Demonstrative seeks repeat in Grand National Hurdle
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
Can Demonstrative regain the good form that enabled him to claim the 2014 Eclipse Award as the nation’s top steeplechase horse? That’s the question the 8-year-old Demonstrative will try to answer in Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Grand National Hurdle Stakes, the feature at the 95th annual Far Hills Races in Far Hills, N.J.
The seven-race program, worth a National Steeplechase Association-record $600,000, begins at 1 p.m. Eastern. Although there is no parimutuel wagering and admission tickets are priced at $100 in advance and $200 at the gate on race day, the card is expected to attract 35,000 fans, many of whom will arrive on special excursion trains that stop close to the racecourse at Moorland Farm.
Based on the lofty standards he set last season, when he was a nose shy of becoming a four-time Grade 1 winner, including a score in the 2 5/8-mile Grand National, Demonstrative has been something of a disappointment in 2015. His lone victory in a jump race came in May. In his two most recent starts, both at Saratoga, he was third as the 1-2 favorite in the A.P. Smithwick and did not finish the course in the New York Turf Writers Cup. Demonstrative reportedly was found to have a lung infection following his most recent race and was held out of last month’s Lonesome Glory at Belmont Park.
He will face eight rivals in Saturday’s fourth race, the richest steeplechase in America. His challengers include Dawalan and Charminster, part of a four-horse entry for owner Irv Naylor and trainer Cyril Murphy, and the Irish import Eshtiaal, who won three jump races between 2 1/2 and 2 5/8 miles within a six-day span in May.
The 5-year-old Dawalan, making his first U.S. start since arriving from Britain, nosed out 9-year-old stablemate Charminster for third while beaten just 1 1/2 lengths in the Grade 1 Lonesome Glory on Sept. 24. Naylor, who won the 2011 Grand National with Black Jack Blues, also will send out the 8-year-old Irish runner Rawnaq, the winner of an allowance in June, and the 13-year-old Decoy Daddy, a two-time Grade 3 winner last season.
Eshtiaal, a 5-year-old gelding, is 3 for 11 lifetime in hurdle races, with all three wins between May 25 and May 30 in Ireland.
The field also includes Alajmal, a Grade 1 winner in November 2013 who was far back in his only two subsequent hurdle starts in August and September of this year.
◗ In the richest of three stakes on the undercard, the 6-year-old Lune de Caro, unbeaten in three starts this season over hurdles for trainer Jonathan Sheppard, heads a field of 10 going 2 1/2 miles in the $100,000 Foxbrook Champion Hurdle for novices.