Who invented the steeple

Leger Church in Doneraile, in Cork, Ireland. The first recorded steeplechase over a prepared track with fences was run at Bedford in , although a race had been run at Newmarket in over a mile with five-foot bars every quarter mile.

The first recognised English National Steeplechase took place on March 8, A steeplechase horse is a Thoroughbred, just like those that race at American racetracks on all over days.

In addition to speed, the steeplechase horse must possess the ability to jump fences at a fast pace. They usually are a little older than the horses that race on the flat, and most of them have experience on the flat. Because steeplechase races are longer than those on the flat, the steeplechase horse also must have enough stamina to carry its speed over two miles or more. Most are geldings castrated and are continuing their racing careers over fences.

The most famous and toughest jump race in the world is the English Grand National, held at Aintree Racecourse outside of Liverpool, England.

Run since , the race consists of 30 fences made of spruce stuffed into wooden stakes. The race generally attracts 40 starters and is run over a 4 mile course where the horses and their brave jockeys negotiate the most testing of fences. The National is also the most watched television sporting event in the world. Runners, as they were apparently wont to do, would often race each other from one town's church steeple to the next. The steeples were chosen because they were easy to see from long distances, leading to the name "steeplechase.

The countryside would also require runners to jump over various barriers over the course of their race. These included stone walls and small rivers. When the race was modernized, the walls were simulated with hurdles and the rivers and creeks were simulated with the water pit. According to the IAAF, the modern 3,meter steeplechase track event — with the barriers and the water pit — first originated at Oxford University in the midth century.

It was then included in the English Championship in In the Olympics, men have raced the steeplechase since , while the women, somewhat shockingly, only first raced it at the Olympics in in Beijing. Today, the race features five barriers: four hurdles plus the barrier before the water pit. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in , and Fairmount followed him two decades later.

The jockey was inducted into the Hall of Fame in On several occasions, Fairmount was ridden by J. For Mrs. He also was part of a long succession of leading steeplechase jockeys who have successfully made the transition to training careers. An American-owned horse won the Grand National at Aintree for the first time in when Sergeant Murphy, owned by Cambridge University student Stephen Sandford, won in an excellent Another American-owned horse, Jack Horner, won in In many ways, the Depression years of the s constituted a Golden Age of American steeplechasing.

Bassett — emerged during the decade. Other prominent horsemen who practiced their trade in those years were Morris H. Cocks fondly recalled those times. Pete Bostwick was tremendous. Laing and Bassett were bigger guys, but Pete was built more like a jockey. Following mid-morning races on his Broadhollow estate in Old Westbury, Clark would be host to more than a hundred guests for a luncheon at which fine food and champagne filled the tables.

Brose Clark had bought him as a yearling in and sold him to his wife for one pound on the suggestion, made in jest by trainer Ivor Anthony, that a new owner might change their luck.

Also in the mids, duPont built the Fair Hill steeplechase course in northern Maryland to duplicate the look and feel of an English country steeplechase course. Battleship thus became the first American-bred and American-owned horse to win at Aintree.

At stud in Virginia, Battleship sired two steeplechase champions, War Battle and Shipboard She also held steeplechase races at her Virginia home, Montpelier, and was honored in as the first recipient of the F. Ambrose Clark Award for her many contributions to the sport. For many years, Carroll K. Bassett was her principal trainer and jockey. Widener bred and raced Bushranger, one of the best steeplechase horses of the s. Late in the year, he sustained a fatal injury while schooling at Belmont Park.

The s were transitional years for many of the horsemen who had made their marks as amateur steeplechase jockeys in the s. By the end of the s, professional jockeys had eclipsed their amateur counterparts. But many of the professionals also went on to successful careers as trainers.

With much of flat racing, steeplechasing was curtailed during World War II. When the war ended, Sid Watters resumed his training career, and riders such as D. Michael Smithwick, A. Morris Dixon also broadened his operation to include Preakness Stakes winner Polynesian, the sire of Native Dancer.

Richard King Mellon, a leader of the banking family, developed a steeplechase string at Rolling Rock near Ligonier, Pennsylvania, with Sidney Watters as his trainer. Share Tweet Email. This is the only distance event on the programme in which athletes negotiate barriers. Women's mSC mSC. Latest News.