Straight To It, Shoodic are big winners at Radnor Hunt

Sean McDermott gave Straight To It two smacks as the horse entered the homestretch of the Radnor Hunt Cup and broke away from the pack.

"I was surprised how easily he was winning," McDermott said.

The win was sweet redemption after last year's race, when the 165-pound-carrying Kentucky-bred was disqualified for interfering with another horse, despite crossing the finish line first. The Radnor Hunt Cup came with a $30,000 prize.

The event was one of six steeplechase races held Saturday afternoon at the 86th Radnor Hunt races at the W. Burling Cocks Memorial Racecourse in Malvern. Rain didn't stop 20,000 spectators from tailgating and taking in the competition. The day's winnings totaled $185,000.

The featured race was the National Hunt Cup, which carried a $50,000 prize. Another Kentucky-bred, Shoodic, won that 23/8-mile hurdle race in 4 minutes, 51 seconds. He finished one length ahead of Charminster, who finished 21/4 lengths ahead of Able Deputy. Charminster and Able Deputy are both owned by Irvin Naylor, who entered Saturday leading the National Steeplechase Association owners in 2016 winnings with $461,900.

Naylor, 80, originally of York, Pa., began riding horses at 16. He was still riding at 64 when he fell off his horse at the second-to-last fence in the Grand National Steeplechase and broke his neck. He has remained involved in the sport despite his debilitating injury, which left him in a wheelchair. He owns five horses that competed Saturday.

Naylor watched the races from under a tent. One of his horses, Jamarjo, won the fifth race of the day, the James M. Moran Jr. Steeplechase. Naylor made his way to the winner's circle with his wife, Diane.

"The thrill of winning a steeplechase is fabulous," he said. "Steeplechasing requires so much athleticism in a horse."

Curve of Stones won the second race, the Thompson Memorial Steeplechase, for horses that have never won a race besides their maiden. That race came with a $35,000 prize.

Curve of Stones is owned by Baltimore-area native Sarah Rebecca Shepherd. For her, the win meant a little more than usual.

Curve of Stones is the only horse she owns that she did not breed. She said one of her horses, Sea Ruby Run, recently died in a paddock accident. After the accident, Shepherd went shopping and bought Curve of Stones.

Lyonell, owned by Robert Kinsley, won the first race, the Milfern Cup for maidens, which has a $30,000 purse. The final race of the day, the Henry Collins Steeplechase, also for maidens, was won by William Meister's Dr. K'eogh.

The jockey of the day award went to Paddy Young, who rode Shoodic in the National Hunt Cup. He also rode Naylor's Jamarjo, making Young the day's winningest jockey.