Point-to-Point celebrates 40 years of steeplechases

Cornhusker is an older horse, but on Sunday he was ready to run.

The 11-year-old had run the figure eight track on the Winterthur grounds before, and he'd even come away a winner. But this season might be his last as a racehorse, and Point-to-Point was an important step in making sure he's in top form for those final runs.

“He’s been a solid performer for us,” said Alicia Murphy, his trainer. “We all fool ourselves into thinking they’re going to be world beaters every time they’re out."

Cornhusker and jockey Kieran Norris placed fourth in the Winterthur Bowl, a steeplechase race with a $40,000 purse, Point-to-Point’s most valuable victory.

He lagged behind for most of their go around the three and one-quarter mile timber circuit, but managed to pull farther ahead at the race's end. Kings Apollo, ridden by jockey Gerard Galligan, won the steeplechase after being near the front for all of it.

But Cornhusker is running again next week at the Iroquois Steeplechase in Nashville, Tennessee, a race Murphy said is near and dear to Cornhusker's owners' hearts.

“I don’t think we totally go for broke here with the goal being next week," Murphy said before the Winterthur Bowl. “The purse is better, but not that much better."

For breeders, racers, owners, trainers and jockeys, 40 years of Point-to-Point at Winterthur in northern New Castle County has taken its place among the springtime racing events that reached their peak Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky.

“It’s Delaware’s answer to the Kentucky Derby,” said Race Director Jill Abbott. 

This year is the 13th that Point-to-Point has been a race sanctioned by the National Steeplechase Association, Murphy said. And because the event is hosted and conducted here each year, she said its well-rooted traditions make it a favorite race.

"These are professional jockeys. These are thoroughbred horses, and the owners and trainers, this is their living," Abbott said.

Mark Beecher, first riding Rudyard K to victory in the Isabella Du Pont Sharp Memorial race and then Mystic Strike to second in the Winterthur Bowl, was on the track before his horses. Though he's familiar with the course, he always takes a look before a run.

"It's a good course. It's looked after well, the timber fences are nice. We're always happy to come up here," said Beecher, who's raced at Point-to-Point at least eight times before. "It's one of Delaware's only steeplechase runs, so we want to support it."

Beecher praised Rudyard K before the pair stepped out onto the course for the 2 p.m. race. Like the others, Rudyard K was a maiden and it was their first sanctioned race.

"We just kind of take it as that goes and hopefully he's a good run. If he's there at the end, then he's good enough and we'll have a winning chance," he said before the race.

Along the length of the course, Delawareans and racing enthusiast from around the region crowded wooden fences as the horses dashed past. In seersucker and their most outrageous hats, the thousands of guests are what give Point-to-Point its derby magic.

"I just love horses. I think it's really wonderful to see them work along with their rider. It's just like a dance to me," said Jaidy Schweers, a north Wilmington resident attending the steeplechase for the second time. "It, of course, has a posh kind of air about it all." 

Schweers' hat was big and purple, and she'd come along with Darren Levin, who proudly claimed his seersucker suit predates his Point-to-Point attendance. 

"It's part of the culture here in Delaware, which is unique. It's cool to come and you get a bit of a history," Levin said. "You get a bit of something you're not expecting." 

Across the grounds, Winterthur visitors set out tailgate spreads or laid down blankets on grassy hills overlooking the course. Vintage cars were on display, pony rides were available for kids and hundreds who'd never thought once before about a horse race showed up for the year's first chance to show off spring dresses. 

Kathy and Joe Biluck hold memberships at Winterthur so they can enjoy its gardens. But on Sunday they came down from Delran Township, New Jersey for something new. 

"We wanted to come down for the horses and to see the various tents and the vintage cars and just make a day out of it," Joe Biluck said. "Given the challenges and these riders and horses have to go through, I was impressed." 

They just wanted to see what the fuss was all about, and said it was worth the trip. 

"We've never been," Kathy Biluck said. "I've loved horses since I was a little girl. So, for me, watching them is absolutely amazing. They're beautiful.

DERBY SEASON

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