Willowdale Feature Run as a Flat Race

The Rose Tree Cup, the $15,000.00 feature race at The Willowdale Steeplechase, in Unionville, Pennsylvania, had been scheduled to be run over Hurdles at 2 1/4 miles.

About 45 minutes prior to the running of The Rose Tree Cup, Alicia Murphy, Jack Fisher, Chip Miller, Katherine McKenna and Ricky Hendricks (all the trainers of horses entered in the Rose Tree Cup) were called to meet with the Stewards in the paddock.

At that meeting it was decided to run the race on the flat because the National Fences, supplied by the National Steeplechase Association, were not "anchored" to the ground and therefore were unsafe. The problem was that if a leading horse were to hit a portion of the fence (they come in segments) it would turn over (roll) in front of following horses and create a hazard.

Three prior races had been run over these fences without incident. (Signboard, the winner of the Third Race, which was run over Hurdle, is pictured above racing in mid-pack the second time around. Signboard was ridden by Chip Miller, owned by Mrs. F. Eugene Dixon, and trained by Jack Fisher.)

The Rose Tree Cup was won, on the flat, by Mrs. S.K. Johnson's Wicklow Bound, trained by Alicia Murphy and ridden by William Santoro, who finished ahead of Mrs. F. Eugene Dixon's Duke of Earl, trained by Jack Fisher and ridden by William Dowling. (The stretch run of the top three finishers is pictured below :L.to R. Aluckyperk, ridden by Robert Walsh, third; Duke of Earl,ridden by William Dowling, second; and Wicklow Bound, ridden by William Santoro, the winner.)

In addition to this fiasco, The Willowdale Steeplechase, a Timber race which was run over 3 1/2 miles and 21 fences had only three starters. There was a long delay after the runners crossed the finish line and before the race was made Official. At last it was announced that the first two finishers, Acorn Hill's Northern Thinking, trained by Jack Fisher and ridden by James Slater; and Stewart Family Stable's Secret Impression, trained by Ann D. Stewart and ridden by Charles Fenwick; had been disqualified for ". . . leaving the proscribed course." (Northern Thinking, ridden by James Slater, is pictured at the left. He led all the way to cross the finish line first only to be disqualified.)

The trophy was presented to the third place finisher who was declared the winner, Mrs. Wm. D. Class' Royal Quest trained and ridden by William Meister.

The Sixth Race, The Foxhunter's, was won by Stewart Strawbridge on Augustin Stables' Seeking Seattle, trained by Sanna N. Hendriks. (Seeking Seattle, ridden by Stewart Strawbridge, leads Quaremba and Donald Cochran in the below picture.)