3 Eclipse champs among 1st Hurdle G1 of the season:Iroquois
May 8, 2015 22:59:34 GMT -5
Post by Evelyn on May 8, 2015 22:59:34 GMT -5
Small field but 3 Eclipse winners! Doubt if it will be televised. HRTV might have shown a replay but doubt TVG will. They need their advertising time!
Three champions among Iroquois quintet
Brisnet
The first Grade 1 hurdle of the 2015 season, Saturday's $150,000 Calvin Houghland Iroquois (NSA-G1) at Percy Warner Park in Nashville, Tennessee, has attracted a field of five, including the past three Eclipse Award winners as champion steeplechaser.
Not only have Demonstrative (Elusive Quality), Divine Fortune (Royal Anthem), and Pierrot Lunaire (War Chant) won divisional championships, but all have previously captured the three-mile Iroquois, the longest of U.S. steeplechasing's Grade 1 events.
Demonstrative, who took the Iroquois in 2013, earned his title last season with three consecutive wins in the New York Turf Writers Cup (NSA-G1), Lonesome Glory (NSA-G1) and Grand National (NSA-G1). A nine-length loss to Divine Fortune in the season-ending Colonial Cup (NSA-G1) was only the second time Demonstrative finished behind that rival in five meetings during the season.
Divine Fortune, the champion two years ago, won the Iroquois in flag-to-finish style by 3 1/4 lengths last year after finishing a neck second to Demonstrative in the 2013 edition. Pierrot Lunaire, the 2012 champion, took the Iroquois way back in 2009 in his first ever start in the U.S.
While Demonstrative and Divine Fortune have not raced since their encounter in the Colonial Cup on November 15, Pierrot Lunaire made his season debut in the April 18 Temple Gwathmey (NSA-G3) at Middleburg, Virginia, but trailed the field of seven. The 11-year-old is winless in four starts since clinching his title in the 2012 Grand National.
Mr. Hot Stuff (Tiznow), who won the Temple Gwathmey by a neck, is quite familiar with the Percy Warner course having won the $75,000 Marcellus Frost over 2 1/4 miles on the 2014 Iroquois undercard. He earned his signature victory in the A.P. Smithwick Memorial (NSA-G1) at Saratoga last summer.
The field is completed by Barnstorming (Thunder Gulch), a novice stakes winner at Saratoga in 2013 who has finished second in the past two editions of the Colonial Cup.
Three champions among Iroquois quintet
Brisnet
The first Grade 1 hurdle of the 2015 season, Saturday's $150,000 Calvin Houghland Iroquois (NSA-G1) at Percy Warner Park in Nashville, Tennessee, has attracted a field of five, including the past three Eclipse Award winners as champion steeplechaser.
Not only have Demonstrative (Elusive Quality), Divine Fortune (Royal Anthem), and Pierrot Lunaire (War Chant) won divisional championships, but all have previously captured the three-mile Iroquois, the longest of U.S. steeplechasing's Grade 1 events.
Demonstrative, who took the Iroquois in 2013, earned his title last season with three consecutive wins in the New York Turf Writers Cup (NSA-G1), Lonesome Glory (NSA-G1) and Grand National (NSA-G1). A nine-length loss to Divine Fortune in the season-ending Colonial Cup (NSA-G1) was only the second time Demonstrative finished behind that rival in five meetings during the season.
Divine Fortune, the champion two years ago, won the Iroquois in flag-to-finish style by 3 1/4 lengths last year after finishing a neck second to Demonstrative in the 2013 edition. Pierrot Lunaire, the 2012 champion, took the Iroquois way back in 2009 in his first ever start in the U.S.
While Demonstrative and Divine Fortune have not raced since their encounter in the Colonial Cup on November 15, Pierrot Lunaire made his season debut in the April 18 Temple Gwathmey (NSA-G3) at Middleburg, Virginia, but trailed the field of seven. The 11-year-old is winless in four starts since clinching his title in the 2012 Grand National.
Mr. Hot Stuff (Tiznow), who won the Temple Gwathmey by a neck, is quite familiar with the Percy Warner course having won the $75,000 Marcellus Frost over 2 1/4 miles on the 2014 Iroquois undercard. He earned his signature victory in the A.P. Smithwick Memorial (NSA-G1) at Saratoga last summer.
The field is completed by Barnstorming (Thunder Gulch), a novice stakes winner at Saratoga in 2013 who has finished second in the past two editions of the Colonial Cup.
