What you need to know about the 89th Radnor Hunt Races

The weather looks good -- partly sunny and 75 degrees -- for Saturday’s Radnor Hunt Races.

Gates at the long-running horse racing competition in Malvern are to open at 9 a.m, and the post time for the first races is 1:30 p.m.

The day features six races, each different in length, challenges and the number of jumps. The Milfern Cup race kicks off the day at 1:30, and the Henry Collins Steeplechase ends things with a 5:05 p.m. start.

Last year’s races were affected by rain early in the morning, but officials said the riders and horses were not adversely affected.

“Actually, racing-wise, this is ideal,” Skip Achuff, the director of racing, said on that soggy May 19, 2018. “Soft going, the horses can go a little slower … a little safer. So it’s not a bad thing.”

This year’s National Hunt Cup race, scheduled to start at 3:55 p.m. has a purse of $35,000, the day’s largest. Last year, that race was not decided until the horses turned for the finish line.

Surprising Soul, owned by Wendy W. Hendricks and ridden by Ross Geraghty, trailed Bobabout for much of the race. But Surprising Soul pulled away from the pack down the homestretch.

Here is a look at Saturday’s event:

Jump racing - also called steeplechasing - is horse racing over hurdles and fences in the open countryside. The Radnor Hunt Races feature six races with about 30 minutes between them. Officials said the Radnor Hunt, founded in 1883, is the oldest foxhunt in the United States and is recognized by the Masters of Foxhounds Association of America. The first Radnor Hunt Races was held in 1928 in Chesterbrook, Pa., the former estate of A.J. Cassatt.

Saturday, 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. Gates open at 9 a.m. Rain or shine. It is held annually on the third Saturday in May. Tickets are not sold the day of the races.

W. Burling Cocks Memorial Racecourse, 826 Providence Rd., Malvern, Pa., 19355.

The racecourse is about a mile around, and the horses run clockwise for two or three laps depending on the race.

$170,000.

The Brandywine Conservancy. Officials said that more than $5 million has been raised over the last 40 years for the protection of open space and water resources in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware. More than 64,000 acres, including the Radnor Hunt racecourse and the surrounding lands, have been permanently protected.

Call Radnor Hunt Races Office at Brandywine Conservancy, 610-388-8383.

FIRST RACE

Post Time 1:30 P.M.

THE MILFERN CUP (Sport of Kings Maiden Hurdle) Purse $30,000. Hurdle. For Maidens, Four Years Old and Upward. 2⅛ miles over brush hurdles.

SECOND RACE

THE THOMPSON MEMORIAL STEEPLECHASE (Allowance Hurdle) Purse $30,000. Hurdle. For Four-Year-Olds and Upward which have never won a race, other than maiden, claiming, starter, filly/mare, or three-year-old, or which have never won two races. 2⅛ miles over brush hurdles.

THIRD RACE

THE RADNOR HUNT CUP (Timber Stakes) Purse $35,000. Timber. For Four-Year-Olds and Upward.3¼ miles over timber fences.

FOURTH RACE

NATIONAL HUNT CUP – Grade III (Hurdle Stakes) Purse $35,000. Hurdle Handicap. For Four-Year-Olds and Upward. 2⅜ miles over brush hurdles.

FIFTH RACE

THE JAMES M. MORAN, JR. (Unlimited Claiming Hurdle) Purse $20,000. Hurdle. For Four-Year-Olds and Upward. 2⅜ miles over brush hurdles.

SIXTH RACE

THE HENRY COLLINS – Saluting Radnor Hunt’s Masters of Foxhounds (Maiden Claiming Hurdle) Purse $20,000. Hurdle. For Maidens, Four Years Old and Upward.2⅛ miles over brush hurdles.