Iroquois Steeplechase Items of Interest

• 2011 marks the 70th running of the Iroquois Steeplechase.


• The total purses, bonuses and awards of $425,000 for the race day makes the Iroquois Steeplechase the richest event on the National Steeplechase Association (NSA) spring circuit.


• With a purse of $35,000, the Bright Hour Amateur Hurdle Race is the richest amateur steeplechase race in the U.S.


• The list of Iroquois winners includes the greatest steeplechase horses in America. Five Eclipse Award winners – Flatterer, Lonesome Glory, Correggio, All Gong and Good Night Shirt – have won the Iroquois. Several others have competed in the race.


• When Iroquois, the namesake of the Nashville race, became the first American-bred winner of the English Derby in 1881, Wall Street closed temporarily for a celebration.


• The Iroquois Steeplechase grounds were constructed in 1936 as part of a parks improvement project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA).


• The grounds for the Iroquois have a year-round irrigation system.


• Improvements to the Iroquois Steeplechase grounds that are paid for by the Volunteer State Horsemen’s Foundation provide year-round benefits and enhancements for the Equestrian Center at Percy Warner Park.


• The first steeplechase in the U.S. was run in 1834.


• The average speed of a steeplechasing thoroughbred is 30 mph.


• The average steeplechase horse weighs 1,100 lbs, while the average jockey weighs 140 lbs.


• The Iroquois Steeplechase has raised more than $9 million since 1981 to support the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

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Jeff Bradford/Natalie Townsend, the Bradford Group, 615.515.4888, info@bradfordgrp.com