up across the country.
New York’s historic Saratoga Springs race course recently completed its most successful steeplechase meet, offering more money and attracting bigger fields than ever before.
At the end of Saratoga’s meet dedicated fans of the sport, already giddy from seeing so many rich and competitive races, received news of an even more exciting event. The Breeders’ Cup, flat racing’s multimillion dollar one-day spectacular, planned to add a special $250,000 steeplechase race to its lucrative card. The race would be held at one of the most attractive steeplechase courses in the country, Maryland’s Fair Hill, and would be shown on prime-time national television.
It was the best news steeplechasing fans had heard in years.
“The Breeders’ Cup is probably
86.1%