Race

Race

From Page A1

keep behind field master Michael Brown, also the Rappahannock Hunt huntsman, he waited patiently during the short check after the last fence.

“I had him ready” for the signal, Gelarden said, reins short and balance forward for the quarter-mile sprint to the finish line.

Finnbar is owned by Mary Finlay Thompson; Gelarden hunts the bay gelding regularly with the Middleburg Orange County Beagles and the unrecognized Snickersville Hounds.

Though the Rappahannock Hunt had already planned the field hunter ‘chase this year, NAPPA founder and race creator Mason Lampton, master of the Midland Fox Hounds in Georgia, said it was a creative way to gain more participation in steeplechasing.

“Basically, we’re looking to attract riders who may not think they’re quite up to the speed and perceived danger of steeplechasing,” he said. “But, in field master’s chases, everything is controlled until the last sprint. It is a great way to test the waters.

Two of the senior field masters race riders found out the hard way the penalty for passing the master; unlike the hunting field — in which the punishment might just be a sharp word — in the races, it means disqualification.

In stark contrast to the senior chase, the six junior competitors were perfectly mannered, remaining behind master Brown until after the final fence. Once released, Casanova Hunt junior Cary Proferes and her thoroughbred-cross Merlin opened up six lengths on the field to win.

In the day’s other racing, Westminster, Md. native Ben Swope and his Justcallmecasey set a solid pace in the ownerrider timber race. Casanova winner last week, Sunny Boca and Tom Kirlin never let them . get far ahead in the 2 1/2-mile ‘chase. When Boca moved to challenge in the final quarter of a mile, Justcallmecasey responded; both horses ran as a team to the wire where Justcallmecasey won on the nod, reversing the order from last week.