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By Betsy Parker
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
BERRYVILLE - A long, long way from home, Germanbred, English-raced, and now Maryland-trained Saitensohn seems to have at last found his stride in Clarke County.
Saitensohn trounced a short field in the three-mile novice timber feature at Saturday's Rappahannock-Blue Ridge Hunts Point-to-Point. The make-up date served both hunts whose races were canceled from earlier in the month due to a regional horse quarantine. The bay gelding made the Woodley Farm start his first over timber since being imported to run over hurdles three years ago by Maryland trainer Jack Fisher.
Author and amateur jockey A.P. “Paddy” Smithwick Jr. knew the bay gelding had latent talent when he and friend Mrs. John O'Keeffe purchased Saitensohn from trainer Fisher last fall. But gaining the horse's trust has been an ongoing project. Imported by Fisher with much fanfare as a potential U.S. hurdle star, he hadn’t shown much, falling once, finishing last and breaking down in a dull effort at Saratoga that summer.
“He’s pretty rank,” Smithwick said after the Woodley win, slightly breathless after three miles of front-running, slightly erratic jumping in the horse’s first try over timber. Smithwick said Saitensohn actually whacked him in the face in his excitement at the start, nearly knocking him off as the five-horse field headed to the first fence. Smithwick shook off the stars as Saitensohn gathered and flew the first fence, concentrating on keeping the horse gathered, settled and straight.
“He wanted to take a hold and run at the fences,” Smithwick said of the stacked rails circling the left-handed course. “I tried to settle him, but he wants to run through the bit.”
Still, Smithwick inherited a grand skill set from his father, the late A.P. Smithwick Sr. — one of America’s most successful steeplechase jockeys — in particular soft, educated hands and an eye for a fence, so eventually Saitensohn began listening more and running away less.
Saitensohn crossed the wire a full furlong ahead of his competition, prompting many in the crowd to foresee bigger Maryland timber for the pair. “Not sure where we’ll go from here,” Smithwick said. “He’s learning a lot from hunting [with Elkridge Harford] and hacking out [around Smithwick’s Maryland hunt country farm]. We’ll see how he comes back.”
Before being imported to Saitensohn was a group-rated handicap hurdler in France and England, his most prolific
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