they took the Last Chance point-topoint as well. “He

they took the Last Chance point-topoint as well.

“He was a lot easier to ride this time — he was a real pain at Morven Park,” said Runco. “He was hard to rate, but today he was perfect. He didn’t lug in until the end.”

Topeador surprised no one when he took the Old Dominion Hunt Cup, but Brian Fitzgerald’s Dr. Brice impressed the crowd with a late-rushing attempt to catch Wood’s horse, closing up four lengths to one down the stretch.

Dr. Brice, however, had to settle for second, with Midnight Moves and Bill Osier third.

Wood said the initial pace was faster than he wanted. “Speedy [Smithwick, the trainer] and I had talked about the heat, [to see if] maybe if we could slow it down like we did at Piedmont. But my horse just didn’t want to do it much slower than he went,” he said.

“He ran well-in-hand, like he always does,” continued Wood. “I knew the other horse [Dr. Brice] was a length or two behind me, so I kicked out my stick at the next-tolast fence.

“When Brian made a move, I asked my horse for a little bit, and he went on nicely,” he said.

The Mairhead Carr-trained Nordic Jove crossed the finish first in the first division of maiden hurdles, but jockey Peter Walsh missed a beacon, as did second-place finisher Jimmy Stewart with Graham Alcock.

The jockeys’ omissions left Michele Rouse on Complete Rhythm with first-place honors and the Jeremy Gillam-trained Frustrator second.

“He’s the nicest ride I’ve had in a long time,” said Rouse about Complete Rhythm, owned by Mede Cahaba Stable and trained by Speedy Smithwick. “She was ready to do another turn at the end. She just motored down that hill.”

Barcalaric, a horse owned and trained by grand prix rider Rodney Jenkins and ridden by David Bourke, won the second division of maiden hurdles. Barcalaric took the early lead but was hard-pressed to