STEEPLECHASE TIMES COVERAGE OF THE GOLD CUP

By Joe Clancy

Blair Wyatt lifted her arm over her head and smiled.

“It’s good. It really started feeling better a few days afterward. I’m ready,” she said – looking plenty prepared to ride a racehorse if not quite ready to throw a batting practice session.

(Douglas Lees photo)

Two-and-a-half weeks ago, Wyatt broke her collarbone in a fall while schooling a hurdle horse for her husband, trainer Todd Wyatt. Three days before that, she won the My Lady’s Manor timber stakes aboard Bon Caddo. Such is the life as a steeplechase jockey, even one who does it part-time. Wyatt juggles a family (she and Todd have two young children) with a reputation as a go-to amateur in key timber races.

Saturday, Wyatt and Bon Caddo take on six rivals in the $75,000 Virginia Gold Cup timber stakes at Great Meadow Race Course in The Plains, Va. The 4-mile test always presents timber drama and this year should be no different.

To read the rest of Steeplechase Times Gold Cup coverage, click here.